Joe Kleine

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For the journalist, see Joe Klein. For similarly named people, see Joe Klein (disambiguation).
Joe Kleine
Joe Kleine 1986-87.jpg
Kleine, circa 1986
Personal information
Born (1962-01-04) January 4, 1962 (age 59)
Colorado Springs, Colorado
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
High schoolSlater (Slater, Missouri)
College
NBA draft1985 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6th overall
Selected by the Sacramento Kings
Playing career1985–2000
PositionCenter
Number35, 53
Coaching career2007–2015
Career history
As player:
1985–1989Sacramento Kings
1989–1993Boston Celtics
1993–1997Phoenix Suns
1997Los Angeles Lakers
1997New Jersey Nets
1997–1999Chicago Bulls
1999Phoenix Suns
1999–2000Portland Trail Blazers
As coach:
2007–2015Little Rock (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points4,666 (4.8 ppg)
Rebounds3,991 (4.1 rpg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
hide
Medals
Men’s basketball
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1984 Los Angeles Team competition
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1982 Colombia Team competition

Joseph William Kleine (born January 4, 1962) is a retired American professional basketball player who played fifteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and for the US national team. He won a gold medal as a member of the United States men's basketball team at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In 1998, he won the NBA championship as a member of the Chicago Bulls. Kleine is now a restaurant proprietor, owning a number of successful Corky's Ribs & BBQ restaurants.

College career[]

Kleine, a seven-foot center, graduated from Slater High School in Slater, Missouri and originally enrolled to play basketball at the University of Notre Dame. After his freshman season, Kleine transferred to the University of Arkansas where he played alongside Darrell Walker and Alvin Robertson, who, like Kleine, would go on to have productive professional careers.

Kleine's first season at Arkansas, he helped the Razorbacks to a 26-4 record, finish second in the Southwest Conference (SWC), and make the second round the NCAA Tournament. His junior season, Kleine helped Arkansas to a record of 25-7, another second place finish in the SWC, and a first round loss in the NCAA Tournament. The biggest victory of the season came on February 12, 1984 at the Convention Center in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, when Kleine helped the Razorbacks upset the #1 ranked North Carolina Tarheels, led by Michael Jordan, thanks to a basket by teammate Charles Balentine at the end of the game. It is considered one of the greatest victory's in Razorback basketball history. Kleine finished that game with 20 points and 10 rebounds. As a senior in the 1984-85 season, Kleine was named 1st Team All-SWC. Arkansas (22-13) finished second in the SWC for the third year in a row, and a second round loss in the NCAA Tournament. During his career at Arkansas, Kleine's most memorable games were against fellow center Hakeem Olajuwon and the University of Houston. Olajuwon was nicknamed "The Dream", while Kleine was known as "The Nightmare".

Professional career[]

Kleine was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the sixth pick in the 1985 NBA Draft. Kleine went on to have a fifteen-year NBA career, playing with the Kings as well as the Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets, Chicago Bulls, and Portland Trail Blazers. Kleine played on teams with legendary NBA players Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. He won an NBA championship in 1998, as a center, for a Chicago Bulls team that included Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Steve Kerr.

His best season was with the Kings in 1985, when he averaged 9.8 PPG. At the time of his retirement from the NBA, he'd scored 4,666 points, had 3,991 total rebounds, and had scored 849 free throws out of 1,069 attempts.

National team career[]

Kleine played for the US national team in the 1982 FIBA World Championship, winning the silver medal.[1] Along with his college teammate Robertson, he also won a gold medal as a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic basketball team coached by Bob Knight. Sportswriter Jon Goode would later write in part that "Joe Kleine was never a star, but what made Kleine great was that he accepted his role and was ready to play every night."[2]

Coaching career[]

After coaching AAU and high school basketball in Little Rock and serving as an analyst for Arkansas basketball games, Kleine was hired as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2007.[3]

Movie appearances[]

Kleine appeared in the 1996 movie Eddie as himself.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ 1982 USA Basketball Archived June 8, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Jon Goode (April 14, 2005). "Better than average Joe". Boston.com. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 9, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ Kyle Newport (August 13, 2014). "Former NBA Player Joe Kleine Received $0.38 Check for His Role in 'Eddie'". Bleacher Report. Retrieved February 9, 2020.

External links[]

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