 Mohammed during his first tenure with the Thunder in 2011. | |
| Born: | Nazr Tahiru Mohammed September 5, 1977 Chicago, Illinois |
| Nationality: |  American
|
| Listed height: | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
| Listed weight: | 250 lbs (113 kg) |
| Executive career | |
|---|---|
| Position: | General Manager |
| Team: | Oklahoma City Blue |
| League: | NBA G League
|
| Professional career | |
| NBA Draft: | 1998 / Rnd: 1 / Pck: 29th |
| Years active: | 1998–2016 (18 years) |
| Position: | Center |
| Amateur career | |
| High school: | Kenwood Academy (Chicago, Illinois) |
| College: | Kentucky (1995–1998) |
| Career history | |
| as player | |
| 1998–2001 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 2001–2004 | Atlanta Hawks |
| 2004–2005 | New York Knicks |
| 2005–2006 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2006–2007 | Detroit Pistons |
| 2007–2011 | Charlotte Bobcats |
| 2011–2012 | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| 2012–2015 | Chicago Bulls |
| 2016 | Oklahoma City Thunder |
| as executive | |
| 2020-present | Oklahoma City Blue (General manager) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
as player
| |
Nazr Tahiru Mohammed (born September 5, 1977) is an American professional basketball executive and former center. Mohammed currently serves a General Manager of the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League. During his playing career he had a journeyman career in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing for eight different teams over 18 seasons. He is the current general manager of the Oklahoma City Blue and a pro scout for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He played college basketball for Kentucky. He won a championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2005.
Early life[]
The son of an immigrant from Ghana, Mohammed was raised in Chicago and attended high school at Kenwood Academy, graduating in 1995. Mohammed entered the University of Kentucky in the fall of 1995 at a hefty 315 pounds, and saw little playing time during their NCAA championship season. After slimming down for his sophomore year, Mohammed shared the starting center spot with Jamaal Magloire and was a key contributor in 1997, when the Wildcats were runners-up to Arizona. Mohammed once again shared the starting post position with Magloire in 1998, and once again they brought the NCAA Championship home to Kentucky, for the second time in three years.
Professional career[]
Philadelphia 76ers (1998–2001)[]
After his junior year, Mohammed decided to enter the 1998 NBA Draft. He was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round, as the 29th pick overall. Utah traded his rights to the Philadelphia 76ers for a future first round pick, which turned out to be Quincy Lewis in the 1999 NBA Draft. He spent two and a half seasons in Philadelphia before being traded in February 2001 to the Atlanta Hawks along with an injured Theo Ratliff in exchange for Hall of Fame Center Dikembe Mutombo.
Atlanta Hawks (2001–2004)[]
On November 5, 2001, he scored a career-high 30 points against the Los Angeles Clippers. He played for the Hawks through the middle of the 2003–04 season, at which point he was traded to the New York Knicks for Michael Doleac.
New York Knicks (2004–2005)[]
Mohammed spent half of the 2004–05 season with the Knicks.
San Antonio Spurs (2005–2006)[]
He played for the San Antonio Spurs (who acquired him in a trade for Malik Rose), for the second half of the 2004–05 season. In a combined 77 games for both teams, he averaged 9.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game. He won his first and only championship in 2005 with the Spurs as a member of their starting lineup.
During his second season in San Antonio, Mohammed shared the starting Center position with Rasho Nesterović, averaging 6.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game during the regular season. On March 17, 2006, he tied his career-high of 30 points against the Phoenix Suns. He was a key contributor to the team's first round series victory over the Sacramento Kings, averaging 7.0 points per game and nailing his second career three-point basket late in Game 1. Mohammed, however, played sparingly in the team's second round series loss to the eventual Conference champion Dallas Mavericks. After the season, he turned down a four-year contract extension and did not return to the Spurs.
