Do you remember Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf? Unless you're an extreme NBA fan from the early 1990's I'm guessing you haven't a clue. But you might recall a two-time college All-American from Louisiana State University who became the 3rd overall NBA pick in 1990 by the name of Chris Jackson. Well, perhaps to your surprise these names belong to one-in-the-same, and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (formerly known as Chris Jackson) is still playing professional basketball twenty years after his NBA draft, with an interesting twist.
Dubbed as a progressively solid NBA player, Abdul-Rauf reached the statistical pinnacle of his NBA career during the 1995-1996 season, averaging 19.2 points and 6.2 assists per game. Unfortunately, this would be the last time he would see similar numbers, and Abdul-Rauf's NBA career would end two seasons thereafter.
Interestingly, during this same time Adbul-Rauf began to stop standing for the playing of the National Athem at the beginning of every game, claiming it conflicted with his Muslim beliefs. Abdul-Rauf received boo's, jeers, even death threats, and it obviously paid a toll on his production as he never quite lived up to his Number 3 draft pick again.
Move forward 14 years, to Osaka, Japan and you'll find 41 year-old Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf still playing professional basketball. "He's the best player in the league and that's impressive given he's 41," said one Japanese teammate. 212
Who knows how many seasons Abdul-Rauf has remaining, especially since his contract with the club in Japan expires after this season, but one thing you can know for sure.....at some point he'll be done....all professional athletes are......"100% of Professional Athletes Ultimately Experience Job Termination."
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