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Rolando BlacmenOne of the best NBA defenders of the 80s - 90s of the past
Date of Birth: 26.02.1959
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Rolando Blackman
College BasketballRolando Blackman was born in Panama City, Panama, and grew up in Brooklyn, New York from the age of eight. He attended Kansas State University, where he played basketball under coach Jack Hartman. Blackman achieved several notable accomplishments at Kansas State:
- In 1980, he was named the Big Eight Conference Player of the Year and an All-American player. He was a three-time unanimous selection for All-Big Eight.
- He was named the Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year three times. He scored 1,844 points in his career, which is the second-highest in Kansas State history.
- He had a career field goal percentage of .517 and a free throw percentage of .717.
- Before his senior season, Blackman was also selected as a starter for the 1980 Summer Olympics basketball team, but did not participate due to the Olympic boycott. However, he received one of the 461 Congressional Gold Medals created specifically for boycotted athletes.
- In his final season, Blackman led Kansas State to the West Region of the NCAA Tournament, finishing in 8th place. They defeated #9 University of San Francisco in the first round. Then, KSU suffered a memorable defeat in the second round against #1 seeded Oregon with a score of 50-48, marked by Blackman's game-winning jump shot with three seconds left. Next was the #4 seeded Illinois, whom they defeated in the semifinals with a score of 57-52, before losing to #2 seeded North Carolina 82-68 in the West Region final. In 1996, after the Big Eight Conference expanded to the Big 12, Blackman was named to the AP All-Big Eight team. His #25 jersey was retired by Kansas State on February 17, 2007, in a ceremony during halftime of a game against Iowa State. He was also inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015.
Professional Career
Dallas Mavericks (1981-1992)
Rolando Blackman was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round (9th overall) of the 1981 NBA Draft. He became the first Panamanian-born player in the NBA. Blackman made an immediate impact, averaging 13.3 points per game in his rookie season. He received significant minutes throughout his career, averaging around 24 minutes per game in his rookie campaign. He played well, but the Mavericks were not successful until the 1983-1984 season. This was also Blackman's best statistical season, as he averaged 22.4 points per game and led the franchise to its first playoff appearance. The Mavericks managed to defeat the Seattle SuperSonics and advance to the second round before ultimately losing to the Los Angeles Lakers. On February 17, 1986, Blackman set a Mavericks record for most free throws made and attempted in a single game with 22-23. Despite his impressive stats, Blackman missed the All-Star Game that year, though he was able to participate the following year. He was a four-time NBA All-Star throughout his career. In the 1987 NBA All-Star Game, Blackman hit two free throws to tie the game at the end of regulation. The West team went on to win in overtime. As for the Mavericks, they played well and even had a magical season in 1987-1988, when they made it to the Western Conference Finals. This performance marked the franchise's first appearance in the conference finals in its history. The Mavericks went far but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in 7 games. After that series, the Mavericks went into a decline and didn't achieve the same level of success until the Dirk Nowitzki era. Blackman continued to play well and averaged around 19 points per game for the next few seasons, but the Mavericks slipped in the standings. By the 1991-1992 season, Blackman was 32 years old and the Mavericks were in a rebuilding phase. By the 1992 off-season, Blackman's time with the team came to an end. Blackman scored 6,487 field goals for the Mavericks and tallied 16,643 points, which was a franchise record for 18 years until it was surpassed by Dirk Nowitzki on March 8, 2008. In his 865 games with the Mavericks, Blackman never fouled out.
New York Knicks (1992-1994)
On June 24, 1992, Blackman was traded to the New York Knicks for a 1995 first-round draft pick (which became Loren Meyer). Blackman spent his last two NBA seasons with the New York Knicks. In his final season in New York, he reunited with former Mavericks teammate Derek Harper. The team made it to the NBA Finals but lost to the Houston Rockets in seven games. One of Blackman's notable games as a Knick was when he hit the game-winning shot in Game 4 of the 1993 Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Charlotte Hornets, making a jump shot with five seconds left, resulting in a 2-0 series lead for the Knicks. Blackman continued to play well towards the end of his career, but his age finally caught up with him, and his time in the NBA came to an end on July 6, 1994, when the Knicks waived him.
Exit from the NBA
Shortly after his release, he retired from the league. He finished his career with 17,623 points, 3,278 rebounds, and 2,981 assists. Blackman held the distinction of being the NBA's all-time scoring leader among Hispanic and Latino players (born in Spanish-speaking countries or of Hispanic/Latino descent) until March 6, 2015, when he was surpassed by Pau Gasol. Blackman's #22 jersey was retired by the Mavericks on March 11, 2000.
Europe
Blackman signed with Greek League team AEK Athens in the middle of the 1994-95 season. Under the guidance of coach Vladar Djurovic, they finished the season in a disappointing 8th place.
In the summer of 1995, Blackman moved to Olimpia Milano, where he was brought in by head coach Bogdan Tanjevic. Playing in the Italian League for a team that included Dejan Bodiroga, Gregor Fučka, Nando Gentile, and Alessandro De Pol, Blackman, who was 37 years old at the time, helped them win both the Italian league title and the Italian Basketball Cup, averaging 15.3 points per game. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the Italian Cup series. Olimpia also reached the finals of the EuroCup, losing to Efes Pilsen Istanbul in a home-and-away series.
Blackman moved to Limoges CSP in the summer of 1996, essentially reuniting with coach Tanjevic, who had previously signed with the club as the new head coach.
Post-Playing Career
In 2000, Blackman was appointed as the defensive coordinator for the Mavericks under coach Don Nelson. The following year, he served as an assistant coach for the German national basketball team and helped the team win a bronze medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis. In the 2004-2005 season, Blackman was hired as one of the television analysts for the Mavericks alongside Matt Pinto and Bob Ortegel. In the 2005-2006 season, Blackman returned to the Mavericks' bench, serving his first season as a full-time assistant coach. In July 2006, he was promoted to Director of Player Development.
In August 2010, Blackman was hired as an assistant coach for the Turkish national basketball team under head coach Bogdan Tanjevic in preparation for the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Blackman stated that he took on this role specifically to work with Tanjevic again, who had been his coach in Milan.
During the 2006 NBA Finals, former Knicks coach Pat Riley publicly acknowledged that benching Rolando Blackman instead of John Starks during Game 6 and Game 7 of the 1994 NBA Finals was the biggest coaching mistake of his career, and that he had never forgiven himself for it.
Personal Life
Blackman has four children and resides in Dallas, Texas.
Blackman is involved in the board of directors of the Assist Youth Foundation. The foundation's goal is to expand opportunities for children from low-income families in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and around the world.
Blackman is a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He continues to contribute to his Beta Psi chapter as well as the Kansas State University community.