Detroit Pistons (2006–2007)[]
In July 2006, he signed with the Detroit Pistons and became their starting Center. After beginning the season in the starting five, the arrival of Chris Webber on January 16, 2007 made him gradually fall out of the team's rotation, the culmination being his 5 minutes in two postseason contests. He averaged 5.6 points and 4.5 rebounds in 51 games (33 starts), with about 15 minutes of action per game.
Charlotte Bobcats (2007–2011)[]
Mohammed was traded from the Pistons to the Charlotte Bobcats on December 14, 2007, in exchange for Primož Brezec and Walter Herrmann.
Oklahoma City Thunder (2011–2012)[]
On February 24, 2011, Mohammed was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, while Forward D.J. White and guard Morris Peterson were sent to the Charlotte Bobcats. He reached the 2012 NBA Finals with the Thunder, but the team lost to the Miami Heat 4 games to 1.
Chicago Bulls (2012–2015)[]
On July 27, 2012, Mohammed signed with the Chicago Bulls. On May 10, 2013, he was involved in an altercation with LeBron James in the 2013 NBA Playoffs, in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals against the Heat (the team that Mohammed faced in the 2012 Finals). James was called for a technical foul for tying up with Mohammed in transition; Mohammed retaliated by shoving James which required James to sue Mohammed. The Bulls eventually lost the series in five games and the Heat repeated as champions.
On July 11, 2013, Mohammed re-signed with the Bulls. On September 22, 2014, he again re-signed with the Bulls.
On August 1, 2015, Mohammed played for Team Africa at the 2015 NBA Africa exhibition game. On October 9, 2015, he retired from the NBA.
Return to Oklahoma City (2016)[]
In March 2016, Mohammed came out of retirement in order to return to the NBA. On March 5, he signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder, returning to the franchise for a second stint. Four days later, he made his season debut in a 120–108 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
NBA career statistics[]
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Won an NBA championship | ||||
Regular season[]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | Philadelphia | 26 | 0 | 4.7 | .357 | .000 | .571 | 1.4 | .1 | .2 | .2 | 1.6 |
| 1999–00 | Philadelphia | 28 | 3 | 6.8 | .389 | .000 | .545 | 1.8 | .1 | .1 | .4 | 1.9 |
| 2000–01 | Philadelphia | 30 | 3 | 6.5 | .466 | .000 | .500 | 1.8 | .1 | .2 | .2 | 3.2 |
| 2000–01 | Atlanta | 28 | 19 | 25.6 | .480 | .000 | .765 | 9.0 | .6 | .8 | 1.0 | 12.3 |
| 2001–02 | Atlanta | 82 | 73 | 26.4 | .461 | .000 | .617 | 7.9 | .4 | .8 | .7 | 9.7 |
| 2002–03 | Atlanta | 35 | 0 | 12.7 | .421 | .000 | .634 | 3.7 | .2 | .5 | .6 | 4.6 |
| 2003–04 | Atlanta | 53 | 1 | 17.7 | .493 | .000 | .627 | 5.0 | .4 | .4 | .5 | 6.5 |
| 2003–04 | New York | 27 | 23 | 24.9 | .563 | .000 | .525 | 7.7 | .6 | 1.2 | .9 | 9.1 |
| 2004–05 | New York | 54 | 54 | 28.1 | .509 | .000 | .708 | 8.1 | .5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 10.9 |
| 2004–05† | San Antonio | 23 | 5 | 18.0 | .387 | .000 | .571 | 6.4 | .3 | .2 | 1.4 | 6.2 |
