# Wayne Simien update



## UD40 (May 12, 2005)

I remember Wayne was pretty popular around these parts, so I decided to lookup his where abouts today.



> Four years ago, Wayne Simien was on his way to Miami to start a new chapter in his life as an NBA player. Today he’s starting a new one, this time as a minister.
> 
> During his time with the Kansas basketball team, Simien was considered by many to be one of the best players to grace the floor of Allen Fieldhouse. The former McDonald’s High School All-American was the only Jayhawk of his class in 2005 to be drafted into the NBA and the only Jayhawk to be a first team All-American under coach Bill Self.
> 
> Simien said the past four years had been a journey, as today he’s focusing on his sports ministry Called to Greatness.





> He joined the Heat for the 2005-2006 season and averaged 9.6 minutes and 3.4 points a game. The Heat would go on to win the NBA championship that year. Simien described his rookie season as “amazing.”
> 
> ”Going into a locker room with guys who had been playing a lot longer like Alonzo [Mourning], who had been playing for 10 years, and Gary [Payton], it was an incredible feeling,” Simien said.





> “To me,” Simien said, “it was more of a desire to change the lives of people through Jesus Christ than playing basketball for a paycheck.”


http://www.uwire.com/Article.aspx?id=4150740

Good to see he's doing something that he truely loves. He could be like most of these former players and be throwing his life away. Glad too see he's on his feet and doing well.


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## -33- (Aug 6, 2002)

Good for him


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## Smithian (Apr 3, 2006)

Made some money, played with some greats, and won a championship.

Good year.


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## HeatBall (Jan 14, 2009)

but an overall disappointing nba career.. is it me or did he always have a stomach virus? i really expected him to be a step above udonis at one point


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## IbizaXL (Sep 21, 2005)

**** this guy. we wasted a pick on this garbage. waste of time and money. he never contributed to the team.


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## -33- (Aug 6, 2002)

IbizaXL said:


> **** this guy. we wasted a pick on this garbage. waste of time and money. he never contributed to the team.


He got sick, give the guy a break.


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## UD40 (May 12, 2005)

Exactly, his sickness basically ended his career. If you want to complain about a pick, complain about us taking Dorell Wright over Jameer Nelson...


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## IbizaXL (Sep 21, 2005)

He was still young. Couldnt he recover from Salmonella? Zo came back after a kidney transplant for christ's sake!

I dont give a rats a** if hes become a preacher or whatever. waste of time. no sympathy from me. at least Wright is still with us and trying to contribute.


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## Smithian (Apr 3, 2006)

IbizaXL said:


> He was still young. Couldnt he recover from Salmonella? Zo came back after a kidney transplant for christ's sake!
> 
> I dont give a rats a** if hes become a preacher or whatever. waste of time. no sympathy from me. at least Wright is still with us and *collecting a check*.


Fixed.


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## Jace (Sep 26, 2005)

IbizaXL said:


> He was still young. Couldnt he recover from Salmonella? Zo came back after a kidney transplant for christ's sake!
> 
> I dont give a rats a** if hes become a preacher or whatever. waste of time. no sympathy from me. at least Wright is still with us and trying to contribute.


If anyone remembers, Simien was showing signs of being pretty good before the Salmonella hit. It was understood that he'd eventually replace Haslem as the starter. 

After beginning to get better, he had a relapse, and it brought him back down. Once he was fully healthy, he began working hard to put his weight back on, but clearly his game was rusty, and the Heat were in win-now mode. Its not really his fault he wasted the team's time. Are you really gonna fault a guy for getting sick?

Looking at where we drafted him, in retrospect, can be a little bit peeving though. Simien was picked 29th. Here are some guys drafted after him:

*PFs (or close) alone:*

-David Lee (30th)
-Brandon Bass (33rd)
-Ronny Turiaf (37th)
-Andre Blatche (49th)
-Ryan Gomes (50th)
-Amir Johnson (56th)
-Marcin Gortat (57th)

*Others:*

-Salim Stoudemire (31st)
-CJ Miles (34th)
-Travis Deiner (38th)
-Von Wafter (39th)
-Monta Ellis (40th)
-Louis Williams (45th)

Obviously a few teams screwed up that year, but looking back we were one of the really bad ones. Can't fault the Heat, though, as Simien was a promising player, and a winner.


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## sknydave (Apr 27, 2006)

Seems odd to me that someone's NBA career came to an end because of salmonella


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## HeatBall (Jan 14, 2009)

it's not the salmonella.. its the affect it has on the body.. you cant eat.. u cant work out.. u cant do anything.. then depending on someones body type it can be extremely difficult to regain that strength especially for the position he was playing.. 

the heat won a title with him injured/on the bench so the win now mode is irrelevant..

and please.. dont remidn me about wright over nelson.. i still have night mares about it..


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## Jace (Sep 26, 2005)

The win-now was relevant because at that point personnel/contracts had moved around, and the Heat needed his roster spot for someone that could produce.


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## sknydave (Apr 27, 2006)

I dunno.. You have guys coming back from heart surgeries and cancer but he can't recover from the salmonella? Maybe he just wanted to do something else


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## IbizaXL (Sep 21, 2005)

sknydave said:


> I dunno.. You have guys coming back from heart surgeries and cancer but he can't recover from the salmonella? Maybe he just wanted to do something else


Thats what irks me. its seems his heart was never really in basketball. which happens in sports....but it still doesnt change the fact that we wasted a pick on him.


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## Wade County (Jun 22, 2003)

I had pretty reasonable expectations for Wayne. He was a dominant college player, and I figured he'd replace UD eventually.

Shame we wasted a late pick on him, the pick directly after him was David Lee.


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