Biography
He was selected in the first round of the 1988 NBA Draft by his hometown New York Knicks where he backed up point guard Mark Jackson, the 1988 NBA Rookie of the Year. He was seen as sort of an odd choice by some observers since the Knicks had Jackson. Nevertheless, Jackson and Strickland shared time that season. Strickland played in all 82 games and averaged 8.9 points and 3.9 assists in 16.8 minutes per game where he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. In 1997-98, Strickland had the best season of his career as he averaged 17.8 ppg and a league leading 10.5 apg. During the year, Strickland also became only the 25th player in NBA history to record 10,000 points and 5,000 assists. Though he was selected to the All-NBA second team, the newly renamed Wizards failed to make the playoffs. It was during this time that Strickland got upset about not being selected to play in the All Star Game and stated that if selected next year, he will refuse to play. Strickland has never been selected as an All Star throughout his career. While his individual stats improved over the next few seasons for the Wizards, the team got worse, leading to a buyout of his contract. Strickland would go on to spend time with the Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors, and the Houston Rockets to conclude his NBA career. He played in 1,094 games and scored over 14,000 points (13.2 career average) and dished out nearly 8,000 assists (7.3 career average). He also ranked among the NBA's top 10 in assists in 1991-92 (5th), 1993-94 (6th), 1994-95 (5th), 1995-96 (4th), 1996-97 (5th), 1997-98 (1st), and 1998-99 (2nd). He is now serving in an administrative role at the University of Kentucky under Coach John Calipari. Strickland was formerly the director of basketball operations at the University of Memphis, taking over the job held by former NBA player, Milt Wagner.[citation needed] In September 2008, Strickland was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame along with NBA stars Kenny Anderson and Sam Perkins, coach Pete Gillen and pioneers Lou Bender and Eddie Younger. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Strickland
