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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who played in ten

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

(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, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

, Strong was selected by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially 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 Atlan ...

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 Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

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 Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

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 Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

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

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 Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

and

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

. In his

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

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. Strong played for the Quad City Thunder of 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) during the 1992–93 season. He was selected as the CBA Most Valuable Player and Newcomer of the Year, and named to the All-CBA First Team and All-Defensive Team.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1991–92 , align="left" , Washington , 1 , , 0 , , 12.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .750 , , 5.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" , 1992–93 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

, 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 is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, 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 commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, 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 , 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. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

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 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 Quad City Thunder players United States Basketball League players Washington Bullets players Xavier Musketeers men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen