Kenny Carr facts for kids
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| Personal information | |||||||||||
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| Born | August 15, 1955 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
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| High school | DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, Maryland) |
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| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | ||||||||||
| Listed weight | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| College | NC State (1974–1977) | ||||||||||
| NBA Draft | 1977 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6th overall | ||||||||||
| Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers | |||||||||||
| Pro career | 1977–1987 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| 1977–1979 | Los Angeles Lakers | ||||||||||
| 1979–1982 | Cleveland Cavaliers | ||||||||||
| 1982 | Detroit Pistons | ||||||||||
| 1982–1987 | Portland Trail Blazers | ||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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| Career NBA statistics | |||||||||||
| Points | 7,813 (11.6 ppg) | ||||||||||
| Rebounds | 4,999 (7.4 rpg) | ||||||||||
| Assists | 923 (1.4 apg) | ||||||||||
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Medals
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Kenneth Alan Carr (born August 15, 1955) is a former American basketball player. He was picked early in the 1977 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. Kenny Carr played for ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Kenny Carr was a 6-foot-7-inch forward from North Carolina State University. He won a gold medal with the United States national basketball team at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He played in the NBA from 1977 to 1987. His teams included the Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, and Portland Trail Blazers. During his NBA career, Carr scored 7,813 points and grabbed 4,999 rebounds.
Contents
Early Life & Basketball Start
When Kenny Carr was young, he mainly played football in Washington, D.C. He didn't start playing serious basketball until he was 14 years old.
Carr remembered, "It was kind of by accident, to be honest, but I just fell in love with basketball." He also mentioned that it was hard to find football shoes that fit him back then.
Kenny Carr graduated in 1974 from DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. He played under the famous coach Morgan Wootten. As a sophomore, he had a knee injury. At DeMatha, Carr played with future Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley. They were teammates in high school and later on the Olympic team. Together, Carr and Dantley helped DeMatha win 36 games in a row.
College Basketball Career
Kenny Carr played college basketball at North Carolina State from 1974 to 1977. His coach was Norm Sloan.
As a freshman in 1974–1975, Carr averaged 13.8 points and 7.7 rebounds. NC State finished the season with 22 wins and 6 losses. The team had just won the National Championship. Carr played alongside other great players like David Thompson.
In 1975–1976, Carr had amazing stats, averaging 26.6 points and 10.3 rebounds. He led the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) in scoring. NC State finished 21–9 that year. Carr was named a Third-team All-American and First-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference.
As a junior, Carr averaged 21.0 points and 9.9 rebounds. NC State finished 17–11 in 1976–1977. Carr again led the ACC in scoring. He was named a Third-team All-American and First-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference. After this season, he decided to enter the NBA draft early. He felt his body and game were ready for the next level.
In 86 college games for North Carolina State, Carr averaged 20.6 points and 9.2 rebounds. He was a very strong player.
Winning Gold: 1976 Olympic Team
Kenny Carr was chosen for the 1976 United States men's Olympic basketball team. This team played for the US in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. Team USA won the gold medal! The team was coached by Dean Smith.
In six Olympic games, Carr averaged 6.8 points and 3.2 rebounds. He was the sixth-highest scorer on the team. His high school teammate Adrian Dantley was the top scorer. Other future NBA players on the team included Walter Davis and Mitch Kupchak.
Carr said he enjoyed playing with some of the best players in the world. He felt the toughest competition was during their training camp.
Professional Basketball Career
Los Angeles Lakers Years
The Los Angeles Lakers picked Kenny Carr as the 6th overall player in the 1977 NBA draft. As a new player, he injured his left foot before the season started. He missed over five weeks of games. In his first season, he played 52 games, averaging 6.2 points and 4.0 rebounds.
Before his second season, he broke his right foot. He recovered and played in 72 games, averaging 7.4 points and 4.1 rebounds.
In the 1979–80 season, he was a backup player. On October 24, 1979, the Lakers traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers. In his two seasons with the Lakers, he averaged 6.8 points and 4.0 rebounds.
Playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers (1979–1982)
When he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1979–80 season, he became a starter. His averages went up to 11.8 points and 7.4 rebounds. In the 1980–81 season, he was the sixth-best rebounder in the league, averaging 10.3 rebounds. He also scored 15.2 points per game.
On February 16, 1982, the Cavaliers traded him and Bill Laimbeer to the Detroit Pistons. In 201 games with the Cavaliers, Carr averaged 14.1 points and 9.0 rebounds.
Time with the Detroit Pistons
In 28 games with the Detroit Pistons, Carr averaged 7.4 points and 4.9 rebounds. On June 23, 1982, he was traded again, this time to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Portland Trail Blazers Highlights
In the 1983–84 season, Kenny Carr averaged 15.6 points and 7.8 rebounds for the Trail Blazers. In the 1985–86 season, he missed 27 games due to a knee injury. Despite that, he still averaged 11.1 points and 8.9 rebounds.
