The Jazz found Ike Austin at Arizona State and drafted the 6-foot-10 center 48th in 1991, but two points a game as a rookie hinted at little. The turnaround came in Turkey — 22.3 points and 13.9 rebounds a night for Tuborg Izmir — and he returned to win the NBA's Most Improved Player award with Miami in 1997. His best season followed: 13.5 points and 7.1 rebounds split between the Heat and Clippers.
After his playing days ended in 2002, he bought and coached the ABA's Utah Snowbears, went 27-1 in their first season, then forfeited the playoffs and folded the team in a protest against league officials. His nephew Isaiah Austin played at Baylor.
HOW HE CAME & WENTUtah took the centre 48th overall in 1991. On November 2, 1993 the Jazz made their final cuts and released him — Jerry Sloan said the staff had decided to go in a different direction. Austin later said he never got the opportunity.
No photograph of this signature is online yet.
| SEASON | TEAM | G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–92 | UTA | 31 | 3.6 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | .457 | — | .633 |
| 1992–93 | UTA | 46 | 6.7 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | .446 | .000 | .659 |
| JAZZ TOTAL | 2 SEASONS | 77 | 5.4 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | .449 | .000 | .649 |
Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗ · Wikipedia ↗