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Olden Polynice

Port-au-Prince born and Bronx schooled, Polynice reached the 1984 Final Four as a Virginia freshman. Chicago drafted him eighth in 1987 and immediately traded him to Seattle for Scottie Pippen — a swap that followed him forever. Over 15 seasons he was the rebounder teams called on, a fixture among the league's offensive-board leaders, with his Jazz years coming in 1999–2001.

In 1993 he went on a hunger strike over the sufferings of the Haitian people. After retiring he coached the ABA's Long Beach Breakers, had worked as color commentator for the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs, and now runs the Polynice Basketball Organization founded with his nephews Brian and Jordan.

HOW HE CAME & WENTHe signed with the Jazz before the 1999-2000 season, arriving with a reputation problem.

Utah Jazz tenure
1999–2001
Position
Center
Born
1964, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Height
6′11″ (211 cm)
Weight
220 lb (100 kg)
College
Virginia
Drafted
1987, 1st round (No. 8), Chicago
Why this player is hard to find
One hundred and sixty-three games across two Jazz spells. Jazz cards exist in quantity but almost none carry a signature.
Do you have anything signed by Olden Polynice?
A card, an index card, a photo, a program — anything authentic. I'm a collector building an autograph archive of every player in Utah Jazz history (319 of 370 so far). I cover postage both ways and answer every message.

✉️ contact@everyjazzman.com

With the Jazz

OLDEN POLYNICE · 1999–2001 · PER GAME
SEASONTEAMGMPGPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFG%3P%FT%
1999–00UTA8222.25.35.50.50.41.0.510.500.311
2000–01UTA8120.05.34.70.40.31.0.496.000.262
JAZZ TOTAL2 SEASONS16321.15.35.10.40.31.0.503.333.290

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

Did you know

OLDEN POLYNICE · 4 NOTES
  • One of very few Haitian-born players to have a long NBA career.
  • He was first-team All-ACC as a junior before leaving school early.
  • He spent 1986-87 in Italy with Basket Rimini, averaging 17 points and 11 rebounds a game before the NBA draft.
  • Over fifteen seasons and 1,058 games he was the league's classic hired rebounder, signed wherever size was needed in the paint.