Zaid Abdul-Aziz

Abdul-Aziz played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones from 1965 to 1968.[2] He was selected as the Big Eight Player of the Year in 1968 and was a three-time first-team All-Big Eight Conference selection.[2][3] Abdul-Aziz was chosen by the Cincinnati Royals as the fifth overall pick in the 1968 NBA draft and traded to the Milwaukee Bucks during his rookie season.[2] He was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics for Lucius Allen and Bob Boozer in 1970.[2] Abdul-Aziz initially disputed the trade and planned to sue the NBA but instead flourished with the SuperSonics.[2] He enjoyed a career-best season as he averaged 13.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game during the 1971–72 season until he was sidelined with pericarditis.[2]

Abdul-Aziz converted to Islam during his time with the SuperSonics.[1] On September 18, 1972, his contract was bought by the Houston Rockets.[4] Abdul-Aziz had been the team's starting center prior to the 1974–75 season.[1][5] The Muslim holy month of Ramadan coincided with a Rockets training camp where Abdul-Aziz entered an anemic-like state due to his fasting.[1] He found himself unable to play and told the team's general manager that he was quitting the team.[1] Abdul-Aziz's father convinced him to return but he lost his position in the Rockets' line-up and never again played as a starting center in the NBA.[1] Abdul-Aziz played his final three years as a backup on various teams before he announced his retirement in 1978 at the age of 32.[1]

Abdul-Aziz coached the Saudi Arabia national basketball team.[2] He was an investor in the Seattle Smashers of the International Volleyball Association in 1978 and 1979.[6]

Abdul-Aziz studied chemical dependency at Seattle University and earned a state licence.[2] He worked as a drug and alcohol counselor in Seattle after his playing career.[2]

As of 2011, Abdul-Aziz lived in the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle with his Moroccan-born wife.[2] He has five children from two marriages.[2] Abdul-Aziz's son, Yusef Smith, played college basketball for the Seattle Pacific Falcons and professionally in Brazil.[2]

Abdul-Aziz was raised Catholic. He credits his religious awakening to a Milwaukee Bucks practice session where he was approached by teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and failed to explain a gold cross that he was wearing around his neck when questioned. Abdul-Aziz went to a Milwaukee library to learn about religions and borrowed a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, Bible, Quran and Torah. Abdul-Aziz stated: "everything pointed me to Islam. So the next year I became a Muslim."[7]

In 2006, Abdul-Aziz published a memoir, Darkness to Sunlight, which tells the stories of his basketball career, personal challenges, and spiritual journey.[7]

• Career statistics