Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Sport: Basketball

Sam Perkins

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2005  –  Algeria
  • 2008  –  Kyrgyzstan
  • 2008  –  Kazakhstan
  • 2009  –  Qatar
  • 2010  –  Indonesia
  • 2011  –  South Sudan
  • 2012  –  United Kingdom
  • 2022  –  Albania

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Perkins attended Samuel J. Tilden High School. He later attended and graduated from Shaker High School in Latham, New York. He was named large-school player of the year (high school) by the New York State Sportswriters Association in 1980 and was also named to the 35 Greatest Boys McDonald’s All Americans team.

Perkins attended college at the University of North Carolina and played basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels from 1980 to 1984. He was named ACC Rookie of the Year in 1981 and starred alongside future NBA Hall of Famers James Worthy and Michael Jordan on the Tar Heels’ 1982 NCAA championship team. A three-time All-American, Perkins was the 1984 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year. Perkins finished his collegiate basketball career as the Tar Heels’ all-time leader in rebounds and blocked shots and as the second-highest scorer in team history. He graduated from UNC in 1984.

Perkins was a co-captain of the gold-medal-winning 1984 U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team.

Chosen by the Dallas Mavericks as the fourth overall pick in the 1984 NBA draft, Perkins went on to play as a power forward and center in the NBA from 1984 to 2001. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1985. Perkins played for the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Indiana Pacers, respectively. He scored a career-high 45 points on April 12, 1990. Perkins tied an NBA record on January 15, 1997 by making eight three-pointers without a miss. He appeared in three NBA Finals: The 1991 NBA Finals (with the Lakers), the 1996 NBA Finals (with the SuperSonics), and the 2000 NBA Finals (with the Pacers). In Game One of the 1991 NBA Finals, Perkins made a game-winning three-point shot to defeat the Chicago Bulls. He was known by the nicknames “Sleepy Sam”, “Big Smooth”, and “The Big Easy”.

Since his retirement in 2001, Perkins has been actively involved in a variety of charitable endeavors, including Special Olympics, Nothing But Nets in conjunction with the United Nations, Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brothers, Carolina for Kibera, NBA Cares, Basketball Without Borders and Habitat for Humanity.

In 2002, Perkins was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men’s basketball team as one of the fifty greatest players in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

In 2008, Perkins was named vice president of player relations for the Indiana Pacers. That September, he was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.

In October 2011, Perkins traveled to South Sudan as a SportsUnited Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, where he worked with Hall of Fame NBA center Dikembe Mutombo to lead a series of basketball clinics and team building exercises with youths, the South Sudanese Wheelchair Basketball Team, and 36 coaches.

Perkins was named to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2017  –  Ethiopia

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson began his career at Chester high school, where he led the Clippers to PIAA Class AAAA state titles in 2011 and 2012, and a runner-up showing in 2013.

During his college career, Jefferson played two seasons at Arizona (2013-15), helping the Wildcats to consecutive Elite Eight appearances in the NCAA Tournament. He was named First Team All-Pac-12 and selected to Pac-12 All-Defensive Team by the coaches and Earned Pac-12 Tournament All-Tournament Team honors.

In 2015, Jefferson was a first round draft pick (23rd overall) by Portland. He was then traded by Portland, along with with Steve Blake to Brooklyn, for Pat Connaughton and Mason Plumlee. In 2019, Jefferson signed as a free agent with Toronto. In the 2019-20 season, Jefferson posted averages of 7.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 18.7 minutes in 60 games with Toronto.

Rolando Blackman

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2009  –  Lebanon

Rolando Blackman is a Panamanian-American NBA player who was a four-time All Star, spending most of his time with the Dallas Mavericks. Blackman attended Kansas State University where he played basketball and earned a number of noteworthy achievements including: Big Eight Conference Player of the Year, All-American, 3-time unanimous All-Big Eight selection, 3-time the Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year, and scored 1,844 career points (the second-highest total in KSU history).

Prior to the start of his senior year, he was picked as a starter for the 1980 Summer Olympics basketball team. During his time with the Mavericks, he made 6,487 field goals and scored 16,643 points which was a franchise record for 18 years until 2008. In his 865, Blackman never fouled out of a game.

