Joe Kleine Explained

Joe Kleine
Height Ft:6
Height In:11
Weight Lb:255
Birth Date:January 4, 1962
Birth Place:Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.
High School:Slater (Slater, Missouri)
College:
Draft Year:1985
Draft Round:1
Draft Pick:6
Draft Team:Sacramento Kings
Career Start:1985
Career End:2000
Coach Start:2007
Coach End:2015
Career Position:Center
Career Number:35, 53
Years1:
Team1:Sacramento Kings
Years2:
Team2:Boston Celtics
Years3:
Team3:Phoenix Suns
Team4:Los Angeles Lakers
Team5:New Jersey Nets
Team6:Chicago Bulls
Team7:Phoenix Suns
Team8:Portland Trail Blazers
Cyears1:2007–2015
Cteam1:Little Rock (assistant)
Highlights:
Stats League:NBA
Stat1label:Points
Stat1value:4,666 (4.8 ppg)
Stat2label:Rebounds
Stat2value:3,991 (4.1 rpg)

Joseph William Kleine (born January 4, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player who played fifteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and for the US national team. He won a gold medal as a member of the United States men's basketball team at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In 1998, he won the NBA championship as a member of the Chicago Bulls. Kleine is now a restaurant proprietor, owning a number of successful Corky's Ribs & BBQ restaurants.

College career

Kleine, a seven-foot center, graduated from Slater High School in Slater, Missouri and originally enrolled to play basketball at the University of Notre Dame. After his freshman season, Kleine transferred to the University of Arkansas where he played alongside Darrell Walker and Alvin Robertson, who, like Kleine, would go on to have productive professional careers.

Kleine's first season at Arkansas, he helped the Razorbacks to a 26–4 record, finish second in the Southwest Conference (SWC), and make the second round of the NCAA Tournament. His junior season, Kleine helped Arkansas to a record of 25–7, another second place finish in the SWC, and a first round loss in the NCAA Tournament. The biggest victory of the season came on February 12, 1984 at the Convention Center in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, when Kleine helped the Razorbacks upset the #1 ranked North Carolina Tarheels, led by Michael Jordan, thanks to a basket by teammate Charles Balentine at the end of the game. Kleine finished that game with 20 points and 10 rebounds. As a senior in the 1984–85 season, Kleine was named 1st Team All-SWC. Arkansas (22–13) finished second in the SWC for the third year in a row, and a second round loss in the NCAA Tournament. During his career at Arkansas, Kleine's most memorable games were against fellow center Hakeem Olajuwon and the University of Houston. Olajuwon was nicknamed "The Dream", while Kleine was known as "The Nightmare".

Professional career

Kleine was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the sixth pick in the 1985 NBA draft. Kleine went on to a fifteen-year NBA career, playing with the Kings as well as the Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets, Chicago Bulls, and Portland Trail Blazers. Kleine played on teams with legendary NBA players Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. He won an NBA championship in 1998, as a center, for a Chicago Bulls team that included Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Steve Kerr.

His best season was with the Kings in 1987–88, when he averaged 9.8 PPG. At the time of his retirement from the NBA, he'd scored 4,666 points, had 3,991 total rebounds, and had scored 849 free throws out of 1,069 attempts.

National team career

Kleine played for the US national team in the 1982 FIBA World Championship, winning the silver medal.[1] Along with his college teammate Robertson, he also won a gold medal as a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic basketball team coached by Bob Knight. Sportswriter Jon Goode would later write that "Joe Kleine was never a star, but what made Kleine great was that he accepted his role and was ready to play every night."[2]

Coaching career

After coaching AAU and high school basketball in Little Rock and serving as an analyst for Arkansas basketball games, Kleine was hired as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2007.[3]

Movie appearance

Kleine appeared in the 1996 movie Eddie as himself.[4]

Career statistics

NBA

Source[5]

Regular season

|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Sacramento| 80 || 18 || 14.8 || .465 || – || .723 || 4.7 || .6 || .3 || .4 || 5.2|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Sacramento| 79 || 31 || 21.0 || .471 || .000 || .786 || 6.1 || .9 || .4 || .4 || 7.9|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Sacramento| 82 || 60 || 24.4 || .472 || – || .814 || 7.1 || 1.1 || .3 || .7 || 9.8|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Sacramento| 47 || 11 || 19.4 || .383 || .000 || .920 || 5.1 || .7 || .4 || .4 || 6.7|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 28 || 2 || 17.8 || .457 || .000 || .828 || 4.9 || 1.1 || .5 || .2 || 6.1|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 81 || 4 || 16.9 || .480 || .000 || .830 || 4.4 || .6 || .2 || .3 || 5.4|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 72 || 1 || 11.8 || .468 || .000 || .783 || 3.4 || .3 || .2 || .2 || 3.6|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 70 || 3 || 14.2 || .491 || .500 || .708 || 4.2 || .5 || .3 || .2 || 4.7|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 78 || 3 || 14.5 || .404 || .000 || .707 || 4.4 || .5 || .2 || .2 || 3.3|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix| 74 || 4 || 11.5 || .488 || .455 || .769 || 2.6 || .6 || .2 || .3 || 3.9|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix| 75 || 42 || 12.6 || .449 || .000 || .857 || 3.5 || .5 || .2 || .2 || 3.7|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix| 56 || 9 || 11.8 || .420 || .286 || .800 || 2.4 || .8 || .2 || .1 || 2.9|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix| 23 || 10 || 15.9 || .400 || 1.000 || .722 || 3.5 || .5 || .4 || .3 || 3.4|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers| 8 || 0 || 3.8 || .250 || – || 1.000 || 1.1 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .8|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey| 28 || 0 || 16.2 || .427 || .500 || .722 || 4.1 || .8 || .3 || .4 || 3.0|-| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"| †| style="text-align:left;"| Chicago| 46 || 1 || 8.6 || .368 || – || .833 || 1.7 || .7 || .1 || .1 || 2.0|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix| 31 || 5 || 12.1 || .405 || .000 || .667 || 2.2 || .4 || .3 || .0 || 2.2|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Portland| 7 || 0 || 4.4 || .364 || – || 1.000 || .9 || .3 || .1 || .0 || 1.6|-class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" | Career| 965 || 204 || 15.2 || .453 || .271 || .794 || 4.1 || .6 || .3 || .3 || 4.8

Playoffs

|-| style="text-align:left;"| 1986| style="text-align:left;"| Sacramento| 3 || 0 || 15.0 || .385 || – || .833 || 4.7 || .3 || .3 || .3 || 5.0|-| style="text-align:left;"| 1989| style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 3 || 0 || 21.7 || .545 || .000 || .778 || 5.7 || .7 || .0 || .3 || 6.3|-| style="text-align:left;"| 1990| style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 5 || 0 || 15.8 || .765 || .000 || .833 || 2.8 || .4 || .4 || .6 || 6.2|-| style="text-align:left;"| 1991| style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 5 || 1 || 6.2 || .444 || – || – || 2.2 || .2 || .0 || .0 || 1.6|-| style="text-align:left;"| 1992| style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 9 || 0 || 9.1 || .409 || .000 || 1.000 || 2.4 || .1 || .0 || .1 || 2.2|-| style="text-align:left;"| 1993| style="text-align:left;"| Boston| 4 || 0 || 7.3 || .600 || – || – || 1.3 || .0 || .0 || .3 || 1.5|-| style="text-align:left;"| 1994| style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix| 8 || 0 || 10.1 || .429 || – || .667 || 2.1 || .4 || .1 || .5 || 3.5|-| style="text-align:left;"| 1995| style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix| 10 || 10 || 16.7 || .574 || .500 || – || 3.1 || .8 || .5 || .3 || 6.3|-| style="text-align:left;"| 1996| style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix| 2 || 0 || 4.0 || .000 || – || – || .5 || .0 || .5 || .0 || .0|-| style="text-align:left;"| 1999| style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix| 1 || 0 || 5.0 || .500 || – || – || 1.0 || .0 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 2.0|-class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" | Career| 50 || 11 || 11.8 || .515 || .200 || .793 || 2.7 || .4 || .2 || .3 || 3.8

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.usabasketball.com/history/mwc_1982.html 1982 USA Basketball
  2. News: Jon Goode . Better than average Joe . 9 February 2020 . . 14 April 2005.
  3. Web site: Joe Kleine Bio . January 4, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140809215902/http://www.ualrtrojans.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=35718&SPID=2823&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=7400&ATCLID=848367&Q_SEASON=2012 . August 9, 2014 . dead .
  4. News: Kyle Newport . Former NBA Player Joe Kleine Received $0.38 Check for His Role in 'Eddie' . 9 February 2020 . . 13 August 2014.
  5. Web site: Joe Kleine. Basketball Reference. Sports Reference. 14 June 2022.