Ronald Fred Seikaly (born May 10, 1965) is a Lebanese-American former professional basketball player. He was one of the first internationally born players to make an impact on American basketball.[1]
Considered one of the top college players from the Syracuse basketball program, Seikaly's stellar offense and defense placed him among the school's all-time leaders in rebounds, points and blocks, while earning several nationally recognized awards and honors.
Drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA) by the Miami Heat with the 9th pick of the 1988 draft and the first-ever pick for the Heat, Seikaly developed into one of the best centers in the NBA and the team's top offensive and defensive contributors—winning NBA player of the week twice—and also amassing many of the team's records (of which some are still standing).
His career highs with the Heat are 40 points, 34 rebounds, 8 blocks, 8 assists, and 5 steals.
Seikaly earned the 1990 NBA Most Improved Player Award and later played for the Golden State Warriors, Orlando Magic and New Jersey Nets and in Spain with FC Barcelona. He was also part of the United States national basketball team during the 1986 FIBA World Championship, winning gold.
After his retirement from basketball, Seikaly became a successful real estate developer. He also works in electronic music as a producer/DJ, and hosted his radio show, Sugar Free Radio, on Sirius/XM.
In 1981, when Seikaly was 16, the Panathinaikos basketball player Takis Koroneos took note of him, after he purchased a pair of basketball sneakers in Koroneos' athletics store.[7][8][9] On the recommendation of Koroneos, Seikaly was selected to join Panathinaikos' men's senior team, in order to begin training and practicing with them. In 1982, at age 17, he first played with the team in a tournament in Cyprus.
He continued to train and practice with Panathinaikos until 1983. However, because he did not have a Greek passport, he was not able to register with the team to play in any games in the Greek Basket League,[10][11] since no foreign players were allowed to play in the league until 1988.[12]
Seikaly was taken by the Miami Heat with the 9th pick in the first round of the 1988 NBA draft. As well as being the franchise's first ever college draft pick, Seikaly became the first player born in Lebanon to compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[13]
The rookie center quickly emerged not only as a pivotal player within the team, but also among the league's top centers.[14] In his second season, he led the Heat in points (16.6), rebounds (10.4) and blocks (1.7) while placing sixth in the league in rebounding.[14] At the conclusion of the season he was awarded with the NBA Most Improved Player Award.[citation needed]
In the 1990–91 season, Seikaly increased his rebounding average to 11.1 rebounds per game while maintaining his 16 points per game average and then they acquired other young players to serve as scoring options such as Glen Rice and Steve Smith. In the 1991–92 season, Seikaly again averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds (6th in the league) as the Heat, bolstered by his play and Rice's scoring, led the team to 38 wins and the first playoff berth for the franchise. Despite the breakthrough, Miami was no match for the defending champions, the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls, who swept the Heat in three games. For the series against the Bulls, Seikaly averaged 19.1 points with 9.2 rebounds.[citation needed]
Seikaly increased his scoring to 17.3 and once again averaged 11.8 rebounds a game (8th in the league) during the 1992–93 season. He managed to win the NBA player of the week after averaging 30 points and 20 Rebounds for the week of March 7. The following season featured increased scoring by Rice and Smith, and Seikaly averaged 15.1 points a game for third on the team while leading the team in rebounds with 10.3 rebounds per game. The Heat won 42 games, good enough to make the playoffs. Facing off against the Atlanta Hawks in the first round.[citation needed]
Seikaly's career with Miami saw him setting numerous single-game team records, including blocks (8), rebounds (34) and double–doubles. During his run with the Heat, he had the nickname "The Spin Doctor", due to his trademark low-post spin moves.[15]
His career highs with the Heat are 40 points, 34 rebounds, 8 blocks, 8 assists, and 5 steals.[citation needed]
Golden State Warriors (1994–1996)
On November 2, 1994, Seikaly was traded to the Golden State Warriors for Sasha Danilović and Billy Owens. Seikaly only played in 36 games during the 1994–95 season, but started in all but one of those appearances averaging 12 points and 7 rebounds per game for the Warriors who were decimated by injuries. He would go on to start in 60 of 64 games in the 1995–96 season, averaging 12 points and 7.8 rebounds, but the Warriors once again were plagued by injuries and could not reach the playoffs. In November 1996, he was once again traded, this time to the Orlando Magic.