Rick Mahorn

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2012  –  Indonesia

Derrick Allen Mahorn, born September 21, 1958, in Hartford, CT, played college basketball at Hampton University. In 1980, he graduated from Hampton with a degree in Business Administration. From there, he was drafted 35th overall by the Washington Bullets in the 1980 NBA Draft. He went on to play five seasons for Washington before being traded to the Detroit Pistons.

Mahorn began playing for the Pistons at the start of the 1985-86 season and is most well-known for his years in Detroit. He and the “Bad Boys” took home the 1989 NBA Championship. As dubbed by Piston announcer George Blaha, Mahorn was the “Baddest Bad Boy of them all.” After being picked up by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1989 NBA Expansion Draft, Pistons’ General Manager, Jack McCloskey, tried in vain to trade to get him back. The Wolves wouldn’t have it, and Detroit lost one of its most beloved sports figures. Mahorn, however, did not last long in Minnesota, eventually finding his way to the Philadelphia 76ers and teaming with superstar Charles Barkley to form the top-rebounding duo of “Thump N’ Bump.” Rick later played for the New Jersey Nets before returning to the Pistons in 1996-97 season. He retired in 1999 as a Philadelphia 76er.

In the 1999-2000 season, he joined the CBA as head coach of the Rockford Lightening. He coached the team to the 2000 American Conference Title. He rejoined the NBA the following season as an assistant coach of the Atlanta Hawks. In 2005, he rejoined former teammate, Bill Laimbeer’s coaching staff as an assistant coach of the Detroit Shock. He helped coach the Shock to two WNBA Championships in 2006 and 2008. On June 15, 2009, during the WNBA season, Bill Laimbeer stepped down as coach and Mahorn was officially named head coach of the Shock.

Richard Cho

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2012  –  Burma

Richard Cho is an American baskebtall executive who is currently the Vice President of Basketball Strategy of the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA. Prior to which he was the general manager of the Portland Trailblazers, Charlotte Hornets, and assistant manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Cho was the first Asian American general manager in NBA history. I995, he was hired as an intern for the Seattle SuperSonics while finishing his law degree. Two years later, he earned his degree and was hired as the SuperSonics’ director of basketball affairs before being promoted to assistant general manager. During his time as the assistant general manager, the SuperSonics made it to the NBA playoffs twice.

When he left Seattle to manage Oklahoma City Thunder, Thunder utilized Cho’s background in law and mathematics when negotiating trades, free agent signings, and interpreting the NBA’s complex collective bargaining agreement. He returned to the Pacific Northwest in 2010 and remained there until 2019 when he was hired by Memphis.

Purvis Short

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2008  –  Saudi Arabia

A native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Purvis Short attended Jackson State University and was the 5th overall selection of the Golden State Warriors in the 1978 NBA Draft.

Over his twelve-year NBA Career, he played for the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, and New Jersey Nets. Short averaged 17.3 points per game. He is currently the Warriors seventh all-time leading scorer. In the 1980-81 season, Short had a career high of 249 assists and a 16.1 per game average. In 1984, Short scored a career high of 59 points during a 131-114 loss — it was the most points scored in the NBA since David Thompson and George Gervin.

Upon retirement from the game, he joined the front office of the National Basketball Association and currently serves as Chief of Player Programs.

Peja Stojakavic

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2012  –  Greece

Peja Stojaković was born in Serbia on June 9, 1977.
After playing for KK Crvena zvezda and PAOK BC basketball club, while playing Greece Stojaković was drafted fourteenth overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 1996 NBA Draft. He continued to play there until the Kings signed him prior to the 1998–99 NBA lockout season. After two seasons on the bench with Sacramento, he had a breakthrough season in 2000–01, averaging 20.4 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting .400 from three-point range in his first season as a starter. He finished second in voting for the 2001 Most Improved Player Award. In 2001–02, he played in the NBA All-Star Game for the first time. His scoring average went up to 21.2 ppg, and he reached career highs in shooting percentage (.484) and three-point percentage (.416). His scoring average dropped slightly to 19.2 ppg in 2002–03, but he played again in the All-Star Game. In both seasons, he won the three-point shooting contest conducted during All-Star Weekend. In 2003–04, Stojaković was again selected as an All-Star, and finished second in the league in scoring with a career-high 24.2 ppg. He finished fourth in MVP voting and was voted on to the All-NBA 2nd Team. He also led the NBA in free-throw percentage (.933) and three-pointers made for the season (240). In 2004–05, he missed 16 games to injury, and was somewhat hampered in several games, but still averaged 20.1 ppg.

