Frank Brickowski

Last updated

Frank Brickowski
Personal information
Born (1959-08-14) August 14, 1959 (age 65)
Bayville, New York, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High schoolLocust Valley Central School
(Locust Valley, New York)
College Penn State (1977–1981)
NBA draft 1981: 3rd round, 57th overall pick
Selected by the New York Knicks
Playing career1981–1997
Position Power forward / center
Number34, 33, 43, 40
Career history
1981–1982 Cagiva Varese
1982–1983 Reims CAUFA
1983–1984 Maccabi Tel Aviv
19841986 Seattle SuperSonics
1986–1987 Los Angeles Lakers
19871990 San Antonio Spurs
19901994 Milwaukee Bucks
1994 Charlotte Hornets
1995–1996 Seattle SuperSonics
1996–1997 Boston Celtics
Career NBA statistics
Points 7,302 (10.0 ppg)
Rebounds 3,410 (4.7 rpg)
Assists 1,384 (1.9 apg)
Stats at NBA.com  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Stats at Basketball Reference  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Francis Anthony Brickowski (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player, formerly in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Contents

College and overseas career

Born in Bayville, New York, Brickowski played college basketball for four years as a power forward/center for Penn State. He won the John Lawther Award in 1980 as Penn State's MVP. [1]

Brickowski was then selected with the 11th pick of the third round of the 1981 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. The Knicks considered him not quite ready for the NBA, so he began his professional basketball career in Italy. [2] After a year in Italy, he played for another year in France, and the Knicks relinquished their draft rights after the 1982–83 NBA season. [1] Brickowski then played another season overseas for Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.

NBA career

Seattle SuperSonics

Brickowski signed with the Seattle SuperSonics for the 1984–85 season on September 23, 1984, arriving in the league three years after being drafted. [1] He played in Seattle two seasons.

Los Angeles Lakers

He signed on with the Los Angeles Lakers on October 8, 1986, but only played part of one season.

San Antonio Spurs

The Lakers traded him to the San Antonio Spurs, along with Pétur Guðmundsson, two draft choices and cash, for Mychal Thompson. [3] Although Brickowski only played 7 games the rest of that season, he played 3 more productive seasons for San Antonio, including scoring a career-high 16 points per game during the 1987–88 season.

Milwaukee Bucks

During the 1990 off-season, the salary cap went up, which led to Brickowski being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Paul Pressey, to which the Bucks agreed due to an injury to Larry Krystkowiak. [4] On March, 22, 1991, Brickowski scored 32 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in a 99–92 victory in Los Angeles against the Lakers. [5] Although the Bucks finished with a respectable 48–34 record, they would be surprisingly swept by Charles Barkley and the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs. The Bucks would not return to the playoffs until the 1998–99 season. [6] [ circular reference ] He was a productive player during his time in Milwaukee. During 1991–92, Brickowski was found with an ounce of cannabis at his Montana ranch. He pleaded guilty, [7] and was forced to pay a $2,000 fine and undergo drug counseling. [8]

Charlotte Hornets

At the 1994 trading deadline, The Bucks traded Brickowski to the Charlotte Hornets with a first-round draft pick for Mike Gminski. [9] He spent the rest of the season with Charlotte.

Sacramento Kings

The next season Brickowski joined the Sacramento Kings. [10] However, he injured his shoulder during preseason, aggravating the injury in a practice in January, and ended up being lost for the entire season. [11]

Return to Seattle

Brickowski signed on for a second stint with Seattle, in which he became a surprising contributor in terms of three-pointers, hitting 32 of 79 (.405). He helped Seattle make it to the 1996 NBA Finals against Chicago Bulls. During that series, Brickowski became notorious in his very physical defense against Dennis Rodman that led to several technical and flagrant fouls. [12] [13] [ clarification needed ][ according to whom? ]

Boston Celtics

Brickowski signed as a free agent with the Boston Celtics on August 1, 1996. [1] After only 17 games, he was released on July 7, 1997, [1] and retired, holding career averages of 10 points, 5 rebounds and two assists per game, in 731 contests.

After the NBA

One year after he retired in 1997, Brickowski joined a team of retired NBA players on a tour of China for a series of exhibition games against the Chinese national team. [14]

Brickowski currently works with the NBA Players Association and lives in Montana.

