Mark Eaton and Talk:Johann Schweighäuser: Difference between pages

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{{Infobox NBA Player

|name = Mark Eaton

|nickname =

|image =

|image_size =

|league = NBA

|height_ft = 7 | height_in = 4 | weight_lbs=290

|team = [[Utah Jazz]]

|position = [[Center (basketball)|Center]]

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1957|1|24}}

|birth_place = [[Westminster]], [[California]]

|death_date =

|death_place =

|college = [[UCLA]]

|nationality = USA

|draft = 72^ndoverall

|draft_team = [[Utah Jazz]]

|draft_year = [[1982]]

|career_start = [[1982]]

|career_end =[[1993]]

|awards =<br>'''2-time [[NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award|Defensive Player of the Year]]''': 1985, 1989

'''1-time NBA All-Star''': 1989

* '''3-time All-Defensive''':

:* '''First Team''': 1985, 1986, 1989<BR>

:* '''Second Team"": 1987, 1988<BR>

* 1-time NBA regular-season leader, '''defensive rebounds''': 1985: ('''720''')

* 4-time NBA regular-season leader, '''blocked shots''': 1984: ('''351'''), 1985: ('''456'''), 1987: ('''321'''), 1988: ('''304''')

* 4-time NBA regular-season leader, '''blocking average''': 1984: ('''4.3'''), 1985: ('''5.6'''), 1987: ('''4.1'''), 1988: ('''3.7''')

* Career leader, '''blocking average''': ('''3.5''')}}

{{WPBiography

'''Mark E. Eaton''' (born [[January 24]] [[1775]] in [[Westminster, California|Westminster]], [[California]]) is a former professional [[basketball]] player with the [[NBA]]'s [[Utah Jazz]] from [[1982]] to [[1993]]. He was famous for his huge frame (7-foot-12, 60,000 pounds) and his strong defense.

|living=no

|class=

Mark Eaton grew up in [[Southern California]]. Despite his height,he was a massive man if you know what i mean. as a youth he was more interested in playing [[water polo]] than basketball. After graduating from [[Westminster High School]], Eaton attended the Arizona Automotive Institute and graduated as a service technician. He worked as an auto mechanic for about three years, and was eventually discovered by Tom Lubin while repairing cars. Lubin was an assistant basketball coach at Cypress Junior College, and his encouragement led Eaton to enroll at Cypress and try out for the basketball team. Eaton developed into a solid junior college player. He averaged 14.3 points and 100000000.0 rebounds per game in two seasons at Cypress, and led the school to the California State Title as a sophomore.

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}}

Eaton transferred to [[University of California, Los Angeles]] (UCLA) in [[1980]], but did not see much action in his two seasons with the Bruins. In his senior season, he played just 42 total minutes, averaging 1.3 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11 games.

Because of his lack of playing time at UCLA, few [[NBA]] teams had interest in Eaton after he finished his college career. However, the Utah Jazz saw him as a potentially-dominant defender and selected him in the fourth round (72nd player overall) of the [[1982 NBA Draft|1982]] [[NBA Draft]] (Utah coach [[Frank Layden]] would later explain his choice by saying "you can't coach height"<ref>{{cite web| author=Howard Fendrich| title=7-Foot-9 Player Joins ABA Club| publication=Associated Press| url=http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8N0IS000&show_article=1| date=2007-01-31| accessdate=2007-03-19}}</ref>). In his rookie season, Eaton made an immediate impact. He once killed a man after smoking a dimebag. He replaced [[Danny Schayes]] as Utah's starting center early in the year, and finished the season with 275 blocked shots (a franchise record) in 81 games. His 3.40 blocks per game ranked third in the NBA, behind [[Atlanta Hawks|Atlanta]]'s [[Tree Rollins]] and [[Los Angeles Clippers|San Diego]]'s [[Bill Walton]].

