Olden Polynice

Olden Polynice

Polynice in 2018
Personal information
Born	(1964-11-21) November 21, 1964 (age 60) Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school	All Hallows (The Bronx, New York)
College	Virginia (1983–1986)
NBA draft	1987: 1st round, 8th overall pick
Drafted by	Chicago Bulls
Playing career	1986–2006
Position	Center
Number	23, 0, 34, 30
Career history
1986–1987	Hamby Rimini
1987–1991	Seattle SuperSonics
1991–1992	Los Angeles Clippers
1992–1994	Detroit Pistons
1994–1998	Sacramento Kings
1999	Seattle SuperSonics
1999–2001	Utah Jazz
2001–2002	Las Vegas Slam
2002–2003	Grand Rapids Hoops
2003	Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs
2003	Gary Steelheads
2003	Los Angeles Clippers
2004	Long Beach Jam
2004–2005	Michigan Mayhem
2005–2006	Los Angeles Aftershock
Career highlights
Second-team All-ACC (1986)
Career NBA statistics
Points	8,265 (7.8 ppg)
Rebounds	7,110 (6.7 rpg)
Personal fouls	2,835 (2.7 pfpg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Olden Polynice (born November 21, 1964) is a Haitian former professional basketball player. He played center for the Seattle SuperSonics, Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons, Sacramento Kings, and Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Career

After graduating from All Hallows High School in the Bronx, Polynice played college basketball at the University of Virginia.

As a Freshman during the 1983–84 season, Polynice helped lead the UVA Cavaliers to the 1984 Final Four when they won the NCAA Eastern Region as the # 7 seed. UVA defeating the #10 seed Iona (58–57), the #2 seed Arkansas (53–51 in OT), the #3 seed Syracuse (63–55) and the #4 seed Indiana (50–48) en route to the Final Four. In the Final Four, UVA lost in overtime 49–47 to the Midwest Region Champion University of Houston denying UVA a chance at the National Championship game.

As a Junior during the 1985–86 season, Polynice was honored for his play by being named first team All-ACC.

After three years in college and playing with Serie A's Hamby Rimini in 1986–87, he was selected 8th overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 1987 NBA draft, but was immediately traded to the Seattle SuperSonics for Scottie Pippen. Polynice then arrived in Detroit in 1992 after being traded by the Los Angeles Clippers and departed two years later when he was traded to the Sacramento Kings for Pete Chilcutt and two draft picks.

In 15 NBA seasons, Polynice averaged 23.5 minutes, 7.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, with a career PER of 13.2. At 6'11", he was often signed by teams in need of a rebounder and interior player, and consistently ranked among the league leaders in offensive rebounds. Polynice retired from the NBA in 2004 after a brief return to the Clippers. He later played for the Los Angeles Aftershock of the ABA.

Upon retiring, Polynice served as coach for the ABA's Long Beach Breakers. In 1997, still active, he worked as a color commentator for the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs.

He now runs the Polynice Basketball Organization founded with the help of his nephews Brian and Jordan Polynice. ^[1]

Personal life

Olden went on a hunger strike in 1993 for the sufferings the Haitian people were facing. ^[2] He is Catholic. ^[3]

Career statistics

NBA

Legend

GP	Games 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

*	Led the league

Source ^[4]

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1987–88	Seattle	82	0	13.2	.465	.000	.639	4.0	.4	.4	.3	4.1
1988–89	Seattle	80	0	10.4	.506	.000	.593	2.6	.3	.5	.4	2.9
1989–90	Seattle	79	7	13.7	.540	.500	.475	3.8	.2	.3	.3	4.6
1990–91	Seattle	48	0	20.0	.545	–	.588	5.6	.3	.5	.4	8.3
1990–91	L.A. Clippers	31	30	36.5	.579	.000	.572	9.1	.8	.5	.4	12.3
1991–92	L.A. Clippers	76	65	24.1	.519	.000	.622	7.1	.6	.6	.3	8.1
1992–93	Detroit	67	18	19.4	.490	.000	.465	6.2	.4	.5	.3	7.3
1993–94	Detroit	37	36	36.5	.547	.000	.457	12.3	.6	.6	1.0	13.1
1993–94	Sacramento	31	29	33.9	.484	.000	.556	11.4	.6	.6	1.0	9.8
1994–95	Sacramento	81	81	31.3	.544	1.000	.639	9.0	.8	.6	.6	10.8
1995–96	Sacramento	81	80	30.1	.527	.333	.601	9.4	.7	.6	.8	12.2
1996–97	Sacramento	82	82*	35.3	.457	.000	.562	9.4	2.2	.6	1.0	12.5
1997–98	Sacramento	70	25	20.8	.459	.000	.452	6.3	1.5	.5	.6	7.9
1998–99	Seattle	48	47	30.9	.472	1.000	.309	8.9	.9	.4	.6	7.7
1999–00	Utah	82	79	22.2	.510	.500	.311	5.5	.5	.4	1.0	5.3
2000–01	Utah	81	79	20.0	.496	.000	.262	4.7	.4	.3	1.0	5.3
2003–04	L.A. Clippers	2	0	6.0	–	–	–	1.0	.5	.5	.0	.0
Career		1,058	658	23.5	.505	.192	.535	6.7	.7	.5	.6	7.8

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1988	Seattle	5	0	8.8	.455	–	.000	1.6	.0	.6	.0	2.0
1989	Seattle	8	0	20.3	.610	–	.538	7.8	.1	.8	.5	7.1
1992	L.A. Clippers	5	0	12.6	.583	–	.333	3.6	.4	.2	.2	3.2
1996	Sacramento	4	4	35.3	.522	1.000	.667	12.0	.8	.3	1.8	13.8
2000	Utah	10	10	26.0	.538	–	.500	6.6	.5	.3	.8	5.9
2001	Utah	5	5	20.0	.533	.000	.700	3.8	.2	.2	.4	7.8
Career		37	19	20.8	.547	.500	.543	6.0	.3	.4	.6	6.4

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1983–84	Virginia	33		26.2	.551		.588	5.6	0.6	0.1	0.5	7.7
1984–85	Virginia	32		34.2	.603		.599	7.6	0.5	0.4	1.1	13.0
1985–86	Virginia	30		35.8	.572		.637	8.0	0.5	0.3	1.1	16.1
Career		95		31.9	.578		.612	7.0	0.5	0.3	0.9	12.1

References

1. "Abount Polynice Basketball Org". Polynice.org. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
2. "When Olden Polynice went on hunger strike in the middle of the '93 season". January 22, 2022.
3. "No-glitz Polynice promises plenty of hard work And he disputes charges that he's been a 'cancer'". Deseret News. September 14, 1999. Retrieved February 1, 2025.
4. "Olden Polynice". Basketball Reference . Sports Reference . Retrieved October 14, 2022.

External links

• NBA.com profile
• NBA.com historical playerfile
• College stats at sportsstats.com
• NBA Stats