Personal life

He is married to Meaghan McCarthy. [15]

In a 2020 interview, Brickowski recounted one of the "wildest" moments of his life: "Charles Oakley comes up behind me and grabs me and we laugh. He gets a phone call and he says, ‘I’m talking with Brick,’ and then he says to me, ‘Let’s go.’ So I just follow him out the door, we go to this other tower and we up and we go to Michael Jordan’s suite and he has a gambling game still going on from the night before. It’s nine o’clock in the morning and I look around the room and all I see is piles of cash. My mind goes to, ‘We’ll put sleeping gas under the door, everyone will get knocked out and we’ll split the profits.’ I saw Oakley later that night and said, ‘Oak, how much money was in that room? There must have been a million dollars in that room.’ He held up two fingers – there was $2 million in cash in that room." [16]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GPGames played  GS Games started MPG Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage 3P%  3-point field goal percentage FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game APG  Assists per game SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high

Regular season

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1984–85 Seattle 78914.3.492.000.6693.31.30.40.24.9
1985–86 Seattle 4027.8.517.6671.40.50.30.22.0
1986–87 L.A. Lakers 37010.9.564.6782.60.30.40.13.9
1986–87 San Antonio 7011.9.333.000.9092.70.70.90.34.3
1987–88 San Antonio 706831.8.528.200.7686.93.81.10.516.0
1988–89 San Antonio 646028.5.515.000.7156.32.01.60.513.7
1989–90 San Antonio 781218.4.545.000.6744.21.30.80.56.6
1990–91 Milwaukee 757325.5.527.000.7985.71.71.10.612.6
1991–92 Milwaukee 656023.9.524.500.7675.31.90.90.411.4
1992–93 Milwaukee 666431.4.545.308.7286.13.01.20.716.9
1993–94 Milwaukee 434033.5.482.167.7756.53.81.20.415.2
1993–94 Charlotte 28623.3.502.500.7464.52.01.00.410.1
1995–96 Seattle 63815.7.488.405.7092.40.90.40.15.4
1996–97 Boston 17215.0.438.350.7142.00.90.30.24.8
Career73140422.3.519.324.7404.71.90.90.410.0

Playoffs

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1988 San Antonio 3337.7.5001.000.6847.34.72.00.719.3
1990 San Antonio 10016.1.574.6544.41.10.80.17.9
1991 Milwaukee 3336.7.533.000.5008.71.00.30.718.3
1996 Seattle 2139.8.421.273.7501.40.50.30.22.0
Career37915.9.514.280.6353.31.10.60.36.3

Recognition

Brickowski's surname is believed to be the inspiration for the character Emmet Brickowski (voiced by Chris Pratt) from The Lego Movie .

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Boston Celtics player statistics: Frank Brickowski". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved February 28, 2007.
  2. "McKoy to Europe". The New York Times. September 12, 1981. Retrieved February 28, 2007.
  3. "Moncrief activated". The New York Times. February 14, 1987. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
  4. "Salary cap goes up". The New York Times. August 2, 1990. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
  5. "Milwaukee Bucks at Los Angeles Lakers Box Score, March 22, 1991".
  6. List of Milwaukee Bucks seasons
  7. "Brickowski pleads guilty to marijuana possession". The New York Times. February 8, 1992. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
  8. "Brickowski is sentenced". The New York Times. May 20, 1992. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
  9. "NBA breaks trend with exciting 2001 trading deadline". CNN. Archived from the original on August 4, 2001. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
  10. "Kings tell Tisdale no and Brickowski yes". The New York Times. August 20, 1994. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
  11. "Kings' Brickowski is lost for season". The New York Times. January 19, 1995. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
  12. Friend, Tom (June 11, 1996). "N.B.A. FINALS;Rodman Is Baiting; Seattle Is Bawling". The New York Times. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  13. Friend, Tom (June 10, 1996). "N.B.A. FINALS;Sonics See Rodman, Rodman Everywhere". The New York Times. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  14. "The Big O: News & Background". Archived from the original on July 28, 2005. Retrieved February 28, 2007.
  15. Canzano, John (February 9, 2013). "The rules for millionaire matchmaking with Greg Oden". The Oregonian .
  16. "Frank Brickowski talks Michael Jordan and a $2 million gambling adventure". May 15, 2020.