Lincoln "Link" Abrams (born 11 July 1973) is an American-New Zealand former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

in the United States for

New Mexico Military Institute New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) is a public military junior college and high school in Roswell, New Mexico. Founded in 1891, NMMI operates under the auspices of the State of New Mexico, under a dedicated Board of Regents that reports t ...

and Centenary College. He debuted in the New Zealand National Basketball League (NBL) in 2003 and played his final NBL season in 2013, playing his entire career with the

Taranaki Mountainairs The Taranaki Airs are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Pl ...

Early life

Abrams was born in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

Playing career

College and early years after

Abrams first played

before transferring to Centenary College. As a junior at Centenary in 1994–95, he averaged 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 blocks in 27 games. As a senior in 1995–96, he averaged 18.3 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.1 blocks in 27 games. After graduating from college, Abrams attempted to play in Spain and had a stint in Bolivia with Ingenieros.

Taranaki Stormers (1998–2002)

In 1998, Abrams moved to New Zealand to play for the Taranaki Stormers in the

Conference Basketball League The Conference Basketball League (CBL) was a second-tier men's semi-professional basketball league in New Zealand. During the 1980s and 1990s, the CBL was a second-tier league beneath the National Basketball League (NBL), with promotion and re ...

(CBL), the national second division competition. For the next two years, he split his year between his hometown of Little Rock and

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

. He stayed on in 2001 and remained in New Zealand for the rest of his playing career. In 2001, Abrams helped the Stormers win the CBL Central Conference and was named to the CBL Finals All-Star Five. In 2002, he led the Stormers to a perfect 18–0 season while winning the CBL Central Conference and the CBL championship. The Stormers defeated the Kaikoura Whale Riders 85–81 in the final, with Abrams recording 18 points and 17 rebounds. He was subsequently named to the CBL playoff tournament team.

Taranaki Mountainairs (2003–2013)

Abrams made his National Basketball League (NBL) debut with the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and proved he could play as an undersized power player at the higher level. In his first NBL season, he averaged 28.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game and earned league All-Star Five honours. Following the 2003 season, Abrams gained New Zealand citizenship and attended the

Tall Blacks The New Zealand men's national basketball team () represents New Zealand in international basketball competitions. The team is governed by Basketball New Zealand. The team's official nickname is the Tall Blacks (). Over their history, New Zeal ...

' Olympic trials. In his fourth season with the Mountainairs in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, Abrams was named Co-Kiwi MVP, Most Outstanding Forward, Most Outstanding Kiwi Forward/Centre and All-Star Five. He averaged 20.4 points and a league-leading 11.5 rebounds per game, earning him the Garry Pettis Memorial Trophy for being the rebounding champion. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, Abrams was twice named player of the week and finished second in the league with 9.8 rebounds per game. In the opening game of the 2009 season, Abrams ruptured the

patellar tendon The patellar tendon is the distal portion of the common tendon of the quadriceps femoris, which is continued from the patella to the tibial tuberosity. It is also sometimes called the patellar ligament as it forms a bone to bone connection whe ...

in his right knee. He underwent surgery and was ruled out for the rest of the season. He had not missed a match for Taranaki in the previous six seasons. Recovery took longer than expected and he subsequently missed the entire 2010 season as well. Abrams returned to the Mountainairs' line-up for the 2011 season and averaged 10.8 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, as well as a league-leading .649 field goal percentage. In

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, he averaged 11.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. In his final season in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, Abrams averaged 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. In the season finale, he recorded 27 points and 18 rebounds in a 144–137 quadruple overtime loss to the

Otago Nuggets The Otago Nuggets are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Dunedin. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Edgar Centre. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as the ...

. Abrams finished his NBL career with 2,950 points (18.8pg) and 1,410 rebounds (9.0pg) in 157 games.

Personal life

Abrams was a math teacher at

Spotswood College Spotswood College is a co-educational state secondary school in Spotswood, New Plymouth, New Zealand. It was founded in 1960 and celebrated its 50th Jubilee in 2010. It was formerly New Zealand's largest school. It is New Plymouth's only co-ed ...

during and after his basketball career.

References

External links

Basketball New Zealand profile"A long road back for numbers man Abrams"
at stuff.co.nz {{DEFAULTSORT:Abrams, Link 1973 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American men's basketball players Centenary Gentlemen basketball players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States New Mexico Military Institute alumni Power forwards Basketball players from Little Rock, Arkansas Taranaki Mountainairs players 20th-century American sportsmen