Lawrence Roberts (basketball) explained

Lawrence Roberts
Height Ft:6
Height In:9
Weight Lb:240
Birth Date:20 October 1982
Birth Place:Houston, Texas, U.S.
High School:Lamar (Houston, Texas)
College:
Draft Year:2005
Draft Round:2
Draft Pick:55
Draft Team:Seattle SuperSonics
Career Start:2005
Career End:2015
Career Number:44
Career Position:Power forward
Years1:
Team1:Memphis Grizzlies
Years2:2006
Team2:Arkansas RimRockers
Years3:2007
Team3:Olympiacos
Years4:2008–2009
Team4:Crvena zvezda
Years5:2009–2010
Team5:Partizan
Years6:2010–2011
Team6:Efes Pilsen
Years7:2011–2012
Team7:Lietuvos rytas
Years8:2012–2013
Team8:Bayern Munich
Years9:2013–2014
Team9:Darüşşafaka
Years10:2014–2015
Team10:BCM Gravelines
Highlights:

Lawrence Edward Roberts III (born October 20, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Standing at, he played at the power forward position.

College career

Roberts attended Baylor University for two seasons, where he made the Big 12 All-Freshman Team,[1] but transferred to Mississippi State University in 2003 following the basketball scandal that rocked Baylor's program that year. He was a first-team All-American and the SEC Player of the Year in 2004, leading Mississippi State to its first top-two seeding in the NCAA tournament. In the 2003–04 season he averaged 16.9 points and 10.1 rebounds. He was first-team All-SEC and a first-team All-American,[2] finishing third to Jameer Nelson and Emeka Okafor for national player of the year honors. In the 2004–05 season he averaged 16.9 points and 11 rebounds. He recorded the first triple-double in Mississippi State history against Nicholls State University with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists, while wearing an irritating translucent plastic face mask to protect his broken nose.[3]

Professional career

NBA

Roberts was a second round draft pick (55th overall) of the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2005 NBA draft, but was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for two future second-round draft picks and cash considerations. He signed a contract on July 10, 2005.

Europe

After two seasons with the Grizzlies, in July 2007, Roberts moved to Europe and signed with Greek powerhouse Olympiacos on a two-year deal.[4] However, in October 2007, he was released from his contract before the season started.[5]

Without a club and not playing competitive basketball for several months, Roberts was signed by Serbian team KK Crvena zvezda on September 17, 2008, for a one-year contract.[6]

On September 25, 2009, Roberts signed the Indiana Pacers training camp roster, but he got released less than a month later on October 19, 2009.[7]

Two days later, on October 21, 2009, Roberts signed a one-year contract with KK Partizan.[8] With Partizan he won the 2009–10 Serbian National Championship, the 2010 Serbian National Cup, the 2010 Adriatic League and took 4th place at the Euroleague's Final Four in Paris.

In July 2010, Roberts signed with the Turkish team Efes Pilsen.[9]

On July 12, 2011, Roberts signed with BC Lietuvos rytas.[10]

In July 2012, he signed with Bayern Munich.[11] [12] In October 2013, he signed with Darüşşafaka of the TBL2.[13]

On October 2, 2014, Roberts signed with BCM Gravelines of the French LNB Pro A[14] averaging 4.7 points and 4.9 rebounds. On February 4, 2015, Roberts left the team citing personal reasons.[15]

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

|-| align="left" | 2005–06| align="left" | Memphis| 33 || 0 || 5.5 || .455 || .000 || .478 || 1.5 || .2 || .2 || .1 || 1.5|-| align="left" | 2006–07| align="left" | Memphis| 54 || 18 || 17.9 || .452 || .000 || .725 || 4.8 || .6 || .7 || .2 || 5.2|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 87 || 18 || 13.2 || .452 || .000 || .688 || 3.6 || .4 || .5 || .2 || 3.8

Euroleague

|-| align="left" | 2009–10| align="left" | Partizan Belgrade| 21 || 21 || 32.2 || .335 || .319 || .658 || 7.4 || 2.3 || 1.1 || .3 || 9.0 || 10.0|-| align="left" | 2010–11| align="left" | Efes Pilsen| 16 || 3 || 20.9 || .435 || .379 || .594 || 5.1 || .8 || .9 || .6 || 6.5 || 7.5|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 37 || 24 || 27.3 || .368 || .337 || .640 || 6.4 || 1.6 || 1.0 || .5 || 7.9 || 8.9

Personal

Roberts is the son of Lawrence E. "Butch" Jr., and Cynthia Roberts, nephew of former sportscaster Robin Roberts of Good Morning America fame and grandson of the late Col. Lawrence E. Roberts Sr. and Lucimarian Roberts.

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Men's Basketball Coaches' All-Big 12 Team Announced for 2001–02 . big12sports.com . March 6, 2002.
  2. News: March 24, 2004 . Roberts, Childress, Gomes round out top five . February 8, 2024 . ESPN.com.
  3. News: November 21, 2004 . All-American finishes with 18 pts., 12 assists, 11 boards . https://web.archive.org/web/20190106211423/http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/recap?gameId=243260344 . dead . January 6, 2019 . February 8, 2024 . ESPN.com.
  4. News: Reds add Vasiliadis, Roberts, Mavrokefalidis . euroleague.net . July 12, 2007.
  5. News: Olympiacos: Roberts released, Vassiliadis hurt . euroleague.net . October 4, 2007.
  6. News: Red Star inks forward Lawrence Roberts . eurocupbasketball.com . September 17, 2008.
  7. News: Pacers release 3 players in roster trim . indystar.com . October 19, 2009.
  8. News: Partizan signs big man Lawrence Roberts . euroleague.net . October 21, 2009.
  9. News: Efes Pilsen lands rebounder Roberts . euroleague.net . July 28, 2010.
  10. News: Lietuvos Rytas lands Roberts . euroleague.net . July 12, 2011.
  11. Web site: Bayern Munich officially tabs Lawrence Roberts . August 24, 2012 . Sportando . July 17, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120717073708/http://www.sportando.net/eng/europe/germany/41014/bayern-munich-officially-tabs-lawrence-roberts.html . dead .
  12. Web site: Bayern Munich set to announce Lawrence Roberts . August 24, 2012 . Sportando . July 28, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120728065359/http://www.sportando.net/eng/europe/germany/40885/bayern-munich-set-to-announce-lawrence-roberts.html . dead .
  13. News: Lawrence Roberts signs with Darusaffaka Dogus of TB2L . October 2, 2013 . Sportando.net . October 5, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131005230809/http://www.sportando.net/eng/europe/turkey/64396/lawrence-roberts-signs-with-darusaffaka-dogus-of-tb2l.html . dead .
  14. News: Gravelines sign Lawrence Roberts, ex Darussafaka. October 3, 2014. Eurobasket.com. October 2, 2014.
  15. http://www.sportando.com/en/europe/france/151188/lawrence-roberts-leaves-gravelines-dunkerque.html Lawrence Roberts leaves Gravelines-Dunkerque