Otis Thorpe

Lore & Background

Thorpe graduated in 1980 from Lake Worth Community High School in Florida. He played college ball at Providence College. He had the longest NBA career of any former Friars player. He ranks seventh all-time at the school in rebounds and was the school's first First-Team Big East player.

During his tenure at Providence College he was also a two-time Honorable Mention All-America selection. Thorpe was drafted by the Kansas City Kings as the ninth overall pick in the first round of the 1984 NBA draft. In 1985, the Kings relocated to Sacramento. During the 1987-88 NBA season, Thorpe averaged career-highs of 20.8 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists.

That year, in perhaps his best game of the season, Thorpe nearly missed a triple-double with 35 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists. Thorpe was traded to the Houston Rockets for Rodney McCray and Jim Petersen in October 1988. While with the Rockets, Thorpe made an All-Star appearance in 1992. On December 7, 1993, Thorpe scored a career-high 40 points in a win over the Charlotte Hornets.

That season, Thorpe was an integral part of the Houston Rockets' trip to the 1994 NBA Finals and subsequent first NBA Championship. 46 games through the next season, the Rockets sent Thorpe to the Portland Trail Blazers in a deal for Clyde Drexler and Tracy Murray. Thorpe would only play 34 games for the Blazers before moving on to occupy the starting front court for the Detroit Pistons (who acquired him in a package for Randolph Childress and Bill Curley) for the next two years.

Before the start of the 1997–98 season, the Pistons dealt Thorpe to the Vancouver Grizzlies for a conditional first-round draft pick which eventually conveyed to the Pistons as the second pick in the 2003 draft, which became Darko Miličić. Thorpe would play 47 games with the Grizzlies before returning to the Kings in a trade that sent Bobby Hurley and Michael Smith to Vancouver. (Chris Robinson was also traded to the Kings as part of the deal.) In the offseason, he was traded (along with Mitch Richmond) to the Washington Wizards for Chris Webber.

He signed with the Miami Heat in 1999 and was traded to the Charlotte Hornets, along with Rodney Buford, P.J. Brown, Jamal Mashburn, and Tim James in a deal for Anthony Mason, Ricky Davis, Dale Ellis, and Eddie Jones.

Reader's Guide

Thorpe played in 542 consecutive games between 1986 and 1992. He holds the Rockets' all-time record for the highest field goal accuracy (55.9%).