Felipe López (basketball)

Luis Felipe López (born December 19, 1974) is a Dominican former professional basketball player. He starred as a high school player and for the St. John's Red Storm in college basketball. López played for four seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has played for teams in a half dozen countries, as well as in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) in the U.S. Most recently, he has been a broadcaster with Spanish-language networks. His life story was the subject of an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary entitled The Dominican Dream.

For other people with the same name, see Felipe López (disambiguation).
Felipe López
Personal information
Born (1974-12-19) December 19, 1974
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
NationalityDominican
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight199 lb (90 kg)
Career information
High schoolRice (New York City, New York)
CollegeSt. John's (1994–1998)
NBA draft1998: 1st round, 24th overall pick
Selected by the San Antonio Spurs
Playing career1998–2011
PositionShooting guard
Number13
Career history
1998–2000Vancouver Grizzlies
2000–2001Washington Wizards
2001–2002Minnesota Timberwolves
2002Diablos de La Vega
2004–2005Long Beach Jam
2005Baskets Oldenburg
2005Caballeros de Santiago
2006Plus Pujol Lleida
2006–2007Albany Patroons
2007Villa Duarte de Calero
2007–2008Minas Tênis Clube
2008Gregorio Urbano Gilbert
2008Marineros de Puerto Plata
2008Gaiteros del Zulia
2009Fuerza Regia de Monterrey
2009Obras Sanitarias
2010–2011Gregorio Urbano Gilbert
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points1,448
Assists252
Rebounds604
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Early life and high school career

López's father, who played amateur baseball in the Dominican Republic, and his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was 14. López played high school basketball at Rice High School in New York City, where he followed New York high school player Dean Meminger in becoming one of the most highly touted recruits in U.S. high school history.[1] The 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) guard made many All-American lists in 1994, earning Player of the Year honors from Gatorade, USA Today, Parade, and many others.

Collegiate career

López appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated before he had played his first college game. He also appeared with Jim Brown and Jackie Joyner-Kersee at a televised town meeting on race and sports along with then-president Bill Clinton. López was the only Latino onstage during the discussion.[2]

López finished his freshman season for the St. John's Red Storm with an 17.8-point-per-game scoring average. He earned a spot on the All-Big East Rookie Team and All-Big East Third Team. His numbers dipped slightly the next two years, bottoming out at 15.9 ppg as a junior. As a senior he averaged 17.6 ppg and garnered All-Big East First Team honors. He finished his career with 1,927 points, placing him fourth all-time in St. John's history behind former players Chris Mullin, Malik Sealy, and D'Angelo Harrison and sixth in Big East history with 1,222 conference points, while also ranking seventh all time in steals, 14th in assists, and 20th in rebounds. He also holds the St. John's record for most three-pointers made in a single season (60) and in a career (148).

Professional career

López was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 24th pick in the 1998 NBA draft and was immediately traded, along with Carl Herrera, to the Vancouver Grizzlies for point guard Antonio Daniels. López's drafting into the NBA was cause for great celebration in the heavily Dominican community of Washington Heights in New York City. He played 112 games for the Grizzlies before being traded to the Washington Wizards along with Dennis Scott, Cherokee Parks, and Obinna Ekezie in exchange for free agent Isaac Austin on August 22, 2000. López went on to sign as a free agent with both the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks, although he never played a regular season game for the Mavs. He trained with the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Clippers in the first months of the 2005–06 NBA season before signing a contract with Lleida.[3]

López holds career NBA averages of 5.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and one assist per game.

Career statistics
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

NBA

Source[4]

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1998–99 Vancouver 473225.9.446.273.6443.51.31.00.39.3
1999–00 Vancouver 65012.0.425.167.6151.90.70.50.34.5
2000–01 Washington 473823.6.436.207.7323.41.60.90.48.1
Minnesota 231019.9.454.565.5763.21.50.90.57.4
2001–02 Minnesota 6708.7.378.424.6731.20.60.30.02.5
Career 2498016.6.432.327.6592.41.00.60.25.8

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2001 Minnesota 4013.8.318.200.6672.81.31.0.04.3
2002 Minnesota 3010.0.250.500.500.3.3.3.01.3
Career 7012.1.308.286.6001.7.9.7.03.0

References
  1. "Sports Illustrated story". Archived from the original on 2012-12-03. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  2. "Clinton Needles Sports World For Not Hiring Minorities". CNN. April 15, 1998. The meeting, broadcast live on ESPN, was the second of Clinton's three planned nationally televised town meetings on race. The forum's makeup angered Latino activists who complained that too few Hispanics were represented. Felipe Lopez, a basketball star at St. John's University, was the only Hispanic on the panel.
  3. San Martin, Pablo (January 12, 2006). "El Plus Pujol Lleida se refuerza con Luis Felipe López" (in Spanish). Retrieved July 15, 2006.
  4. "Felipe López". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved 16 December 2022.

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