The story of Curry-Rauf in the 90s and its path to blackening

Apparently, Stephen Curry changed the NBA. But what if I were to tell you that there was a player in the '90s who had almost exactly the same style of play as Curry?

Probably the first name to flash in your mind was Stephen Curry's father, Dale Curry, who spent most of his career playing for the Charlotte Hornets. Dale is also a sharpshooter, but his style of play is not like his son's. There were other sharpshooters in the '90s, like Reggie Miller, Dale Ellis, and even Ray Allen, but none of them played like Stephen Curry.

Before Curry, the player who played the most like Curry had the name of Mohammed Abdul-Raough. Many of you may not have heard of the name Abdur-Raough in this day and age, and if I had said it, it would most likely have been intentional...

Let us come back to that later. First, let's start by talking about who Mohammed Abdul Raough is. Abdul-Raough was born on March 9, 1969, under the name Chris Wayne Jackson.

Raough grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi's second-largest city. He was raised in a single-parent household with his two brothers. Raouff had a difficult childhood, not only because he grew up in extreme poverty, but also at the age of 17 he was diagnosed with moderate Tourette syndrome (note: a severe neurotic disorder), so he did not attend the fourth grade. Even while dealing with these physical and psychological problems, Raough became a star player at the high school he attended (Gulfport High School). Raouff averaged 29.9 points and 5.7 assists per game in his final year of high school. His outstanding performance this year also allowed him to be a successful finalist for the McDonald's All-American Competition. In 1987 and 1988, he was twice named "Mississippi BasketballEre." It was unbelievable that he was a high school student and had never played a formal basketball game.

At that time, he was practicing shooting outside at lunchtime, and the coach of the middle school girls' basketball team happened to pass by and saw Rauf's talent, so she urged Rauf's mother to let him undergo formal basketball training. Although the rules of basketball are not yet known, in the first game, Rauf scored 24 points.

After that, Raough moved into Louisiana State University to play for the Tigers at LSU. In his third game alone, Raouff scored 48 points against Louisiana Tech. Later that year, Raouff scored 53 points against the University of Florida, setting a freshman scoring record. It was an impressive scoring feat, especially for a freshman, but for Raough it wasn't over.

On March 4, 1989, against the University of Mississippi, Rauf scored 55 points to set a new freshman scoring record. In addition, he hit 10 three-pointers, setting a career-high three-pointer. What made the game even more special was that Gerald Glass of the University of Mississippi also scored 53 points. Together, the two of them scored 108 points, the highest scores ever scored by the same game in the Southeast Conference.

Mohammed Abdul-Raough's freshman career was undoubtedly incredible. He averaged 30.2 points per game and 965 points per game, both of which were NCAA freshman records at the time. It also led to Raough being named Southeastern League Player of the Year and named to the All-American First Team. After playing just one more year and averaging 27.8 points per game, Raouff ended his college career. He was named Southeast Conference Player of the Year for the second consecutive year and was named to the All-American First Team.

After two years at Luda, Mohammed Abdul-Raough announced his participation in the 1990 NBA Draft, followed by the Denver Nuggets with the third overall pick in the first round.

Rauf is ready for the NBA, extending his playing style and standards to the professional arena. In just 22.5 minutes per game, Raough averaged 14.1 points and 3.1 assists per game, making him a rookie second team in the NBA. Over the next five seasons, Raough's average climbed steadily, averaging 10.3, 19.2, 18.0, 16.0 and 19.2, respectively. On December 8, 1995, Raouff scored a career-high 51 points against the Utah Jazz.

Raough's game is not only a high score, but more importantly, the way he plays. In those days, the best shooters usually used cover to bounce off the three-point line, catch the ball and shoot 3 points, or catch the ball at a fixed point and shoot from a distance. Then we had Raough, who could dribble like Aaron Iverson, create shots for himself like Reggie Miller and shoot from distance. This aspect is also rare in today's NBA.

Raouff's most memorable game was against Michael Jordan and his 72-10 Chicago Bulls in 1996. But before getting to the point, I want to remind you that this is not the first time That Rauf has dueled with Michael Jordan, and I am not referring to their alignment earlier in the NBA.

Sometime in the late 1980s, as a high school student, Rauf attended basketball events hosted by Michael Jordan. During the event, Jordan picked Rauf from the crowd and played him in a one-on-one match. According to Raouff, in the first round he pretended to break to the right, but took the left side, then changed to break through Jordan to score a layup, as he described, "(Jordan) can only smell my tail". Then, on his second possession, he crossed Jordan with a crosswalk and scored again on the layup. As a result, this forced Jordan to grab the ball and then let him sit down.

Of course, there's no video evidence that Raough was able to score two consecutive points against GOAT Jordan when he was a high school student, but as mentioned earlier, his most notable game was against Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, who eventually won 72 games that season.

It was February 4, 1996, and the Chicago Bulls came to Denver with an 18-game winning streak and 41-3 records. The Nuggets' record at this time was only an embarrassing 18-26. But it didn't matter to either Raough or the Denver Nuggets as they led 68-43 at halftime to beat the Bulls. In the first half alone, Raough had 23 points, four rebounds and five assists. Denver fans felt their home team was about to enjoy an easy big win, but they forgot that there was a man named Michael Jordan in the Chicago Bulls as the opponent. The all-time player scored 22 of his 39 points in the third quarter, bringing the game back to suspense. Raouff scored just nine points in the second half, but with 52.6 seconds left in the game he hit a deadly jumper. The jumper gave the Nuggets a four-point lead and a 105-99 win.

The victory over the Bulls was naturally impressive, but more importantly, Raouff showed people how good he could be as a shooter. He led the league twice in free throw shooting, including in the 1993-1994 season when he missed a free throw shooting record for giving up a single goal. He has a staggering 95.6% shooting percentage on the free throw line.

Next, you think That Raough will become a household name in the following years of the NBA, right? But I'll tell you, no. Why is the main thing? He has talent, why does his starlight fade so quickly?

The blunt answer is that Mohammed Abdul-Raough is not Stephen Curry of the 1990s, he is Colin Kaepernick of the 90s.

In 1996, as a proud Muslim, Abdel-Raough said he would no longer pay homage to the national anthem because "he felt that the flag represented tyranny and oppression, and he was determined not to pay tribute to what he did not believe in." ”

After his anthem statement was issued, Raough received death threats and hate mail. The NBA also banned him for one game. Two days after his absence, Raouff struck a deal with the league so he could continue playing. He would stand while the national anthem was played, but he would close his eyes and look down. Raough admitted that when he played the national anthem, he would recite the Islamic prayer silently. He said he did it for people who suffered in all walks of life and for people with racial backgrounds.

After the end of the 1995-1996 season, the Nuggets traded him, even though he averaged a team-high 19.2 points and 6.8 assists per game. Raouff will play two more seasons for the Sacramento Kings, though his playing time has gradually diminished. At the end of the 1998 season, his contract expired, and even a two-year probationary contract was not offered by an NBA team.

In 2001, the Vancouver Grizzlies gave him a chance to play in the NBA, but he averaged only 11.9 minutes per game. After 2001, no NBA team was willing to leave him a spot on their big roster. As a result, the sharpshooter has since left the NBA, but unfortunately, he hasn't stayed away from scrutiny and harassment by those who oppose him because of his anthem stance.

In 2001, his house burned down after it was regularly sprayed with racist graffiti. Even in the face of this hatred, Rauf remained unmoved. He wants justice for people of color and oppressed groups. While Raough was still playing in the NBA, when his team was on the road, Rauf would go into town and talk to people and try to help them out. SBNation reporter Eddie Messone had this to say about Raouf:

Raouff made sure he went into town on every road trip to the Denver Nuggets, talking one by one to men who had problems with being fathers, being imprisoned and on drugs. Raough was motivated by his growing appreciation of Malcolm X, which began with a book given to him by university coach Dale Brown. He sees his work on public speaking as his pilgrimage to Mecca. NBA Cares should love these. ”

Yes, if in today's NBA, Rauf would be a hero, but the opposite is true, but in his time, he was gradually blackened. But Raough did not regret his choice. For them, he had something to say:

"Whether I went bankrupt or they took my life, whatever it was, I stuck to my principles. For me, it's something more valuable than wealth and fame. ”

Mohammed Abdel-Raough is a staunch supporter of Colin Kaepernick, and as Kaepernik protests and the NBA pushes injustice forward as a family, perhaps Raough's dream of equality for the community he represents will eventually come true.