Robert Whaley

{{for-multi|the U.S. federal judge|Robert H. Whaley|the president of Citizens Bank|Robert J. Whaley|the professor of management|Robert E. Whaley}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Robert Whaley

| image = Robert Whaley.jpg

| caption = Whaley with the Jazz in December 2005

| width = 140

| career_position = Center

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 6

| weight_lb = 260

| league =

| team =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1982|4|16}}

| birth_place = Benton Harbor, Michigan, U.S.

| high_school = Benton Harbor
(Benton Harbor, Michigan)

| college =

Barton CC (2001–2003)
Cincinnati (2003–2004)
Walsh (2004–2005)

| draft_year = 2005

| draft_round = 2

| draft_pick = 51

| draft_team = Utah Jazz

| career_start = 2005

| career_end = 2008

| years1 = {{nbay|2005|full=y}}

| team1 = Utah Jazz

| years2 = 2006

| team2 = Metros de Santiago

| years3 = 2006–2007

| team3 = Twin City Ballers

| years4 = 2007

| team4 = Petrochimi Imam

| years5 = 2007–2008

| team5 = Los Angeles D-Fenders

| highlights =

NAIA Division II Player of the Year (2005)
NAIA Division II tournament MVP (2005)
First-team NJCAA All-American (2002)
Second-team NJCAA All-American (2003)

}}

Robert Antawon Whaley (born April 16, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player.

High school and college career

Whaley graduated from Benton Harbor High School in 2001. He was a leading contender for Mr. Basketball of Michigan, but Benton Harbor came up just short of winning the championship. He attended Barton County Community College for two years, then transferred to the University of Cincinnati in 2003 and Walsh University in 2004. He was the NAIA Division II Player of the Year in 2004–05 and led Walsh to its first NAIA National Championship. He averaged 19.9 points and 7.5 rebounds in 35 games as a senior.{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/playerfile/robert_whaley/bio.html|title=Robert Whaley bio|work=NBA.com|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060830025755/http://www.nba.com/playerfile/robert_whaley/bio.html|archivedate=August 30, 2006|url-status=dead}} Walsh left the NAIA and joined the NCAA in 2011.

Professional career

=Utah Jazz (2005–2006)=

Whaley was selected by the Utah Jazz with 51st overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft, becoming the most recent player drafted out of an NAIA school, as of 2018. As a rookie in 2005–06, Whaley appeared in 23 games and averaged 2.1 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. He scored a career-high 11 points on December 23, 2005, against the New York Knicks.{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/whalero01/gamelog/2006/|title=Robert Whaley 2005-06 Game Log|work=Basketball-Reference.com|accessdate=July 13, 2016}} On January 26, 2006, he was ruled out indefinitely with torn cartilage in his right knee.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=2306721|title=Whaley out indefinitely with torn cartilage|work=ESPN.com|date=January 26, 2006|access-date=July 13, 2016}} He returned to action in March 2006, but appeared in just one further game after returning to injury.

On December 11, 2005, Whaley and teammate Deron Williams got into an altercation with a group of Denver Nuggets fans who were harassing them outside a Park City club. Both Whaley and Williams gave police false names at that time, and both were cited for providing false information to police. Whaley, who sustained a 6-inch cut on his hand at the bar that night, was suspended one game by the Jazz for lying about how he received the injury.{{cite web|last=Reavy|first=Pat|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700016084/Former-Jazz-player-Robert-Whaley-arrested-in-Utah.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315132159/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700016084/Former-Jazz-player-Robert-Whaley-arrested-in-Utah.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 15, 2010|title=Former Jazz player Robert Whaley arrested in Utah|work=DeseretNews.com|date=March 13, 2010|accessdate=July 13, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=2259331|title=Jazz rookies cited for giving false names to police|work=ESPN.com|date=December 14, 2006|access-date=July 13, 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=2263107|title=Jazz await NBA approval before disciplining Whaley|work=ESPN.com|date=December 16, 2006|access-date=July 13, 2016}}

On June 8, 2006, Whaley was traded, along with Kris Humphries, to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Rafael Araújo.{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/pressrelease_trade_060806.html|title=Raptors Acquire Kris Humphries & Robert Whaley for Araujo|work=NBA.com|date=June 8, 2006|accessdate=July 13, 2016}} He was later waived by the Raptors on June 21, 2006.{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/pressrelease_062106.html|title=Raptors Acquire Rasho Nesterovic In Exchange for Matt Bonner, Eric Williams & a Future Second Round Pick|work=NBA.com|date=June 21, 2006|accessdate=July 13, 2016}}

