Abdur-Rahim announces retirement after 12 years

Sep 22, 2008 - 11:54 PM SACRAMENTO, California (Ticker) -- Sacramento Kings forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim announced his retirement Monday, bringing to a close a career that spanned 12 seasons with four different clubs.

The 31-year-old Abdur-Rahim has been battling through injury problems in his right knee, which forced him to miss almost all of last season. He underwent a pair of surgeries on the knee last year, including a season-ending operation to remove bone spurs and joint lining last December.

Rehabilitation went slower than expected and, with the NBA's preseason just around the corner, Abdur-Rahim decided he wouldn't be able to fully recover.

"I've been in a situation where I've been trying to get healthy over the last year-and-a-half," he said. "I came to grips with the fact that, health-wise, I won't be able to get back to the condition and level that is needed to play in the NBA. My right knee has become arthritic over the years and is to the point where it won't allow me to do the things and play at the level in which I'm accustomed to playing. As tough as it is to come to grips with, it's the reality."

Abdur-Rahim's production had dwindled in recent years after achieving stardom early in his career. After being drafted third overall by the Vancouver Grizzlies out of California in 1996, he quickly became the Grizzlies' best player, averaging 20.8 points over his five seasons in Vancouver.

While with the Grizzlies, he was a member of the U.S. Olympic Team that brought home the gold medal in 2000 in Sydney, Australia.

He was an All-Star selection in 2002 with the Atlanta Hawks, for whom he played for 2 1/2 seasons before being dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Prior to the 2005 campaign, Abdur-Rahim signed a free agent deal with the Kings. Two seasons ago, he fell to a career-low 9.9 points per game in 80 contests with the Kings. Surgery on his right knee limited him to just six appearances last season, when he played in a total of just 51 minutes.

"It is unfortunate for any productive career to be felled by injury," Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie said. "However, no one can ever doubt Shareef's effort, commitment or desire to excel. It is our intention to find a new role for Shareef with the organization as he begins the next phase of his professional life."