Cal Basketball: Silver Anniversary Award to Former Star Shareef Abdur-Rahim

Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who went from being the Pac-10 Player of the Year as a Cal freshman to a successful NBA career and now president of the NBA’s G League, is being honored with the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.

Abdur-Rahim, who played just one season at Cal (1995-96) before being the No. 3 pick in the NBA draft, is among seven people being honored on the 25th anniversary of their last year in college.

The award recognizes achievements in their college and professional careers, along with civic contributions.

Abdur-Rahim is the second former Cal basketball player to earn the Silver Anniversary Award, joining Kevin Johnson, who played for the Bears from 1984-87 and was honored by the NCAA in 2012.

Others receiving the award this year are Adam J. Burgasser (UC San Diego, swimming & diving), Michelle M. Marciniak (Tennessee, basketball), Fernando Palomo (Texas A&M, track & field), Amy E. Reinhard (Harvard, softball and basketball), Lt. Col. Dan Rooney (Kansas, golf) and Michelle Cusimano (Virginia, lacrosse and field hockey).

Silver Anniversary honorees will be recognized during a virtual honors celebration awards show next Wednesday. The show will be streamed at 4 p.m. PT on the NCAA Twitter account and on the ESPN app.

Abdur-Rahim arrived at Cal from suburban Atlanta as one of the nation’s elite basketball recruits. He was a star from the start, averaging 31.3 points his first three college games.

He led the Pac-10 in scoring at 21.1 points per game in 1995-96, and averaged 8.4 rebounds. While leading the Bears to the NCAA tournament, Abdur-Rahim also set team freshman records in points, scoring average, field goals made and free throws made, all of which still stand today.

The 6-foot-9 forward became the first player voted Pac-10 Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. He was named a third team All-American by the Associated Press and later was selected to the Pac-12 Hall of Honor.

He played 12 years with four different organizations in the NBA, averaging 18.1 points and 7.5 rebounds.

Abdur-Rahim was a 2001-02 NBA All-Star and the sixth youngest player in league history to record 10,000 career points. He won a gold medal with the U.S. team at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, and helped the Sacramento Kings to their first playoff appearance in team history in 2006.

After his playing career, Abdur-Rahim joined the Sacramento Kings front office staff, serving as assistant general manager. In 2016, he was hired as the NBA's vice president for basketball operations before being named president of the NBA G League in 2018.

In the video at the top of this story, Abdur-Rahim talks about why he returned to school to earn his degree in sociology in 2012 — 16 years after first attending Cal. He was subsequently awarded the Pete Newell Career Achievement Award by Cal.

He founded The Future Foundation, an organization that has provided educational, health and life skills programs to more than 20,000 Atlanta-area children. In 2008, he was presented the Trumpet Usher Raymond Altruism Award honoring excellence in the African American community.

COVER PHOTO COURTESY OF CAL ATHLETICS

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo