The Cal 100: No. 64 -- Shareef Abdur-Rahim

After winning Pac-10 player of the year as a freshman and playing 12 NBA seasons, Abdur-Rahim got his Cal degree

We count down the top 100 individuals associated with Cal athletics, based on their impact in sports or in the world at large – a wide-open category. See if you agree.

No. 64: Shareef Abdur-Rahim

Cal Sports Connection: Abdur-Rahim was a star on Cal’s 1995-96 basketball team.

Claim to Fame: Abdur-Rahim was the first freshman ever to be named Pac-10 player of the year. He played 12 NBA seasons, earned an all-star berth in 2002 and was a member of the United States’ gold-medal-winning Olympic team in 2000. He is currently the president of the NBA’s G-League.

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Perhaps the most impressive thing Shareef Abdur-Rahim did had nothing to do with basketball. After starring at Cal for one season and playing 12 NBA seasons he returned to Cal to earn his degree in Sociology in 2012 with a 3.8 grade-point average. He then went on to earn a Masters in Business Administration at USC.

That’s a big part of the reason Abdur-Rahim was the 2020 recipient of the Pete Newell Lifetime Achievement Award, an annual award given to a Cal alumnus who has “distinguished himself in his career accomplishments, upholding the highest ideals of Newell and the University of California.”

The journey began in 1995, when Abdur-Rahim, one of 12 children in his family, arrived in Berkeley from Georgia and became an immediate star. He was 18 years old when he averaged 31.3 points in his first three games at Cal, and he became the first freshman to win the Pac-10 player of the year award after averaging 21.1 points and 8.4 rebounds for the 1995-96 season. He was also a third-team AP All-America selection.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Photo by Kelley L Cox, USA TODAY Sports

After vacillating between returning to Cal for a sophomore season or turning pro, Abdur-Rahim entered the 1996 NBA draft and was selected No. 3 overall. He averaged 18.1 points and 7.5 rebounds over his 12 NBA seasons and averaged better than 20 points in six of those seasons.

He was a member of the United States team that won the 2000 Olympic gold medal, playing alongside Cal alumnus Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, among others.

Abdur-Rahim made his only all-star appearance in 2002, and he scored nine points in that all-star game, which featured Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitski and Kidd.

Soon after he completed his NBA playing career in 2008, Abdur-Rahim was named an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings. He later became an assistant general manager with the Kings, and then was named associate vice president of basketball operation with the NBA before landing his current job as president of the NBA G-League, the feeder league for the NBA.

He started the Future Foundation, which provides after-school and other support services for at-risk youth in Atlanta.

The Cal 100: No. 65 -- Guinn Smith

Cover photo of Shareef Abdur-Rahim by Kelley L Coc, USA TODAY Sports

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