=Post-NBA (2006–2008)=

After being released by the Toronto Raptors, Whaley moved to the Dominican Republic where he played briefly with Metros de Santiago. For the 2006–07 season, he joined the Twin City Ballers of the American Basketball Association. In March 2007, he left the Ballers and joined Petrochimi Imam of Iran for the rest of the season.{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/media/dleague/robert_whaley.pdf|title=Robert Whaley|work=NBA.com|accessdate=July 13, 2016}}

On November 1, 2007, Whaley was selected by the Los Angeles D-Fenders in the second round of the 2007 NBA Development League Draft. He was waived by the team on January 4, 2008, and reacquired on February 13.{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/transactions_07-08.html|title=2007-08 Transactions|work=NBA.com|accessdate=July 13, 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329075207/http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/transactions_07-08.html|archivedate=March 29, 2016}} In 22 games (nine starts) for the D-Fenders in 2007–08, he averaged 4.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game.{{cite web|url=http://stats.nbadleague.com/player/#!/201376/|title=Robert Whaley D-League Profile|work=NBA.com|accessdate=July 13, 2016}}

Post-basketball life

In September 2008, Whaley was convicted in Michigan of running a drug house. Having absconded from his probation in January 2009, a National Crime Information Center warrant was issued for his arrest in March 2010. He was arrested in Salt Lake County, and while he was being searched to be booked into jail, officers found several bags of marijuana on his possession.{{cite web|last=Kobialka|first=Daniel|url=http://nesn.com/2010/03/report-police-arrest-exnba-center-robert-whaley-find-marijuana-between-his-buttocks/|title=Report: Police Arrest Ex-NBA Center Robert Whaley, Find Marijuana 'Between His Buttocks'|work=NESN.com|date=March 18, 2010|accessdate=July 13, 2016}} In June 2010, he was extradited to Michigan,{{cite web|last=Carlisle|first=Nate|url=http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=9972930&itype=storyID|title=Ex-Jazz center Whaley out of SLC jail, shipped to Michigan|work=sltrib.com|date=June 30, 2010|accessdate=July 13, 2016}} and was later sentenced to a two-year jail term in which he served between 2010 and 2012.{{cite web|last=Larsen|first=Andy|url=https://ksl.com/?sid=38828634&nid=294&title=former-jazz-player-robert-whaley-sentenced-for-burglarizing-layton-hotel|title=Former Jazz player Robert Whaley sentenced for burglarizing Layton hotel|work=KSL.com|date=March 9, 2016|accessdate=July 13, 2016}}

In 2014, Whaley became an assistant coach for Utah Elite, a talented AAU program made up primarily of fifth-graders.{{cite web|last=Jones|first=Tony|url=http://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/sltrib/jazz/57953729-87/whaley-robert-utah-basketball.html.csp|title=Back in Utah, Ex-Jazzman Whaley coaching his way to redemption|work=sltrib.com|date=May 18, 2014|accessdate=July 13, 2016}}

On March 7, 2016, Whaley was ordered to serve 60 days in Davis County Jail after pleading guilty to a third-degree felony count of burglary. He was arrested on May 1, 2015, for burglarizing a Layton Marriott Hotel.{{cite web|last=Falk|first=Aaron|url=http://www.sltrib.com/home/3640635-155/utah-jazz-former-center-robert-whaley|title=Utah Jazz: Former center Robert Whaley sentenced to jail for hotel burglary|work=sltrib.com|date=March 9, 2016|accessdate=July 13, 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865649784/Former-Jazz-player-Whaley-sentenced-to-60-days-in-jail.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312094225/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865649784/Former-Jazz-player-Whaley-sentenced-to-60-days-in-jail.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 12, 2016|title=Former Jazz player Whaley sentenced to 60 days in jail|work=DeseretNews.com|date=March 10, 2016|accessdate=July 13, 2016}}

References

External links

[http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/101156/ Robert Whaley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401124428/http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/101156/ |date=2016-04-01 }} at nba.com
[https://web.archive.org/web/20041216101826/http://www.ucbearcats.com/sports/mbball/bio.asp?PLAYER_ID=1249 Robert Whaley] at ucbearcats.com

Category:1982 births

Category:Living people

Category:American expatriate basketball people in the Dominican Republic

Category:American expatriate basketball people in Iran

Category:American men's basketball players

Category:American people convicted of drug offenses

Category:American prisoners and detainees

Category:Barton Cougars men's basketball players

Category:Basketball players from Michigan

Category:Centers (basketball)

Category:Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball players

Category:Los Angeles D-Fenders players