Tariq Abdul-Wahad

Tariq Abdul-Wahad (born Olivier Michael Saint-Jean; November 3, 1974) is a French basketball coach and former player. As Olivier Saint-Jean, he played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines and San Jose State Spartans. In 1997, the Sacramento Kings selected Saint-Jean in the first round of the NBA draft as the 11th overall pick, and Saint-Jean converted to Islam and changed his name to Tariq Abdul-Wahad. From 1997 to 2003, Abdul-Wahad played in the NBA for the Kings, Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets, and Dallas Mavericks. He was the first player to be raised in France and play in the NBA.

Tariq Abdul-Wahad

Abdul-Wahad in 2007
Personal information
Born	(1974-11-03) November 3, 1974 (age 50) Maisons-Alfort, Val-de-Marne, France
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	223 lb (101 kg)
Career information
High school	Aristide Briand (Évreux, France)
College	Michigan (1993–1994) San Jose State (1995–1997)
NBA draft	1997: 1st round, 11th overall
Drafted by	Sacramento Kings
Playing career	1997–2003
Position	Shooting guard / small forward
Number	9
Coaching career	2011–2016
Career history
As a player:
1997–1999	Sacramento Kings
1999–2000	Orlando Magic
2000–2002	Denver Nuggets
2002–2003	Dallas Mavericks
As a coach:
2011–2012	Cal State Monterey Bay (women's assistant)
2012–2016	Lincoln HS
Career highlights
First-team All-WAC (1997)
Career NBA statistics
Points	1,830 (7.8 ppg)
Rebounds	776 (3.3 rpg)
Assists	266 (1.1 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals Representing  France Men's Basketball European U-18 Championship 1992 Hungary U-18 Team

Early life and college years

Olivier Saint-Jean was born in Maisons-Alfort near Paris.^[1] His mother George Goudet was a professional basketball player.^[2] His step-father Quinis Brower was a former Hofstra University and pro basketball player who was drafted by the ABA's New York Nets before a professional career in France, playing with the club team Limoges.^[3][4]

After graduating from Lycee Aristide Briand in 1993, Abdul-Wahad first played college basketball for two years at Michigan and transferred to San Jose State in 1995.^[5] Abdul-Wahad was part of the San Jose State team that won the 1996 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament and made the NCAA Tournament despite a 13–16 record.^[1]

Then as a senior with SJSU, Abdul-Wahad ranked as the seventh-leading scorer in the country, averaging 23.8 points.^[6] His No. 3 jersey was retired by San Jose State in 2002; however, the banner hanging in the Event Center Arena refers to him as Olivier Saint-Jean, the name he used while in college. He changed his name to Tariq Abdul-Wahad after converting to Islam in 1997.^[2]

Professional career

Abdul-Wahad's peak year as a pro was with the Sacramento Kings in the lockout-shortened 1999 NBA season, when he was a starter for the team. They pushed the Utah Jazz to the brink of elimination but lost in the fifth and final game of the series.

He was known as a defensive specialist, but his playing time was restricted in later seasons due to injuries. He only played in 236 out of a possible 624 games between 1997 and 2005. In the whole 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons Abdul-Wahad was on the Dallas Mavericks' roster on injured reserve, as he was permanently unable to play. He was released by Mavericks on 28 September 2005, during training camp prior to the 2005–06 season. In November 2006 Italian team Climamio Bologna invited Abdul-Wahad to a try out, but he was not signed.^[7]

NBA career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1997–98	Sacramento	59	16	16.3	.403	.211	.672	2.0	.9	.6	.2	6.4
1998–99	Sacramento	49	49	24.6	.435	.286	.691	3.8	1.0	1.0	.3	9.3
1999–00	Orlando	46	46	26.2	.433	.095	.762	5.2	1.6	1.2	.3	12.2
1999–00	Denver	15	10	24.9	.389	.500	.738	3.5	1.7	.4	.8	8.9
2000–01	Denver	29	12	14.5	.387	.400	.583	2.0	.8	.5	.4	3.8
2001–02	Denver	20	12	20.9	.379	.500	.750	3.9	1.1	.9	.5	6.8
2001–02	Dallas	4	0	6.0	.000	–	.000	1.5	.5	.5	.3	.0
2002–03	Dallas	14	0	14.6	.466	.000	.500	2.9	1.5	.4	.2	4.1
Career		236	145	20.4	.417	.237	.703	3.3	1.1	.8	.4	7.8

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1999	Sacramento	5	5	19.8	.455	.000	.813	3.8	.8	.8	.8	8.6
2003	Dallas	8	0	9.9	.300	.000	.875	2.8	.9	.0	.0	3.1
Career		13	5	13.7	.381	.000	.833	3.2	.8	.3	.3	5.2

National team career

Abdul-Wahad (as Oliver Saint Jean) played for the France men's national under-18 basketball team at the 1992 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship where his team won gold.^[8][9] As a senior player for France, he won the silver medal in the 2000 Olympic game in Sydney losing against the US in the final.

Post-playing years

In 2005, Abdul-Wahad played the part of King Negus of Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in the video play Mercy to Mankind: Part 1, The Prophecy Fulfilled, sponsored by the MAS (Muslim American Society) Youth Chapter, Dallas, Texas.^[10]

Abdul-Wahad finished his B.A. in art history at San Jose State University in 2008 and enrolled in the M.A. program at San Jose State afterwards.^[1][11] He later started a clothing business in Brazil with a friend and a television production company in France.^[1][12]

On July 21, 2011, the Division II Cal State Monterey Bay Otters women's basketball team hired Abdul-Wahad as an assistant coach.^[13]

Abdul-Wahad became head varsity boys' basketball coach at Lincoln High School of San Jose, California in 2012.^[12]

Abdul-Wahad unsuccessfully pushed for the Israeli national team to be banned from participating in his home country's 2024 Paris Summer Olympics (https://www.jpost.com/international/article-808502).