In his last season, 1986–87, he averaged 10.8 points and 10.2 rebounds. He played 316 games for the Portland Trail Blazers, averaging 12.4 points and 8.1 rebounds. On January 18, 1987, he suffered a back injury that made him miss 34 games. He couldn't fully recover from this injury, so he announced his retirement on August 31, 1987.
His former Olympic teammate, Phil Ford, said that Kenny was "ahead of his time." Ford explained that Carr had the size and strength to play inside, but also the skills to play outside and shoot jump shots.
NBA Career Totals
In his 674 career NBA games, Kenny Carr scored a total of 7,813 points (averaging 11.6 points per game). He also grabbed 4,999 rebounds (averaging 7.4 rebounds per game). He shot 51% from the field and 68% from the free-throw line.
NBA 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977–78 | L.A. Lakers | 52 | — | 14.1 | .444 | — | .647 | 4.0 | .5 | .3 | .3 | 6.2 |
| 1978–79 | L.A. Lakers | 72 | — | 16.0 | .500 | — | .606 | 4.1 | .8 | .5 | .4 | 7.4 |
| 1979–80 | L.A. Lakers | 5 | — | 11.4 | .438 | — | 1.000 | 3.4 | .2 | .4 | .2 | 3.2 |
| Cleveland | 74 | — | 24.1 | .493 | .000 | .655 | 7.7 | 1.0 | .9 | .7 | 12.3 | |
| 1980–81 | Cleveland | 81 | — | 32.3 | .511 | .000 | .714 | 10.3 | 2.4 | .9 | .5 | 15.2 |
| 1981–82 | Cleveland | 46 | 42 | 32.2 | .517 | .111 | .659 | 8.6 | 1.4 | 1.3 | .3 | 15.0 |
| Detroit | 28 | 6 | 15.9 | .458 | .000 | .646 | 4.9 | .8 | .2 | .2 | 7.4 | |
| 1982–83 | Portland | 82 | 26 | 28.4 | .505 | .333 | .697 | 7.2 | 1.4 | .8 | .5 | 12.0 |
| 1983–84 | Portland | 82* | 57 | 29.9 | .561 | .000 | .673 | 7.8 | 1.9 | .8 | .4 | 15.6 |
| 1984–85 | Portland | 48 | 30 | 23.3 | .523 | .000 | .720 | 6.7 | 1.2 | .5 | .4 | 10.4 |
| 1985–86 | Portland | 55 | 31 | 28.3 | .498 | .000 | .687 | 8.9 | 1.3 | .7 | .5 | 11.1 |
| 1986–87 | Portland | 49 | 43 | 29.4 | .504 | .000 | .746 | 10.2 | 1.7 | .6 | .3 | 10.8 |
| Career | 674 | 235 | 25.5 | .510 | .079 | .684 | 7.4 | 1.4 | .7 | .4 | 11.6 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | L.A. Lakers | 2 | — | 8.5 | .333 | — | — | 2.0 | .0 | .5 | .0 | 3.0 |
| 1979 | L.A. Lakers | 8 | — | 14.6 | .543 | — | .625 | 2.1 | .5 | .5 | .3 | 5.4 |
| 1983 | Portland | 7 | — | 24.4 | .433 | — | .783 | 7.3 | 1.4 | .4 | .7 | 10.0 |
| 1984 | Portland | 5 | — | 36.0 | .525 | — | .632 | 7.0 | 1.2 | .4 | .4 | 14.8 |
| 1985 | Portland | 9 | 9 | 29.4 | .526 | .000 | .800 | 7.8 | 1.1 | .3 | .2 | 12.9 |
| 1986 | Portland | 4 | 4 | 35.8 | .571 | .000 | .733 | 13.3 | 1.8 | 1.3 | .3 | 14.8 |
| Career | 35 | 13 | 25.5 | .512 | .000 | .729 | 6.6 | 1.1 | .5 | .3 | 10.5 | |
Life After Basketball
Kenny Carr married his wife, Adrianna, in 1979. They have three children: Cameron, Devon, and Alyx.
Carr earned a Bachelor's Degree in Education from North Carolina State. He finished his degree while he was a rookie with the Lakers.
After his basketball career, Carr became the CEO of Carr Construction in Portland, Oregon. He started the company from his basement in 1987. Today, the company has 110 employees.
Carr had planned to move back to his hometown of Washington, D.C. However, his business success and his children kept him in Oregon. He said, "My kids liked being here, and we were settled." Today, his son, Devon Carr, works with him at Carr Construction. Devon has a degree in engineering from Oregon State University.
Achievements and Recognition
- Kenny Carr's jersey number 32 is honored by NC State Wolfpack men's basketball.
- In 1998, Carr was added to the DeMatha Catholic High School Hall of Fame.
See also
In Spanish: Kenny Carr para niños