Orlando Magic (1996–1998)
In November 1996, Seikaly, Clifford Rozier and a 1999 second-round draft pick were traded to the Orlando Magic for Donald Royal, Felton Spencer and Jon Koncak. The Magic had been a dominant Eastern Conference team, but lost superstar center Shaquille O'Neal, and Seikaly was brought in to fill the void. Despite playing alongside other veteran scorers such as Horace Grant, Nick Anderson and Dennis Scott, Seikaly boosted his scoring to 17.3 points per game for second on the team behind All-Star Penny Hardaway, and led the team in rebounds per game (9.5) and blocks (1.4). The Magic won 45 games and entered the playoffs as the 7th seed in the conference, facing off against Seikaly's old team in Miami, who then featured an All-Star center Alonzo Mourning. Despite taking a 2–0 lead in Miami, the Heat responded with two wins at home to tie the series at 2 games apiece, but injuries forced Seikaly out of the 4th and deciding 5th games in which the Heat won to advance.[citation needed]
Seikaly would start in 47 games to start the 1997–98 season, but in February the Magic agreed to trade Seikaly to the Utah Jazz for Chris Morris, Greg Foster and a first-round draft pick. The Magic soon rescinded the trade due to Seikaly's refusal to report and instead sent Seikaly to the New Jersey Nets alongside Brian Evans in exchange for Yinka Dare, David Benoit, Kevin Edwards and a first-round draft pick. He averaged 16 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in his stint in Orlando.[citation needed]
New Jersey Nets (1998–1999)
Following his arrival in New Jersey, Seikaly had a career ending foot injury and only played in 9 games to finish the 1997–98 season, and would only play in 9 games of the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season before retiring from the league. He holds NBA career averages of 14.7 points per game, 9.5 rebounds per game, and 1.3 blocks per game.[citation needed]
FC Barcelona (2000)
In 2000, Seikaly moved to the Spanish ACB League club Barcelona. In three games played in Spain's 2000–01 ACB season, he averaged 15.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 0.7 blocks per game in 28.3 minutes played per game.[16] With Barcelona, he also played in the top-level European-wide club competition, the EuroLeague. In the EuroLeague's 2000–01 season, he played in a total of four games. He averaged 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in 24.5 minutes played per game.[17]
Seikaly first began training and practicing with the senior Greece national team, in 1983, at the age of 18. However, because he was unable to acquire a Greek passport, he was unable to represent Greece's national team in any official games. Despite that obstacle, he continued to train and practice with Greece's national team until 1986. Despite not being able to play with Greece, Seikaly felt connected to the national team, since he had trained and practiced with it for 3 years. Because of that, he sat next to the Greek team's bench at the final of the 1987 Athens EuroBasket, that Greece beat the Soviet Union, to win the tournament's gold medal.[18][19]
Seikaly later asked FIBA to grant him permission to represent the Lebanese national team. FIBA granted the request, and Seikaly was thus able to represent Lebanon.[20] With Lebanon, he played at the 1999 West Asian Championship, which was held in Beirut.[21] Seikaly helped the Lebanese win the tournament's silver medal. He averaged 30 points and 20 rebounds in those games.[citation needed]
Seikaly, an avid lover of music, started DJing at the age of 14 whilst living in Greece. After retiring from basketball, he developed his passion into a musical career as a professional DJ and music producer. "Sports will always be my love, but music will always be my passion," he said.
Seikaly has been producing and working in the genres of house, deep house, tech house and techno, and has played in many of the major clubs across the globe.[citation needed]
He has released many solo EPs including a lot of his early work "House Calls" in 2010.
He has also ran his own radio show on Sirius XM satellite radio called SugarFreeRadio which aired four days per week and was a resounding success since 2012.[citation needed]
Personal life
Seikaly speaks four languages fluently: English, Greek, Arabic and French.[5]
During his NBA playing career, he returned to Greece during the off-season, to visit his friends and family members.[5]
When Magic Johnson returned to the NBA HIV-positive, and there was opposition to his inclusion in the league, because of his health status, Seikaly challenged him to a game of one-on-one, to show everyone that HIV is not contagious by touch.[4]
Seikaly owns and runs a multi-million-dollar real estate investment company.[22]
From July 2011 to January 26, 2024, Seikaly had a relationship with a Brazilian model, a relationship that produced a daughter, Aya.
Charity
Seikaly is involved in many charities, such as the Miami Heat's Corporate Education and "Shoot for the Stars" programs, Make A Wish Foundation and many more.
Revenues from the sale of his 2012 album, Nervous Nitelife Presents Rony Seikaly, went to the Children's Department at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Foundation in Miami.[23]
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