Ryan Cleo Bowen (born November 20, 1975) 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 is currently an assistant coach for the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

of 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 was a 6'9",

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

College career

Bowen 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 ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

, where he finished in the top 10 of career blocks and rebounds, and continues to hold the record in career steals. In his senior year at Iowa, Bowen averaged 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game.

Professional career

Europe

Bowen was a second-round draft pick of the

in the

1998 NBA draft The 1998 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1998, at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This draft helped turn around four struggling franchises: the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, the Boston Celtics, and the Tor ...

, but he played his rookie season at Oyak Renault in the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

before joining the Nuggets in 1999. In January 2007, after being released by the Rockets, he was signed by TAU Cerámica to a two-month deal in advance of the

Euroleague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

top 16, in which they had already secured a top seed. The team has the option to extend the contract through the end of the European season. Because of an injury he left Spain and in March 2007, he signed with Ironi Naharia of the

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Premier League. During his stay with the team, he kept a blog of his experiences in Israel. He was waived in May 2007 by Naharia.

Denver Nuggets / Houston Rockets

After his stint on Turkey, he signed with the Nuggets in 1999. and played five seasons there before being picked up by the

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

. After two seasons with Houston, Bowen was released before the

2006–07 NBA season The 2006–07 NBA season was the 61st season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The San Antonio Spurs were crowned the champions after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *The first NBA draft und ...

began.

New Orleans Hornets

In the 2007 NBA offseason, Bowen signed with the

New Orleans Hornets 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 ...

as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Oklahoma City Thunder

In the 2009 NBA offseason, Bowen was a non-roster invite with 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 ...

and after training camp was offered a one-year contract. He was waived on November 25, 2009.

Post-playing career

Shortly after retiring from the NBA, Ryan returned to Iowa City to become the video coordinator for the

shortly after

Fran McCaffery Francis John McCaffery (born May 23, 1959) is an American college basketball coach who is the current men's basketball head coach at the University of Pennsylvania. He previously served as head coach of Lehigh University, UNC Greensboro, Siena, ...

took over. After spending a year plus in Iowa City working for the Hawkeyes, Ryan was hired as an assistant coach by the Denver Nuggets in December 2011. On August 21, 2013, Bowen was hired as an assistant coach and assistant director of player development by the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

. In July 2015, Bowen returned to the Denver Nuggets as an assistant following Denver's hire of Michael Malone as the head coach; he worked for Malone in Sacramento. Bowen coached the Denver Nuggets 2022 Summer League team. Bowen won his first NBA championship in

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

when the Nuggets defeated 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 5 games.

Off the court

Ryan Bowen has an older brother and an older sister, and has a daughter and two sons with his wife Wendy. He was awarded the Chopper Travaglini Award for his work in the Denver community, and has established the Ryan Bowen Family Foundation to help sponsor youth athletics, athletic facilities and college scholarships for children in southeastern Iowa and Denver, Colorado. The foundation also sponsors the "Floor Burns" basketball camp, which is held every summer in Iowa.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1999–00 , align="left" ,

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, 52 , , 0 , , 11.3 , , .393 , , .111 , , .717 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , .8 , , .3 , , 2.5 , - , align="left" , 2000–01 , align="left" ,

, 57 , , 0 , , 12.2 , , .556 , , .364 , , .614 , , 2.0 , , .5 , , .6 , , .2 , , 3.4 , - , align="left" , 2001–02 , align="left" ,

, 75 , , 21 , , 22.5 , , .479 , , .083 , , .750 , , 4.0 , , .7 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , 4.9 , - , align="left" , 2002–03 , align="left" ,

, 62 , , 31 , , 16.1 , , .492 , , .286 , , .659 , , 2.5 , , .9 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , 3.6 , - , align="left" , 2003–04 , align="left" ,

, 52 , , 1 , , 7.5 , , .340 , , .000 , , .833 , , 1.7 , , .3 , , .3 , , .3 , , .9 , - , align="left" , 2004–05 , align="left" ,

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, 66 , , 6 , , 9.2 , , .423 , , .500 , , .667 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , .3 , , .1 , , 1.7 , - , align="left" , 2005–06 , align="left" ,

, 68 , , 19 , , 9.6 , , .298 , , .136 , , .786 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .3 , , .1 , , 1.3 , - , align="left" , 2007–08 , align="left" ,

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, 53 , , 4 , , 12.5 , , .490 , , .000 , , .552 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , .6 , , .2 , , 2.2 , - , align="left" , 2008–09 , align="left" ,

, 21 , , 3 , , 10.4 , , .579 , , .000 , , .600 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .7 , , .2 , , 2.2 , - , align="left" , 2009–10 , align="left" ,

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, 1 , , 0 , , 8.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 4.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 507 , , 85 , , 12.8 , , .456 , , .206 , , .693 , , 2.1 , , .5 , , .6 , , .3 , , 2.6

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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, 7 , , 3 , , 17.9 , , .320 , , .000 , , .667 , , 2.0 , , .9 , , .9 , , .0 , , 2.6 , - , align="left" ,

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 ...

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, 9 , , 0 , , 4.3 , , .167 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.6 , , .2 , , .1 , , .0 , , .4 , - , align="left" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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, 1 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 21 , , 3 , , 8.2 , , .303 , , .000 , , .800 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.1

References

External links

*
NBA biography (1999-2009, in brief)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, Ryan 1975 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Iowa Basketball players from Iowa Denver Nuggets assistant coaches Denver Nuggets draft picks Denver Nuggets players Houston Rockets players Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball players Ironi Nahariya players Israeli Basketball Premier League players Liga ACB players New Orleans Hornets players Oklahoma City Thunder players Oyak Renault basketball players People from Fort Madison, Iowa Sportspeople from Lee County, Iowa Power forwards Sacramento Kings assistant coaches Saski Baskonia players