In 2006, Peja was traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for forward Ron Artest, ending his eight-year tenure with the Kings. However, he missed four games of their first round playoff series with the New Jersey Nets, all losses. During the 2006 offseason, he re-signed with the Pacers, only to be traded to the then-New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. On November 14, 2006, Stojaković scored a career-high 42 points against the Charlotte Bobcats, and became the first player in NBA history to open the game with 20 straight points for his team. He was soon sidelined for several months by injuries, including back surgery, as a result missing most of the 2006–07 season. On November 20, 2010, Peja was traded to the Toronto Raptors. After appearing in only two games, Stojakovic was released by the Raptors. He had missed 26 games due to a left knee injury. Two days later he signed a deal with the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks won the NBA Championship that year, with Peja averaging 7.1 points per game during the Mavericks’ playoff run. He scored more than 20 points in two different playoff games for the Mavericks.

While playing for his home country, Peja led the Yugoslavian national team to gold medals in the 2001 EuroBasket and 2002 FIBA World Championship. Often considered to be one of the most successful Serbian basketball players, Peja was named the Euroscar European Basketball Player of the Year by the Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport and the Mister Europa European Player of the Year twice by the Italian sports magazine Superbasket.

On December 19, 2011, Peja announced his retirement from basketball, ending a great career for one of the league’s greatest international players.

Pat Garrity

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2008  –  Thailand

Patrick Garrity is a former NBA player who played in the league for ten years. He was a member of the National Basketball Players Association Executive Committee from 2000 to 2008 where he served as Secretary and Treasurer. He is currently the assistant general manager of the Detroit Pistons.

At the University of Notre Dame, Garrity spent four years with the Fighting Irish, averaging double-digits in scoring in all four seasons, including a 23.2 point-per-game average in his senior season of 1997–98. He was the Big East Men’s Basketball Player of the Year in 1997. In 1998, he was a Consensus Second Team All-America selection. He was a two-time Academic All-America selection as well as Academic All-American of the Year for Men’s Division I basketball in 1998.

He was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks as their 19th pick during the 1998 NBA Draft before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks and then once again to the Phoenix Suns.

When he joined Orlando Magic, he played all 82 games, averaging 8.2 points per game and shot a 40.1 percent from three-point territory. In 2001, he hit a career high of 11.1 points per game.

Obinna Ekezie

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2005  –  Nigeria

Though he was heavily pursued by several colleges after finishing high school, Obinna signed on to attend and play basketball for the University of Maryland at College Park in 1995. In considering his educational future, he was drawn to the school by its engineering and IBM Total Quality Management programs. The same university was also part of the college basketball conference that Obinna considered to be the best at the time, the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Obinna played on their basketball team, the Terrapins, throughout his college career. In the 1999 NBA draft, he was picked in the second round and joined the Vancouver Grizzlies. Throughout the six years that followed, Obinna played for five different NBA teams and was also a member of three different international teams. When he sustained an injury in 2005, Obinna took his recovery time to seriously consider what he would do professionally at the close of his basketball career. Although this was an issue he had forethought many times, he knew the next chapter of his life was right around the corner.

Obinna retired from professional basketball in 2007 and moved home to Nigeria to pursue his new dream. He co-founded a travel website in 2008, Zeeptravel.com, while continuing to build an even bigger website at the same time. Two years later, during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Obinna and his business partner launched Wakanow. Through a series of aggressive business strategies and a strong concentration on customer service, it has become one of the fastest growing and largest Internet travel sites in Africa.

Neal Meyer

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2017  –  Jordan

Neal Meyer is a former NBA Assistant Coach with the Clippers and Trailblazer, as well as working a video coordinator and camp director for the Denver Nuggets’ offseason youth camps. He got his NBA start when he held the position of assistant video coordinator and camp director for the San Antonio Spurs in 1994. Meyer served as Head Coach for the Clippers entry in the 2006 Las Vegas Summer League and enjoys coaching and teaching internationally during his offseasons. He joined the NBA to oversee part of their Europe and Middle Eastern operations in 2010 before becoming Associate Vice President of Basketball Operations in EMEA in 2017.