David Benoit (basketball)

David Benoit

Personal information
Born	(1968-05-09) May 9, 1968 Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school	Lafayette (Lafayette, Louisiana)
College	Tyler JC (1986–1988) Alabama (1988–1990)
NBA draft	1990: undrafted
Playing career	1990–2007
Position	Small forward
Number	21, 2
Career history
1990–1991	Unicaja Málaga
1991–1996	Utah Jazz
1996–1998	New Jersey Nets
1998	Orlando Magic
1998–1999	Maccabi Tel Aviv
2000–2001	Utah Jazz
2001–2002	Shanghai Sharks
2002–2004	Hitachi SunRockers
2004–2005	Utah Snowbears
2005–2007	Saitama Broncos
Career highlights and awards
CBA champion (2002) Third-team All-SEC – UPI (1990)
Career NBA statistics
Points	3,455
Rebounds	1,983
Assists	287
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

David Benoit (born May 9, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player, in the small forward position.

During his career, he played eight years in the National Basketball Association (NBA), six as a member of the Utah Jazz.

Personal life

Benoit was born in Lafayette, Louisiana. He played high school basketball at Lafayette High School (Louisiana) and also had his jersey retired there. Benoit played in the NJCAA for Tyler Junior College, from 1986 to 1988. His last two years of college basketball were spent with the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide. He is also cousins with ex UFC champion Daniel Cormier

Professional career

Utah Jazz

Benoit was not selected in the 1990 NBA draft, playing his first professional season in Spain. In the following year, he joined the Utah Jazz as a free agent, and would post interesting numbers during his five-season spell.

In 1993, Benoit participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, where he finished fourth out of eight contestants. During the 1994–95 season, he achieved a career-best 10 points and five rebounds per game in 71 regular season contests, to which he added 12 and six in the postseason's first round, as the Jazz were downed 2–3 by the eventual champion Houston Rockets.

New Jersey/Orlando

After losing his starting position to Chris Morris, Benoit left the Jazz in the 1996 summer, and signed with the New Jersey Nets. He spent his first season in the sidelines, due to injury.

In early 1998, Benoit was traded, alongside Yinka Dare and Kevin Edwards, to the Orlando Magic, for Brian Evans and Rony Seikaly, appearing in 24 games and averaging six points. He left the United States to play with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, due in part to the 1998 NBA lockout, and remained there for two years.

Jazz return

In 2000, Benoit returned to the team where he began his career. Now only a fringe player, he averaged 3.6 points in 49 games, as the Jazz once again qualified for the playoffs.

After leaving the NBA at the age of 33 (with averages of exactly seven points and four rebounds, in 492 games), Benoit played for the Shanghai Sharks alongside Yao Ming in the Chinese Basketball Association, winning the 2001–02 league championship. He spent four of the last five seasons of his career in the Japan Basketball League.

Head coaching record

Legend

Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win–loss %
Playoffs	PG	Playoff games	PW	Playoff wins	PL	Playoff losses	PW–L %	Playoff win–loss %

Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW–L%	Result
Saitama Broncos	2007–08	44	21	23	.477	4th in Eastern	-	-	-	–	-
Saitama Broncos	2008–09	52	19	33	.365	5th in Eastern	-	-	-	–	-
Kyoto Hannaryz	2009–10	42	15	27	.357	Fired	-	-	-	–	-

External links

• NBA.com profile
• Stats at BasketballReference