| 2005–06 | San Antonio | 80 | 30 | 17.4 | .504 | .000 | .785 | 5.2 | .5 | .3 | .6 | 6.2 |
| 2006–07 | Detroit | 51 | 33 | 15.2 | .532 | .000 | .610 | 4.5 | .2 | .5 | .8 | 5.6 |
| 2007–08 | Detroit | 21 | 0 | 10.9 | .475 | .000 | .433 | 3.5 | .3 | .3 | .4 | 3.3 |
| 2007–08 | Charlotte | 61 | 29 | 23.3 | .520 | .000 | .617 | 6.9 | 1.1 | .6 | .9 | 9.3 |
| 2008–09 | Charlotte | 39 | 1 | 8.7 | .406 | .000 | .550 | 2.0 | .2 | .1 | .4 | 2.7 |
| 2009–10 | Charlotte | 58 | 29 | 17.0 | .553 | .000 | .648 | 5.2 | .5 | .3 | .7 | 7.9 |
| 2010–11 | Charlotte | 51 | 30 | 16.7 | .502 | .000 | .591 | 4.9 | .3 | .3 | .9 | 7.3 |
| 2010–11 | Oklahoma City | 24 | 7 | 17.9 | .573 | .000 | .625 | 4.8 | .3 | .7 | .4 | 6.9 |
| 2011–12 | Oklahoma City | 63 | 1 | 11.0 | .467 | .000 | .565 | 2.7 | .2 | .3 | .6 | 2.7 |
| 2012–13 | Chicago | 63 | 12 | 11.0 | .367 | .000 | .723 | 3.1 | .4 | .3 | .5 | 2.6 |
| 2013–14 | Chicago | 80 | 1 | 7.0 | .429 | .000 | .533 | 2.2 | .3 | .2 | .4 | 1.6 |
| 2014–15 | Chicago | 23 | 0 | 5.6 | .433 | .000 | .333 | 1.7 | .1 | .2 | .2 | 1.2 |
| 2015–16 | Oklahoma City | 5 | 0 | 3.8 | .600 | .000 | 1.000 | .8 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 1.6 |
| Career | 1005 | 354 | 15.8 | .486 | .000 | .640 | 4.7 | .4 | .4 | .6 | 5.8 | |
Playoffs[]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Philadelphia | 3 | 0 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
| 2004 | New York | 4 | 4 | 24.3 | .500 | .000 | .688 | 5.8 | .3 | 1.5 | .8 | 10.3 |
| 2005† | San Antonio | 23 | 23 | 23.0 | .528 | 1.000 | .638 | 6.7 | .3 | .6 | 1.0 | 7.1 |
| 2006 | San Antonio | 8 | 3 | 11.8 | .733 | 1.000 | .722 | 3.9 | .1 | .4 | .8 | 4.5 |
| 2007 | Detroit | 2 | 0 | 3.0 | .500 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.5 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 2.5 |
| 2010 | Charlotte | 4 | 0 | 12.0 | .579 | .000 | .667 | 2.0 | .5 | .3 | .5 | 6.0 |
| 2011 | Oklahoma City | 14 | 0 | 10.6 | .412 | .000 | .400 | 2.3 | .0 | .3 | .4 | 2.3 |
| 2012 | Oklahoma City | 8 | 0 | 10.4 | .500 | .000 | .500 | 2.0 | .1 | .0 | .4 | 2.3 |
| 2013 | Chicago | 12 | 0 | 9.5 | .512 | .000 | .571 | 2.7 | .3 | .2 | .6 | 3.8 |
| 2014 | Chicago | 2 | 0 | 2.5 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
| 2015 | Chicago | 3 | 0 | 4.7 | .286 | .000 | .000 | 1.7 | .0 | .0 | .3 | 1.3 |
| 2016 | Oklahoma City | 5 | 0 | 2.0 | .500 | .000 | .000 | 0.6 | .0 | .0 | .2 | 0.4 |
| Career | 88 | 30 | 13.1 | .514 | .667 | .639 | 3.5 | .2 | .3 | .6 | 4.2 | |
Personal life[]
Mohammed is a practicing Muslim who fasts for Ramadan. He had lost nearly ten pounds during 2004–05 season because of his fasting.
Mohammed and his wife Mandi have two daughters and a son.
He created The Nazr Mohammed Foundation which is committed to being a charitable member of the global community by supporting a multitude of worthy causes through personal donations, fundraisers, camps, grants and scholarships and in August 2012, his foundation hosted the Kenwood Academy Capital Improvements Fundraiser.
Mohammed studied Business Management at Kentucky and graduated in May 2020 with a Bachelor's of Arts and Sciences.