Professional Career
Recasner, a 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m), 190 pounds (86 kg) guard, was never selected in the NBA Draft. However, after spending the 1990–91 season with TTL Bamberg in Germany, he played in the Global Basketball Association in 1991–92. Then, he returned to Washington to play in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) during the 1992–93 and 1994–95 seasons. He played in the CBA for the franchise located in Yakima, Washington, which was near to the Seattle metropolitan area where the University of Washington was located. He played in Turkey in 1993–94. After leading the Yakima Sun Kings to the CBA championships as the league MVP, he signed to a 10-day contract with the Denver Nuggets on March 3, 1995 and played in three games. For the 1995–96 NBA season he signed as a free agent with the Houston Rockets. He signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Hawks for the 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons. He then signed with the Charlotte Hornets in January of the 1998–99 season where he stayed for parts of four seasons. He ended his career with two 10-day contracts for the L.A. Clippers in January 2002 after having been waived by the team.
Recasner himself considers being signed by the two-time defending NBA Champions Houston Rockets the highlight of his career. At that point he had gone from playing in the CBA to the best team in the NBA. Recasner earned the starting point guard spot over Kenny Smith and Sam Cassell. In one of his first games as a starter, he went five for six from the three-point line in the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons. Unfortunately, by the end of the season the Rockets had several players injured and several CBA players on their roster.
His most productive seasons were the two seasons with Atlanta where he totaled over 250 rebounds, 200 assists and nearly 1000 points in 130 games. He played in four post-seasons with three teams. Three of the four teams advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs. Recasner posted a career 41% (239–584) three-point shot field goal percentage and ranked in the leagues top 10 during the 1997–98 season with a 62–148 (.419) shooting percentage. His 1995–96 season three point statistics were better at 81–191 (.424), but he did not rank in the top 10 that season. He also posted an 89% (235–265) career free throw percentage.
"We played the Bulls in the second round of the playoffs. I remember hitting two 3-pointers on Steve Kerr, and Phil Jackson called a timeout to break the momentum. After the timeout, Michael Jordan switched over to defend me, and I remember asking him, ‘Wait a second, what are you doing?’ Jordan quickly responded, ‘I’m here to shut you down,’ and he smiled."
—Eldridge RecasnerIn a 1997 NBA Playoff game against the Chicago Bulls he got hot and scored 11 quick points in the third quarter to nearly help the Hawks comeback in the game to even the second-round playoff series at two games apiece. At one point after a hot shooting streak, the Bulls assigned Michael Jordan to defend Recasner and the Bulls then stopped the comeback. Recasner's defense also pressured Jordan into a travelling violation in the final minute of the game. However, efforts by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen saved the day for the Bulls.
Recasner was such a good free throw shooter that once in 1998 during the midst of a 36 consecutive successful free throw streak he was fouled in a two-shot foul situation with his team down by three points and 2.3 seconds left. His team needed him to make the first and miss the second, but he was unable to miss.
On October 27, 1999 he was hospitalized in an automobile driven by Derrick Coleman. Coleman had been driving an Sport utility vehicle and had collided with a tractor trailer and was charged with drunk driving. Coleman was eventually acquitted of the charges and found guilty of "unsafe movement". Recasner endured a fractured right shoulder, partially collapsed lung and other injuries, and a female passenger was also hospitalized. He missed 52 games due to the accident and when he returned to the lineup he only played in seven games. Recasner was very upset with Coleman who did not even check in on whether Recasner was O.K. for over a week after the accident. On Christmas Eve 1999 during his time on the injured reserve, Recasner dragged a Continental Airlines clerk across a table by his necktie in frustration while attempting to book a flight to Texas to visit his sister, who was involved in a serious car accident. Recasner was uncertain whether his sister would survive. He pled guilty to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and was sentenced to a 24-month deferred sentence, 45 hours of community service and ordered to pay $200 in court costs.
In 2004 he was named assistant coach of the Bellevue Blackhawks of the American Basketball Association.
Read more about this topic: Eldridge Recasner
Famous quotes containing the words professional and/or career:
“The belief that there are final and immutable answers, and that the professional expert has them, is one that mothers and professionals tend to reinforce in each other. They both have a need to believe it. They both seem to agree, too, that if the professional’s prescription doesn’t work it is probably because of the mother’s inadequacy.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“What exacerbates the strain in the working class is the absence of money to pay for services they need, economic insecurity, poor daycare, and lack of dignity and boredom in each partner’s job. What exacerbates it in upper-middle class is the instability of paid help and the enormous demands of the career system in which both partners become willing believers. But the tug between traditional and egalitarian models of marriage runs from top to bottom of the class ladder.”
—Arlie Hochschild (20th century)