Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf is an American professional basketball player. His eight year NBA career was marked by an appearance in the Slam Dunk Contest as well as by one of the most accurate free-throw shooting records ever. Considered one of the greatest free-throw shooters in the history of the game, Abdul-Rauf missed the all time free-throw shooting NBA season record by only a single miss in the 1993–94 season. He sparked controversy for refusing to stand for the national anthem, and calling the US Flag a symbol of oppression. After eight years in the NBA, he moved to play internationally... and has since moved through a large number of international teams outside the NBA across the world, changing teams almost annually. Abdul-Rauf was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. After a record-setting college career at Louisiana State University, he was selected with the third pick in the 1990 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets. He changed his name in 1993, after converting to Islam in 1991. He played with Denver until 1995, and was a key player on that team, winning the Most Improved Player award in 1993.
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