Matthew Allen Geiger (born September 10, 1969) is an American former professional National Basketball Association player who played at the center position.

Matt Geiger
Personal information
Born (1969-09-10) September 10, 1969 (age 54)
Salem, Massachusetts, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Listed height7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight243 lb (110 kg)
Career information
High schoolCountryside (Clearwater, Florida)
College
NBA draft1992: 2nd round, 42nd overall pick
Selected by the Miami Heat
Playing career1992–2001
PositionCenter
Number52
Career history
19921995Miami Heat
19951998Charlotte Hornets
19992001Philadelphia 76ers
Career NBA statistics
Points5,059 (9.2 ppg)
Rebounds3,158 (5.7 rpg)
Assist388 (0.7 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Collegiate career edit

Geiger played for Countryside High School in Clearwater, Florida and was recruited to play college basketball at Auburn University. He played with Auburn before transferring to Georgia Tech for more playing time.

NBA career edit

His successful college career led Geiger to be selected by the Miami Heat in the second round (42nd pick overall) of the 1992 NBA draft. He played in the NBA for 10 seasons from 1992–2002 with 3 teams: Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets, and Philadelphia 76ers.[1]

In the summer of 2000, Matt Geiger's refusal to waive a $5 million trade kicker clause in his contract stopped a four-team deal between Philadelphia, the Hornets, the Detroit Pistons and the L.A. Lakers that would have sent All-Star player Allen Iverson to the Pistons.[2] He was suspended for 2 games during the 2000–01 season for a violation of the NBA/NBPA's steroid policy.[3]

Geiger signed a contract in 2001 with the Philadelphia 76ers but knee injuries forced him to retire in 2002 after a ten-year career. For his career, he averaged 9.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

NBA career statistics edit

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

Regular season edit

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1992–93 Miami 48 2 11.5 .524 .000 .674 2.5 .3 .3 .4 4.5
1993–94 Miami 72 0 16.7 .574 .200 .779 4.2 .4 .5 .4 7.2
1994–95 Miami 74 43 23.1 .536 .400 .650 5.6 .7 .6 .7 8.3
1995–96 Charlotte 77 50 30.5 .536 .375 .727 8.4 .8 .6 .8 11.2
1996–97 Charlotte 49 13 21.3 .489 .300 .701 5.3 .8 .4 .6 8.9
1997–98 Charlotte 78 42 23.6 .505 .091 .712 6.7 1.0 .9 1.1 11.3
1998–99 Philadelphia 50* 40 30.8 .479 .200 .797 7.2 1.2 .8 .8 13.5
1999–00 Philadelphia 65 20 21.6 .441 .000 .779 6.0 .6 .4 .3 9.7
2000–01 Philadelphia 35 4 15.5 .393 .000 .685 4.0 .4 .3 .2 6.1
2001–02 Philadelphia 4 0 8.8 .125 .500 1.5 .0 .0 .5 .8
Career 552 214 22.1 .499 .232 .728 5.7 .7 .6 .6 9.2

Playoffs edit

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1994 Miami 2 0 5.5 .000 .500 2.0 .0 .0 .0 .5
1997 Charlotte 3 0 10.3 .667 1.000 2.7 .7 .7 .3 2.0
1998 Charlotte 4 0 5.5 .167 1.3 .3 .0 .0 .5
1999 Philadelphia 8 8 29.9 .438 .000 .828 7.6 .8 1.1 .8 13.5
2000 Philadelphia 8 0 16.0 .500 .800 5.0 .3 .6 .3 8.8
2001 Philadelphia 12 0 8.3 .586 1.000 1.5 .6 .2 .0 3.2
Career 37 8 14.4 .468 .000 .823 3.7 .5 .5 .2 6.1

Personal life edit

Geiger resides in Tarpon Springs, Florida where he is a real estate investor. His 28,000-square-foot (2,600 m2) estate, reported as the largest in the county,[4] sold on January 3, 2011 for 8 million dollars.[5] The Punisher used this home as the residence of John Travolta's character Mr. Saint.[citation needed]

In January 1992, during Geiger's senior year at Georgia Tech, his fraternal twin Mark Geiger was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease at the age of 22.[6] Because his brother lost his hair during chemotherapy, Matt Geiger shaved his head during his NBA career in support of his brother.[7]

References edit

  1. ^ Matt Geiger Past Stats, Playoff Stats, Statistics, History, and Awards Archived November 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ ESPN – Mavs forward George blocks trade of Kidd to Mavs – NBA
  3. ^ NBA.com: Matt Geiger Bio Archived December 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Sports: Livin' large
  5. ^ "Geiger's Mansion finally sells — at deep discount". Archived from the original on January 8, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
  6. ^ David Teel (March 13, 1992). "Matt Geiger Toughens Up The Hard Way". Daily Press. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  7. ^ Phil Jasner (March 26, 2011). "Iverson might be available vs. Bucks". Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved May 14, 2011.