Mario Bennett facts for kids

Mario Marcell Bennett, born on August 1, 1973, is a former professional basketball player from America. He played as a power forward.

College Basketball Career

Mario Bennett was the youngest of four children. He played college basketball for Arizona State. Even though he was in college for four years, he only played for three seasons. This was because he missed the entire 1992–93 season. He was recovering from knee surgery during that time.

During his college career, Mario set some impressive records.

• He became the all-time leader in blocked shots for his school with 191 blocks.
• He also had the best field goal percentage at 58.7%.
• He was eighth in rebounding with 675 rebounds.

In the 1994–95 season, he set a new record for the Pac-10 conference. He made 115 blocks in just one season. He was also one of only three players in his school's history to score 600 or more points in a single season. Mario was known for his powerful dunks, finishing his college career with 219 of them!

He played 87 games in college. On average, he played 32.3 minutes per game. He scored 15.7 points and grabbed 7.8 rebounds per game. He also had 2.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.

NBA Basketball Career

In 1995, Mario Bennett was chosen by the Phoenix Suns in the 1995 NBA Draft. He was the 27th player picked overall. This made him the first player from Arizona State to be drafted into the NBA in 12 years.

Before the season started, Mario was the best rebounder for the Suns. He averaged 8.8 rebounds per game. However, he had to have knee surgery again on November 1. He was on the injured list for four months. After recovering, he played in 19 games for the Suns later that season. The Suns later decided to let him go in October 1996.

After leaving the Suns, he played for other teams. He played for the Grand Rapids Hoops and Yakima Sun Kings in the CBA league. In 7 games, he averaged 8.0 points and 6.3 rebounds.

In September 1997, the Los Angeles Lakers signed Mario. He played in 45 games during the 1997–98 season. He averaged 3.9 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. He then signed with the Chicago Bulls in January 1999 but was released shortly after. He played one game for the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1999–2000 season.

In his NBA career, Mario Bennett averaged 4.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. He played for about 8.9 minutes per game. His best game included scoring 21 points. In another game, he grabbed 14 rebounds, which was his career high.

Playing Basketball Overseas

After his time in the NBA, Mario Bennett played basketball in other countries. He started to become well-known in Europe while playing for Montpellier Basket in France in 2003. Later, he played for the San Miguel Beermen in the Philippine Basketball Association. He then returned to France to play for Paris Basket Racing, where he had a great season.

Mario then moved to Russia to play for the team Avtodor Saratov. After a few games, he left the team. He later joined the Fastlink Aman team in Jordan. However, knee problems caused his time there to be cut short. He needed more treatment for his knee.

After another knee operation, he came back to play for Mabetex in Kosovo. When he was 32, he joined JDA Dijon in France. His coach knew how good he was. During his time there, he averaged 10 points and 9 rebounds. He was even chosen for the All-Star game. Unfortunately, a broken bone in his foot stopped his season in January 2007.

In January 2011, Mario Bennett was involved in an incident in Bucharest, Romania. He said that security guards attacked him, causing injuries to his head and legs.

See also

In Spanish: Mario Bennett para niños