Omar Cook

Omar-Sharif Cook (Serbian: Omar-Šarif Kuk / Омар-Шариф Кук; born January 28, 1982) is an American-Montenegrin professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He represented Montenegro internationally. Prior to entering the draft he was considered a top 10 overall prospect by several NBA scouts.

For the actor, see Omar Cook (American football).

Omar Cook
Cook playing with Lietuvos rytas in May 2014
Cleveland Cavaliers
PositionAssistant coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1982-01-28) January 28, 1982
Brooklyn, New York
NationalityAmerican / Montenegrin
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High schoolChrist The King
(Queens, New York)
CollegeSt. John's (2000–2001)
NBA draft2001: 2nd round, 32nd overall pick
Selected by the Orlando Magic
Playing career2001–2022
PositionPoint guard
Number10, 1, 00, 20,
Coaching career2022–present
Career history
As player:
2001–2004Fayetteville Patriots
2004Portland Trail Blazers
2004–2005Fayetteville Patriots
2005Toronto Raptors
2005–2006Mons-Hainaut
2006–2007Samara
2007Strasbourg
2007–2008Crvena zvezda
2008–2010Unicaja
2010–2011Valencia
2011–2012Olimpia Milano
2012–2013Baskonia
2013–2014Rytas
2014–2016Budućnost
2016–2019Estudiantes
2019–2020Gran Canaria
2020–2021San Pablo Burgos
2021–2022Casademont Zaragoza
As coach:
2022–2023Cleveland Charge (assistant)
2023–presentCleveland Cavaliers (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player:
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Amateur career

Cook played high school basketball at Christ The King Regional High School, and then played college basketball at St. John's University. Cook ranked second in the nation and first in the Big East in assists during the one year he spent at St. John's. He also broke Mark Jackson's record for the most assists in a game for a St. John's player with 17, against Stony Brook University.

Professional career

Cook was drafted by the Orlando Magic of the NBA as the third pick in the second round (31st overall) of the 2001 NBA draft. He was immediately traded to the Denver Nuggets, but failed to make the team, reportedly because of his inability to shoot the ball effectively. From 2001 to 2004, Cook made some pre-season appearances for teams in the league, also managing 22 regular season games played (17 with the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2003–04 season and five with the Toronto Raptors in the 2004–05 season). In July 2005, he was drafted by the AAPBL, but the league folded less than two weeks after the draft.

He also briefly led the NBA D-League in steals and assists in the 2004–05 season, while playing with the Fayetteville Patriots. Cook's final NBA game was played on April 20, 2005, in a 104–95 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. In his final game, Cook recorded 19 points, 9 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block.

During the 2005–06 season, Cook played in the Belgian league with Dexia Mons-Hainaut. The following year, he played with two teams, the French Pro A club SIG Strasbourg and the Russian Super League club Samara. In the 2007–08 season, he played with the Adriatic League club Crvena zvezda. He had the best season of his career with Crvena zvezda, where he was one of the team leaders.[1]

On June 26, 2008, he joined the Spanish league's Unicaja, signing with the club for two seasons.[2] In 2010, he signed a two-year deal with Spanish basketball club Power Electronics Valencia.[3]

In 2011, he signed a two-year deal with Italian team Armani Jeans Milano.[4] In December 2012, after Milano was eliminated from the Euroleague, Cook signed with Caja Laboral until the end of the season.[5]

On August 6, 2013, Cook signed with Lietuvos rytas of Lithuania for the 2013–14 season.[6]

On September 30, 2014, Cook signed a two-month deal with Budućnost Podgorica of Montenegro.[7] On November 14, 2014, he extended his contract with Budućnost for the rest of the season.[8] On August 15, 2015, he re-signed with Budućnost for one more season.[9]

On August 20, 2016, Cook signed with Spanish club Estudiantes for the 2016–17 season.[10] On July 17, 2019, Cook signed a one-plus-one deal with Herbalife Gran Canaria.[11]

On July 24, 2020, he has signed with San Pablo Burgos of the Liga ACB.[12]

On July 15, 2021, he has signed with Casademont Zaragoza of the Liga ACB.[13]

Coaching career

On September 29, 2022, Cook was hired as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Charge of the NBA G League.[14]

On October 24, 2023, Cook was hired as an assistant coach by the Cleveland Cavaliers.[15]

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

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003–04 Portland 1708.2.259.000.000.41.4.6.0.8
2004–05 Toronto 5014.8.417.000.5001.44.41.2.24.6
Career 2209.7.333.000.500.62.1.7.01.7

Montenegrin national team

In May 2008, Cook received Montenegrin citizenship, thus applying to represent Montenegro's national basketball team.[16][17]

References
  1. Career moves at HoopsHype.com.
  2. Cook joins Málaga for two seasons. Archived 2008-07-22 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
  3. Power Electronics inks playmaker Cook .
  4. Olimpia Milano agreed to terms with Omar Cook
  5. El Caja Laboral ficha a Omar Cook hasta el final de temporada Archived July 9, 2013, at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
  6. "Lietuvos Rytas adds floor general Cook". Euroleague.net. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  7. "Buducnost brings in assist master Cook". Eurocupbasketball.com. September 30, 2014. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  8. "Omar Cook extends with Buducnost for the season". Sportando.com. November 14, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  9. "Omar Cook extends with Buducnost". Sportando.com. August 15, 2015. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  10. "Omar Cook completa la dirección de juego de Movistar Estudiantes". clubestudiantes.com (in Spanish). August 20, 2016. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  11. "Omar Cook signs with Herbalife Gran Canaria". Sportando. July 17, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  12. Lupo, Nicola (July 24, 2020). "Omar Cook signs with San Pablo Burgos". Sportando. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  13. Borghesan, Ennio Terrasi (July 15, 2021). "Zaragoza announces signing of Omar Cook". Sportando. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  14. "Charge Finalize Coaching Staff for 2022-23 Season". NBA.com. September 29, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  15. "Charge Announce 2023-24 Coaching Staff". OurSportsCentral.com. October 24, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  16. "Cook to play under Vujosevic". Archived from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  17. Cook officially a Montenegrin. Archived 2009-08-11 at the Wayback Machine
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