Lukas Robin Ridnour (born February 13, 1981) 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 12 seasons in the

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). 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 ...

for the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

Early life

Ridnour was born in

Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Coeur d'Alene ( ; ) is a city and the county seat of Kootenai County, Idaho, United States. It is the most populous city in North Idaho and the principal city of the Coeur d'Alene Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 54,628 at th ...

, and grew up in

Blaine, Washington Blaine is a city in Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The city's northern boundary is the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. border; the Peace Arch international monument straddl ...

. His father, Rob, was his basketball coach during high school. During his sophomore year, his father gave him the gym keys so he could practice during the day and late into the night. Subsequently, he was on two state title-winning teams at Blaine High School and was named a high school All-American by

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

and Parade in 2000, his graduation year.

College career

Ridnour starred at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

, where he teamed with Luke Jackson and Fred Jones to take the Ducks to the

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

twice, including the Elite 8 in 2002. He set the school season record for assists (218) and made a conference-record 62 consecutive free throws. Ridnour averaged 19.7 points per game and 6.6 assists per game. Ridnour left Oregon after his junior year, when he was Pac-10 Player of the Year.

Professional career

Seattle SuperSonics (2003–2008)

Luke was picked 14th in the 2003 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. Ridnour played sparingly during his rookie season, but became the starting point guard for the Sonics in the 2004–05 season. He participated in the 2005 All-Star weekend, playing in the Rookie Challenge and Skills Challenge. During the

2005 NBA Playoffs The 2005 NBA playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2004–05 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs defeating the Eastern Conference champion Detroit P ...

, Ridnour and the Sonics reached the conference semifinals, where Ridnour averaged 10.8 points, 3.7 assists, and 3.3 rebounds as they were eliminated by the eventual champion

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in a six-game series. On November 13, 2006, Ridnour scored a career-high 32 points, including four made free throws to seal the victory, while leading Seattle to a 119–113 win over the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

Milwaukee Bucks (2008–2010)

On August 13, 2008, Ridnour was involved in a three-team, six-player deal involving the Sonics (which had become the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

), the

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 ...

, and the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

, that sent Milwaukee's Mo Williams to Cleveland, Cleveland's Joe Smith and Milwaukee's Desmond Mason to Seattle, Cleveland's Damon Jones and Ridnour and Adrian Griffin to Milwaukee, which ended Ridnour's five-year run with the Sonics/Thunder. On January 22, 2010, Ridnour scored a season-high 27 points during a 101–96 loss to the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

Minnesota Timberwolves (2010–2013)

On July 21, 2010, Ridnour signed a four-year, $16 million contract with the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

. On February 22, 2012, he scored a buzzer-beater with a floater against the Utah Jazz.

Return to Milwaukee (2013–2014)

On July 11, 2013, Ridnour was reacquired by the Bucks in a three-team transaction that brought

shooting guard Kevin Martin to the

Charlotte Bobcats (2014)

On February 20, 2014, Ridnour was traded to Charlotte along with Gary Neal in exchange for Ramon Sessions and Jeff Adrien.

Orlando Magic (2014–2015)

On July 25, 2014, Ridnour signed with the Orlando Magic. His final NBA game was played on April 1, 2015, in a 91–103 loss to the

, in which he recorded six points and one assist.

Retirement

In June 2015, Ridnour garnered national attention as he was traded four times in six days. On June 24, he was traded to the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

in exchange for the draft rights to

Jānis Timma Jānis Timma (2 July 1992 – 17 December 2024) was a Latvian professional basketball player. Standing at , he mainly played at the small forward position. He also represented the senior Latvia men's national basketball team, Latvia national team ...

. On June 25, the Grizzlies sent him to the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

in exchange for Matt Barnes; later that same day, he was traded with a 2016 second-round draft pick, to the

in exchange for Jeremy Lamb. Lastly, on June 30, Ridnour was traded to the

along with cash considerations in exchange for the draft rights to

Tomislav Zubčić Tomislav Zubčić (born 17 January 1990) is a Croatian professional basketball player currently playing for Napoli Basket (2016), Napoli Basket of the Lega Basket Serie A. Standing at , he plays both the Power forward (basketball), power forward ...

. Ridnour later stated in an interview with ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' that he found the whole situation rather "funny," as he and his family were at their home in Seattle while the moves were unfolding. On July 9, 2015, he was waived by the Raptors, adding to the list of teams he never visited during the two-week. On September 21, 2015, Ridnour announced his decision to sit out the 2015–16 season. On June 22, 2016, Ridnour announced his retirement from professional basketball.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

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, 61 , , 5 , , 20.0 , , .399 , , .296 , , .857 , , 1.5 , , 4.0 , , .6 , , .2 , , 6.4 , - , align="left" , , 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 ...

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Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

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, 53 , , 53 , , 33.0 , , .440 , , .322 , , .891 , , 2.7 , , 4.8 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 12.1 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

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, 36 , , 12 , , 21.2 , , .384 , , .368 , , .684 , , 1.7 , , 3.4 , , .6 , , .1 , , 5.7 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Charlotte , 25 , , 2 , , 15.1 , , .389 , , .300 , , .571 , , 1.4 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , .2 , , 4.0 , - , align="left" , , 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 ...

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Playoffs

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2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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Personal life

Ridnour is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Ridnour has spoken about his faith saying, "Even though I now have more success, fame, and money than I ever dreamed, my relationship with

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

is the only thing that brings me true peace and satisfaction."

References

External links

* *
ESPN.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridnour, Luke 1981 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Idaho Basketball players from Washington (state) Charlotte Bobcats players McDonald's High School All-Americans Milwaukee Bucks players Minnesota Timberwolves players Oregon Ducks men's basketball players Orlando Magic players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Blaine, Washington Sportspeople from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Point guards Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Seattle SuperSonics players