Derek Lamar Strong (born February 9, 1968) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who played in ten

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA) seasons from 1991 to 2001 for six different teams. A 6'8" forward from

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...

, Strong was selected by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

in the second round (47th pick overall) of the 1990 NBA draft. Strong has successfully transitioned into stock car racing.

Professional basketball career

Strong played for the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

, Los Angeles Lakers,

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was estab ...

and

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

. In his

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...

career, Strong played in 456 games and scored a total of 3,088 points. His best year as a professional came during the 1997–98 season as a member of the Magic, appearing in 58 games and averaging 12.7 ppg. In 1992–93, Strong was named the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA) Most Valuable Player, while playing with the

Quad City Thunder The Quad City Thunder was a Continental Basketball Association franchise that was based in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. They played in the CBA from the 1987–88 season until the CBA folded in 2001. The Thunder were successful on the co ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1991–92 , align="left" ,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, 1 , , 0 , , 12.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .750 , , 5.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" ,

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since th ...

, align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, 23 , , 0 , , 14.7 , , .457 , , .500 , , .800 , , 5.0 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 6.8 , - , align="left" , 1993–94 , align="left" ,

, 67 , , 11 , , 16.9 , , .413 , , .231 , , .772 , , 4.2 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 6.6 , - , align="left" , 1994–95 , align="left" ,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

, 70 , , 24 , , 19.2 , , .453 , , .286 , , .820 , , 5.4 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 6.3 , - , align="left" , 1995–96 , align="left" , L.A. Lakers , 63 , , 0 , , 11.8 , , .426 , , .111 , , .812 , , 2.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 3.4 , - , align="left" , 1996–97 , align="left" ,

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures r ...

, 82 , , 21 , , 24.4 , , .447 , , .000 , , .803 , , 6.3 , , 0.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 8.5 , - , align="left" , 1997–98 , align="left" ,

, 58 , , 8 , , 28.2 , , .420 , , .000 , , .781 , , 7.4 , , 0.9 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 12.7 , - , align="left" , 1998–99 , align="left" ,

, 44 , , 0 , , 15.8 , , .422 , , .000 , , .717 , , 3.7 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 5.1 , - , align="left" , 1999–00 , align="left" ,

, 20 , , 0 , , 7.4 , , .438 , , .250 , , .786 , , 2.2 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 2.7 , - , align="left" , 2000–01 , align="left" ,

L.A. Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division in the league's Western C ...

, 28 , , 8 , , 17.5 , , .385 , , .000 , , .757 , , 3.9 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 4.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 456 , , 72 , , 18.7 , , .430 , , .180 , , .786 , , 4.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 6.8

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1994–95 , align="left" ,

, 4 , , 1 , , 20.3 , , .333 , , .000 , , .500 , , 6.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 2.8 , - , align="left" , 1996–97 , align="left" ,

, 5 , , 5 , , 39.0 , , .525 , , .000 , , .760 , , 10.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 12.2 , - , align="left" , 1998–99 , align="left" ,

, 1 , , 0 , , 16.0 , , .500 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 10 , , 6 , , 29.2 , , .481 , , .000 , , .727 , , 7.4 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 7.6

College

, - , align="left" , 1987–88 , align="left" , Xavier , 30 , , - , , 22.3 , , .569 , , .000 , , .718 , , 7.1 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 10.6 , - , align="left" , 1988–89 , align="left" , Xavier , 33 , , 31 , , 29.8 , , .617 , , .000 , , .817 , , 8.0 , , 0.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 15.3 , - , align="left" , 1989–90 , align="left" , Xavier , 33 , , 31 , , 29.7 , , .533 , , .000 , , .839 , , 9.9 , , 0.9 , , 0.8 , , 0.8 , , 14.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 96 , , 62 , , 27.4 , , .573 , , .000 , , .802 , , 8.4 , , 0.7 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 13.4

NASCAR career

During his tenure in the

, Derek was an avid

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

fan and remained committed to pursuing this childhood dream when his playing days ended. Strong transitioned into a professional stock car driver and owner of Strong Racing Team Derek is the first NBA player to successfully transition into stock car racing. Strong Racing is the first team in NASCAR history to have African-American female owners – Dawn Whitaker and Erika Hill. Strong Racing is a Stock Car Racing Team that competes in ASA and NASCAR Racing events. Strong Racing is managed by

Stuart Lycett Stuart may refer to: Names *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) Automobile * Stuart (automobile) Places Australia Generally * Stuart Highway, connecting South Australia and the Northern Territory North ...

and is based in Los Angeles.

Charities

Strong supports many charities including The Music City Motorsports Institute, a non-profit associated with Strong Racing that seeks to motivate and inspire students to achieve academic success with an educational platform of learning, discovery and fun in the motor sports industry. Co-owner of Strong Racing, Erika Hill is also the co-founder of Peace International, a non-profit organization whose primary mission is to build schools in remote areas throughout the world.

References

External links

Derek Strong NBA statistics
''basketballreference.com''
Derek Strong interview with Looktothestars.comDerek Strong's Charity Work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Derek 1968 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from Los Angeles Boston Celtics players CB Peñas Huesca players Columbus Riverdragons players Liga ACB players Los Angeles Clippers players Los Angeles Lakers players Milwaukee Bucks players Orlando Magic players Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Power forwards (basketball) Quad City Thunder players United States Basketball League players Xavier Musketeers men's basketball players Washington Bullets players