Dwayne Kenneth Schintzius (October 14, 1968 – April 15, 2012) was an American basketball player who played eight seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born in Brandon, Florida and attended the University of Florida, where he helped lead the Florida Gators men's basketball program to its first three NCAA tournament appearances as an all-conference center. Schintzius was selected in the first round of the 1990 NBA draft (24th overall pick) by the San Antonio Spurs, but chronic back problems reduced his effectiveness, and he played for six different NBA teams over ten seasons in the league, mainly as a reserve player.
Off the court, Schintzius was known for his distinctive mullet-style haircut that he called "the lobster", his sometimes abrasive behavior, and his performance as a Russian basketball player in the 1996 comedy film Eddie. In 2009, he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. After treatment and a brief remission, he died from complications of the disease in 2012.
Early years
Schintzius was born in Brandon, Florida, a suburb of Tampa. He attended Brandon High School, and played as a center for the Brandon Eagles high school basketball team. Together with teammate Toney Mack, Schintzius led the Eagles to a Class 4A state runner-up finish as a sophomore, and another Final Four berth as a junior. As a senior, he averaged 21.1 points and 17 rebounds per game, Schintzius started at center for the Gators beginning early in his freshman season.
During his junior season, Schintzius allegedly heard a rude remark from a sidewalk while riding in a car outside a Gainesville nightclub and stormed after the offender wielding a tennis racket. Losing 72–70, Florida turned the ball over with only one second left on the clock, seemingly sealing a loss. But at that point, someone in the Memorial Gymnasium home crowd threw a tennis ball onto the court. Referee John Clougherty immediately called a technical foul on the Commodores, and Schintzius, who led the Gators in free throw percentage that season, hit both free throws to send the game into overtime.
Sloan was forced to resign before Schintzius's senior season of 1989–90 and was replaced on an interim basis by former Tennessee coach Don DeVoe. Schintzius was not happy with this turn of events and skipped DeVoe's first practice with the team along with fellow star Livingston Chatman. Soon after, he was suspended for alleged involvement in a fraternity house fight.
Schintzius remains the only player in SEC history to amass more than 1,000 points, 800 rebounds, 250 assists and 250 blocks. He still holds Florida's career record for blocked shots (272), and is ranks sixth among the program's all-time scoring leaders with 1,624 points. He remained on the board until later in the first round of the 1990 NBA draft, however, and the San Antonio Spurs selected him with the 24th overall pick. His playing time was limited by a bad back, a chronic issue which would plague him throughout his career.
Schintzius also clashed with team officials during his time in San Antonio. Head coach Larry Brown criticized his work habits, and he had continuing conflict with general manager Bob Bass after difficult contract negotiations. Schintzius reported overweight to training camp before his second season, prompting Bass to tell him to "at least" cut his "lobster" hairdo. Schintzius got a haircut as directed, then sent Bass the shavings in an envelope. Three days later on September 23, 1991, Bass traded him to the Sacramento Kings for Antoine Carr and a second-round draft pick. Schintzius' playing time was again limited by injury in Sacramento, and the club did not re-sign him after the season.
Schintzius signed with the New Jersey Nets in October 1992, and remained with the team for three seasons, playing in a career high 43 contests during the 1994-95 season. He spent a year with the Indiana Pacers in 1995–96, and a year with the Los Angeles Clippers in 1996–97. Schintzius only played 15 games with the Clippers but did post a career-high 15 points in a loss against the Bullets on January 10, 1997. This game also featured the only three point make of Schintzius' NBA career. After missing the entire 1997–98 season due to injury, he played 16 games with the Boston Celtics in 1998–99 before retiring from the NBA. In eight NBA seasons, he appeared in 217 regular season games and started 33 of them.
Illness and death
In November 2009, Schintzius was diagnosed with a chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, a rare and often fatal form of the disease. With a bone marrow donation from his brother Travis, he underwent bone marrow transplantation at the Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa on January 12, 2010. but Schintzius struggled through several difficult rounds of chemotherapy until being declared cancer-free in July 2010. On April 15, 2012, Schintzius died at the Moffit Cancer Center from respiratory failure; he was 43 years old.
Career statistics
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|San Antonio
| 42 || 7 || 9.5 || .439 || .000 || .550 || 2.9 || .4 || .0 || .7 || 3.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;|
| style="text-align:left;"|Sacramento
| 33 || 0 || 12.1 || .427 || .000 || .833 || 3.6 || .6 || .2 || .8 || 3.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|New Jersey
| 5 || 0 || 7.0 || .286 || || 1.000 || 1.6 || .4 || .4 || .4 || 1.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|New Jersey
| 30 || 3 || 10.6 || .345 || || .588 || 3.0 || .4 || .2 || .6 || 2.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|New Jersey
| 43 || 11 || 7.4 || .380 || || .545 || 1.9 || .3 || .1 || .4 || 2.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana
| 33 || 5 || 9.0 || .445 || || .619 || 2.4 || .4 || .3 || .4 || 3.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|L.A. Clippers
| 15 || 0 || 7.7 || .361 || .500 || .875 || 1.5 || .3 || .1 || .6 || 2.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"|Boston
| 16 || 0 || 4.2 || .250 || || .750 || 1.2 || .5 || .0 || .2 || .7
|- class=sortbottom
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 217 || 33 || 9.0 || .404 || .125 || .638 || 2.5 || .4 || .1 || .5 || 2.7
Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1993
| style="text-align:left;"|New Jersey
| 5 || 0 || 21.2 || .448 || || .500 || 5.0 || .8 || .2 || 1.2 || 5.8
See also
- List of Florida Gators in the NBA