Luke Ridnour

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Luke Ridnour bigraphy, stories - American basketball player

Luke Ridnour : biography

February 13, 1981 –

Lukas Robin "Luke" Ridnour (born February 13, 1981) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NBA. He was born in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho and grew up in Blaine, Washington.

College career

Ridnour went on to star at the University of Oregon, where he teamed with Luke Jackson to take the Ducks to the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament twice including the Elite 8 in 2002. He set the school season record for assists (218) and made a conference-record 62 consecutive free throws. Luke averaged 19.7 points per game and 6.6 assist per game. Ridnour left Oregon after his junior year, when he was Pac-10 Player of the Year.

NBA career

Seattle SuperSonics

Luke was picked 14th in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. Luke played sparingly his rookie season, but became the starting point guard for the Sonics in the 2004–05 season. He participated in the 2005 All-Star weekend, playing in the Rookie Challenge and in the Skills Challenge.

Milwaukee Bucks

On August 13, 2008, Ridnour was involved in a three-team, six-player deal involving the Sonics (which had become the Oklahoma City Thunder), the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Cleveland Cavaliers that sent Milwaukee’s Mo Williams to Cleveland, Cleveland’s Joe Smith and Milwaukee’s Desmond Mason to Oklahoma City, Cleveland’s Damon Jones and Ridnour and Adrian Griffin to Milwaukee, which ended Ridnour’s five-year run with the Sonics/Thunder.

Minnesota Timberwolves

On July 21, 2010, Ridnour signed a 4-year $16 million contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | | align="left" | Seattle | 69 || 6 || 16.1 || .414 || .338 || .823 || 1.6 || 2.4 || .8 || .1 || 5.5 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Seattle | 82 || 82 || 31.4 || .405 || .376 || .883 || 2.5 || 5.9 || 1.1 || .3 || 10.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Seattle | 79 || 77 || 33.2 || .418 || .289 || .877 || 3.0 || 7.0 || 1.6 || .3 || 11.5 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Seattle | 71 || 58 || 29.5 || .433 || .353 || .805 || 2.3 || 5.2 || 1.2 || .3 || 11.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Seattle | 61 || 5 || 20.0 || .399 || .296 || .857 || 1.5 || 4.0 || .6 || .2 || 6.4 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Milwaukee | 72 || 50 || 28.2 || .403 || .350 || .869 || 3.0 || 5.1 || 1.3 || .2 || 9.6 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Milwaukee | 82 || 0 || 21.5 || .478 || .381 || .907 || 1.7 || 4.0 || 0.7 || .1 || 10.4 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Minnesota | 71 || 66 || 30.4 || .468 || .440 || .883 || 2.8 || 5.4 || 1.2 || .1 || 11.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Minnesota | 53 || 53 || 33.0 || .440 || .322 || .891 || 2.7 || 4.8 || 1.1 || .3 || 12.1 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Minnesota | 82 || 82 || 30.2 || .453 || .311 || .848 || 2.5 || 3.8 || 1.0 || .2 || 11.5 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 722 || 479 || 27.4 || .434 || .351 || .866 || 2.4 || 4.8 || 1.1 || .2 || 10.0

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2005 | align="left" | Seattle | 11 || 11 || 34.4 || .393 || .235 || .950 || 3.3 || 4.3 || 1.2 || .7 || 9.7 |- | align="left" | 2010 | align="left" | Milwaukee | 7 || 0 || 17.3 || .467 || .357 || .833 || 1.9 || 1.9 || .6 || .1 || 8.1 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 18 || 11 || 27.6 || .414 || .290 || .906 || 2.7 || 3.3 || .9 || .5 || 9.1

High school career

He is the son of Rob Ridnour, a former high school basketball coach and current coach of the International Basketball League’s Bellingham Slam. When Luke was a high-school sophomore he was given the keys to the gym by his father to practice at night. He was on two state title-winning teams at Blaine High School, and was named a high school All-American by both McDonald’s and Parade in 2000 his graduating year.