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Lance Blanks

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Lance Blanks
Personal information
Born(1966-09-09)September 9, 1966
Del Rio, Texas, U.S.
DiedMay 3, 2023(2023-05-03) (aged 56)
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High schoolMcCullough (The Woodlands, Texas)
College
NBA draft1990: 1st round, 26th overall pick
Selected by the Detroit Pistons
Playing career1990–1999
PositionPoint guard, shooting guard
Number32, 21
Career history
1990–1992Detroit Pistons
1992–1993Minnesota Timberwolves
1993Quad City Thunder
1993–1994Oklahoma City Cavalry
1994–1995Gießen 46ers
1997–1998Albacomp Fehérvár
1998–1999Keravnos
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points289 (2.0 ppg)
Rebounds110 (0.8 rpg)
Assists117 (0.8 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Lance Blanks (September 9, 1966 – May 3, 2023) was an American professional basketball player and executive who worked as an analyst for ESPN. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves. Blanks also spent several seasons playing in Europe. Blanks worked as the general manager of the Phoenix Suns from 2010 to 2013.

College career

Blanks was inducted into Texas Athletics' Longhorn Hall of Honor in 2007.

Selected Mr. Basketball for Texas in 1985, Blanks played collegiately at the University of Virginia and the University of Texas at Austin. Blanks and teammates Travis Mays and Joey Wright were known as the "BMW Scoring Machine" during the 1989–90 basketball season. That Longhorn team finished second in the Southwest Conference and advanced to the Elite Eight in the 1990 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Blanks drew strong criticism and gained many detractors for his on-court antics and unsportsmanlike, excessive celebration, such as at the Elite Eight of the 1990 tournament.

With 1,322 points, Blanks holds the record for the highest number of points by a two-year player and is the eighth-leading scorer in University of Texas history. Blanks ended his career at Texas as the all-time leader in steals and stands fourth place in career scoring average with 20.0 points per game.

Pro playing career

A guard, Blanks was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 1990 NBA draft with the 26th overall pick. He had an undistinguished career as a player, playing 142 games in three NBA seasons with the Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves. Afterwards, he played one season in the Continental Basketball Association and another three seasons in Europe, leading teams in Hungary and Cyprus to league titles.

Post-playing career

From 2010 to 2013, Blanks served as the general manager of the Phoenix Suns, a job he earned after five seasons as assistant general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Prior to joining the Cavaliers, he served as the director of scouting for the San Antonio Spurs. He joined the Spurs in 2000 as a scout and was promoted to director of scouting in September 2002. Also while in San Antonio, Blanks served as the Spurs' television analyst during the 2004–05 season.

From 2020 until his death in 2023, Blanks served as a television analyst for the Texas Longhorns on Longhorn Network.

Personal life

Lance Blanks was the son of Sid Blanks, a former AFL/NFL player and the first-ever Black football player to play in the Lone Star Conference.

His daughter, Riley Blanks was a four-star recruit for the University of Virginia tennis team and is the founder of Woke Beauty.

Blanks' cousin is Larvell Blanks, a former Major League Baseball infielder.

Blanks died on May 3, 2023, at the age of 56.

Off the court

In 2019, Blanks hosted a symposium on concussive injuries – chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) – at the University of Texas's Center for Sports Communication & Media. His father suffered from Parkinson's Disease after playing professional football for years. Participants at the symposium discussed the effect of football on the human brain and the symbolic importance of the sport in American life.

Blanks frequently worked with Basketball Without Borders.

Notes

  1. ^ "Longhorn legends: Basketball Hall of Honor inductee Lance Blanks". texassports.com. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  2. "2014–15 Texas Basketball Fact Book" (PDF). texassports.com. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  3. Nuhn, Gary (March 24, 1990). "Blanks shoots, hoots & hollers for Longhorns". Dayton Daily News.
  4. ^ "Former Pistons guard Lance Blanks passes away at age 56". detroitnews.com. May 4, 2023. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  5. ^ Broussard, Chris (August 5, 2010). "Suns hire Lance Blanks as GM". ESPN. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  6. ^ Cavaliers: Front Office Archived July 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  7. Suns and Blanks Part Ways
  8. Cavaliers: Lance Blanks Chat Transcript
  9. Ufnowski, Amy (November 24, 2020). "Longhorn Network Set to Televise 20 Texas Basketball Games During the 2020-21 Season". ESPN Press Room U.S. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
  10. "Raised to Shine". uvamagazine.org. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  11. "Head Trauma and the Future of Football". https://Moody College of Communication. Retrieved November 18, 2019. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)

External links

Phoenix Suns general managers

# denotes interim general manager

1990 NBA draft
First round
Second round
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