Matthew Allen Geiger (born September 10, 1969) is an American former professional

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) player who played at the center position.

College career

Geiger played for Countryside High School in

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city and the county seat of Pinellas County, Florida, United States, west of Tampa, Florida, Tampa and north of St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies T ...

and was recruited to play

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 ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

. He played with Auburn before transferring to Georgia Tech for more playing time.

NBA career

His successful college career led Geiger to be selected by the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

in the second round (42nd pick overall) of the 1992 NBA draft. He played in the NBA for 10 seasons from 1992 to 2002 with 3 teams:

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 ...

, and

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 summer of 2000, Matt Geiger's refusal to waive a $5 million trade kicker clause in his contract stopped a four-team deal between Philadelphia, the Hornets, the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons 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 L.A. Lakers that would have sent All-Star player Allen Iverson to the Pistons. He was suspended for 2 games during the 2000–01 season for a violation of the NBA/NBPA's steroid policy. Geiger signed a contract in 2001 with the

but knee injuries forced him to retire in 2002 after a ten-year career. For his career, he averaged 9.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1987–88 , style="text-align:left;", Auburn , 30 , , 13 , , 19.9 , , .513 , , – , , .660 , , 4.1 , , .8 , , .4 , , .3 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1988–89 , style="text-align:left;", Auburn , 28 , , 28 , , 28.8 , , .504 , , .000 , , .688 , , 6.6 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .9 , , 15.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1989–90 , style="text-align:left;", Georgia Tech , style="text-align:center;" colspan="11", Transfer , - , style="text-align:left;", 1990–91 , style="text-align:left;", Georgia Tech , 27 , , 24 , , 26.3 , , .549 , , .000 , , .671 , , 6.4 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 1.1 , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1991–92 , style="text-align:left;", Georgia Tech , 35 , , 35 , , 27.2 , , .611 , , .000 , , .706 , , 7.3 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , 1.9 , , 11.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 120 , , 100 , , 25.6 , , .545 , , .000 , , .687 , , 6.1 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , 1.1 , , 11.4

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, 48 , , 2 , , 11.5 , , .524 , , .000 , , .674 , , 2.5 , , .3 , , .3 , , .4 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 72 , , 0 , , 16.7 , , .574 , , .200 , , .779 , , 4.2 , , .4 , , .5 , , .4 , , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 74 , , 43 , , 23.1 , , .536 , , .400 , , .650 , , 5.6 , , .7 , , .6 , , .7 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 77 , , 50 , , 30.5 , , .536 , , .375 , , .727 , , 8.4 , , .8 , , .6 , , .8 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 49 , , 13 , , 21.3 , , .489 , , .300 , , .701 , , 5.3 , , .8 , , .4 , , .6 , , 8.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 78 , , 42 , , 23.6 , , .505 , , .091 , , .712 , , 6.7 , , 1.0 , , .9 , , 1.1 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, style="background:#cfecec;", 50* , , 40 , , 30.8 , , .479 , , .200 , , .797 , , 7.2 , , 1.2 , , .8 , , .8 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 65 , , 20 , , 21.6 , , .441 , , .000 , , .779 , , 6.0 , , .6 , , .4 , , .3 , , 9.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 4 , , 15.5 , , .393 , , .000 , , .685 , , 4.0 , , .4 , , .3 , , .2 , , 6.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 0 , , 8.8 , , .125 , , , , .500 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , .0 , , .5 , , .8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 552 , , 214 , , 22.1 , , .499 , , .232 , , .728 , , 5.7 , , .7 , , .6 , , .6 , , 9.2 , -

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 5.5 , , .000 , , , , .500 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 3 , , 0 , , 10.3 , , .667 , , , , 1.000 , , 2.7 , , .7 , , .7 , , .3 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Charlotte , 4 , , 0 , , 5.5 , , .167 , , , , , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 8 , , 8 , , 29.9 , , .438 , , .000 , , .828 , , 7.6 , , .8 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 8 , , 0 , , 16.0 , , .500 , , , , .800 , , 5.0 , , .3 , , .6 , , .3 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , , 0 , , 8.3 , , .586 , , , , 1.000 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , .2 , , .0 , , 3.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 37 , , 8 , , 14.4 , , .468 , , .000 , , .823 , , 3.7 , , .5 , , .5 , , .2 , , 6.1 , -

Personal life

Geiger resides in Tarpon Springs, Florida where he is a real estate investor. His estate, reported as the largest in the county, sold on January 3, 2011, for 8 million dollars. '' The Punisher'' used this home as the residence of

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...

's character Mr. Saint. In January 1992, during Geiger's senior year at Georgia Tech, his

fraternal twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

Mark Geiger was diagnosed with

Hodgkin's disease Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

at the age of 22. Because his brother lost his hair during

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

, Matt Geiger shaved his head during his NBA career in support of his brother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geiger, Matt 1969 births Living people American men's basketball players Auburn Tigers men's basketball players Basketball players from Pinellas County, Florida Basketball players from Essex County, Massachusetts Centers (basketball) Charlotte Hornets players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball players Miami Heat draft picks Miami Heat players Philadelphia 76ers players Sportspeople from Clearwater, Florida Sportspeople from Salem, Massachusetts 20th-century American sportsmen