Abdur-Rahim Named to 2000 Olympic Basketball Team
July 13, 2000
BERKELEY - Former Cal star forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim has been selected for the final spot on the 2000 U.S. Olympic basketball team.
Abdur-Rahim, who earned both Pac-10 Player of the Year and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors for the Golden Bears in 1996, recently completed his fourth season with the NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies. He played just the one season at Cal before turning pro, averaging 21.1 ppg and 8.4 rpg en route to being named the National Freshman of the Year.
On the Olympic team, Abdur-Rahim takes the spot vacated by Grant Hill, who broke his left ankle in April. Along with Jason Kidd, Abdur-Rahim is the second former Cal player to be on the U.S. squad, meaning Cal is the only school to have two players on the Olympic team.
Abdur-Rahim and Kidd are also the first Cal players to represent the United States at the Olympics in basketball since the Rome Games in 1960, when the U.S. featured center Darrall Imhoff and head coach Pete Newell.
The American team begins training camp in late August, and the 2000 Sydney Games will run from mid-September to Oct. 1.
Abdur-Rahim, 23, averaged 20.3 ppg and 10.1 rpg for the Grizzlies last season. The 6-9 forward joins a front line that includes Alonzo Mourning, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Vin Baker. The rest of the U.S. team features Kidd, Tim Hardaway, Steve Smith, Allan Houston, Gary Payton, Ray Allen and Vince Carter.
