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Center · 1988–90

Eric Leckner

Wyoming basketball still keeps Eric Leckner in its record book — most games played, best field goal percentage, a place in the school's athletics Hall of Fame — and the Jazz made the big center the 17th pick of the 1988 draft. He gave Utah his first two NBA seasons, then moved through Sacramento, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Detroit and Vancouver across an eight-year career, peaking with 71 games for the 76ers in 1993–94.

A Southern California kid from Mira Costa High in Manhattan Beach, Leckner had taken the Cowboys to the 1986 NIT finals and the 1987 Sweet Sixteen. Wyoming inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 1998.

HOW HE CAME & WENTUtah took him 17th overall on June 28, 1988 and traded him to Sacramento in the June 1990 deal that brought Jeff Malone in. Where he fit in Salt Lake City was behind Mark Eaton.

Full name
Eric Charles Leckner
Utah Jazz tenure
1988–90
Position
Center
Born
1966, Inglewood, California
Height
6′11″ (211 cm)
Weight
265 lb (120 kg)
College
Wyoming
Drafted
1988, 1st round (No. 17), Utah
Signatures in the archive
  • 1990-91 Fleer #187
  • Fleer 1991 #154 Utah Jazz NBA Basketball Vintage

No photograph of this signature is online yet.

With the Jazz

ERIC LECKNER · 1988–90 · PER GAME
SEASONTEAMGMPGPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFG%3P%FT%
1988–89UTA7510.44.32.70.20.10.3.545.699
1989–90UTA779.94.32.50.20.20.3.563.743
JAZZ TOTAL2 SEASONS15210.24.32.60.20.20.3.554.721

Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗  ·  Wikipedia ↗

Did you know

ERIC LECKNER · 5 NOTES
  • Won a 1988 WAC tournament semifinal at the horn with a 19-footer, catching a 65-foot inbounds pass — "Why not me?" he said afterwards.
  • In the 1987 NCAA tournament he and Fennis Dembo combined for 38 points to beat Virginia, then upset fourth-seeded UCLA to reach the Sweet Sixteen.
  • Reached by phone on draft night, he told the Deseret News it would be interesting to see where he fit in. Where he fit was behind Mark Eaton.
  • He and his wife raised four daughters in Manhattan Beach for eleven years before moving the family to Charlotte in 2015.
  • Utah took him in 1988 with Mark Bryant and Jerome Lane still on the board, after an attempt to trade Jose Ortiz to Miami for the 20th pick fell through.