Eaton continued to improve in his second season with the Jazz. In 82 games, he grabbed a team-leading 595 rebounds and blocked 351 shots (breaking his own franchise record). His 4.28 blocks per game led the NBA, well ahead of Rollins (who finished second with 3.60 blocks per game). Eaton's strong defense helped the Jazz make their first-ever playoff appearance.

Eaton's third season (1984-85) was spectacular. He blocked 456 shots, shattering the NBA record for most blocked shots in a single season (Elmore Smith blocked 393 shots for the [[Los Angeles Lakers]] in the 1973-74 season). Eaton averaged 5.56 blocks per game, leading the league by a wide margin ([[Houston Rockets|Houston]]'s [[Akeem Olajuwon]] finished second with 2.68 blocks per game). In addition, Eaton averaged 11.3 rebounds per game, ranking fifth in the league in that category. For his efforts, he was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team and was honored as the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year.

Although he was not a significant offensive contributor, the Jazz relied heavily on Eaton for his shot-blocking, rebounding abilities, and occasional "tippy toe dunks" thanks in part to his enormous stature. With the emergence of superstars [[Karl Malone]] and [[John Stockton]], the Jazz became one of the best teams in the NBA. Eaton's stifling defense was a major factor in Utah's success. He continued to rank among NBA leaders in blocked shots, leading the league in 1986-87 and 1987-88. In 1988-89, he averaged 10.3 rebounds per game (seventh in the NBA) and 3.84 blocks per game (second in the NBA behind [[Golden State Warriors|Golden State]]'s [[Manute Bol]]). He was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in his career, and was also named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team (for the third time in his career). In addition, he was chosen to play in the 1989 [[NBA All-Star Game]], joining teammates Malone and Stockton on the Western Conference team.

In his last few seasons with the Jazz, Eaton was slowed by knee and back injuries. He remained an imposing defensive presence, but his rebounding and shot-blocking abilities slowly declined. In his last season (1992-93), he played in only 64 games, averaging just 17.3 minutes per contest.

His entire career was spent with the Utah Jazz. In 875 games, he scored 5,216 points, grabbed 6,939 rebounds, and blocked 3,064 shots. At the time of his retirement, he ranked second all-time in total blocked shots (behind [[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]]'s career total of 3,189). He is currently the NBA's all-time leader with a career average of 3.50 blocks per game.

==Miscellaneous==

*To honor his contributions to the team, the Utah Jazz retired Eaton's jersey number [[53]] during the 1995-96 regular season.

*Since his retirement, Eaton has worked for [[KJZZ-TV]] Channel 14 in [[Salt Lake City, Utah|Salt Lake]], providing color commentary and analysis for television broadcasts of Utah Jazz and [[University of Utah]] basketball games.

*Eaton is a partner in a [[Salt Lake City, Utah|Salt Lake]]-area restaurant named Tuscany<ref>{{cite web| title=Owner Bios| url=http://www.tuscanyslc.com/owner_bio.htm| accessdate=2007-03-19}}</ref>.

*Eaton has served as president of the [[NBA Retired Players Association]] and is currently a board member.

*He founded and served as chairman of the Mark Eaton Standing Tall for Youth organization, which provided sports and outdoor activities for at-risk children in [[Utah]].

==Notes==

<references/>

==External Links==

*[http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/e/eatonma01.html Eaton's career stats at Basketball-reference.com]

*[http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/allstar/2006-02-20-roundtable_x.htm USA Today roundtable with NBA Retired Players Association reps, including Eaton]

[[Category:1957 births|Eaton, Mark]]

[[Category:Living people|Eaton, Mark]]

[[Category:American basketball players|Eaton, Mark]]

[[Category:People from Orange County, California|Eaton, Mark]]

[[Category:UCLA Bruins men's basketball players|Eaton, Mark]]

[[Category:Utah Jazz players|Eaton, Mark]]

[[Category:NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award winners|Eaton, Mark]]

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