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Ralph Sampson is a former professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets. The Houston Rockets selected the 7-foot-4 Harrisonburg native, who now lives in suburban Atlanta, first in the 1983 NBA draft.
What is the net worth of Ralph Sampson?
Ralph Sampson’s net worth is estimated to be around $6 million, as he appears to be living a quiet and pleasant life after retirement.
Ralph Sampson: Birth, Parents, Siblings & Education
Ralph Sampson Jr. was born on July 7, 1960, as Ralph Lee Sampson in Harrisonburg, Virginia. His horoscope sign is Cancer, and he is an American.
Not much is known about his academic background, but he did graduate from the University of Virginia.
With a height of 7 feet 4 inches, Sampson’s entry into the world of American basketball – the NBA – came with a lot of expectations.
Sampson spent three seasons with the Houston Rockets before injuries took their toll.
The NBA Rookie of the Year averaged 20.7 points and 10.9 rebounds over those three seasons.
He then underwent three knee surgeries before retiring from the game as a four-time All-Star.
His career highlight will most likely be the last-second shot that dethroned the Los Angeles Lakers as Western Conference champions.
The buzzer-beating shot not only ended the Lakers’ reign as champions but also ended their chances of winning the NBA title back-to-back.
Ralph Sampson: Professional Career
Ralph Sampson began his basketball career in high school.
By ninth grade, he was already 6 feet 7 inches tall, and by a high school in Harrisonburg, Virginia, he was already 7 feet 3 inches tall.
After averaging 19 points and 17 rebounds as a junior and 14 points and 11 rebounds as a sophomore, Sampson led Harrisonburg High to two state AA basketball championships (in 1978 and 1979) by averaging nearly 30 points, 19 rebounds, and seven blocked shots.
While playing as a center for the University of Virginia in 1983, Ralph led the Cavaliers to an NCAA Elite 8 appearance, only to lose in the regional final to a North Carolina State team led by Jim Valvano.
He was drafted by the Houston Rockets in the 1983 NBA Draft and averaged 21.0 points and 11.1 rebounds. He also appeared in the All-Star Game and was named NBA Rookie of the Year. Because of his size and agility, he was known for quick dribbling and darting runs.
He could dribble with guards and run the floor like no one else. Before he turned pro, he was tipped for greatness. Sampson was expected to reach the heights of basketball greats such as Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, and others before him.
The Rockets selected another colossus in the 1984 NBA Draft, 7-foot Hakeem Olajuwon from the University of Houston.
The choice was met with mixed reactions. While some thought that having two 7-foot+ players on the same team would be a bad idea, others thought it was a game-changing move.
In order to accommodate the new ‘giant’ Olajuwon, Sampson had to change his game a little, playing a new style of power forward, which worked out really well.
Sampson had his best individual season in 1984-85, and the Rockets made the playoffs for the first time in three years.
He was named to the All-NBA Second Team after averaging 22.1 points and 10.4 rebounds. The ‘twin giants’ competed in the 1985 NBA All-Star Game, and Sampson was named MVP.
It didn’t stop there. The Rockets won the Midwest Division while defeating Los Angeles in the Western Conference Finals four games to one over five games the following season.
The best part is Sampson’s miracle in Game 5 of that series in Los Angeles. With the scores at 112 for both teams and less than a second left on the clock (after the Rockets fought back from a losing position), Ralph Sampson turned the game on its head by launching a time-stopping shot that sailed through and into the hoop at the buzzer, giving his team a 114-112 victory.
Ralph is the only athlete to have received an unprecedented pair of Wooden Awards, as well as only the second person to have received three Naismith Awards as National Player of the Year.
He is arguably the most heavily recruited college and professional basketball prospect of his generation, having appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated an unprecedented six times in less than four years.
In 1996, Ralph was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
In 2002, he was named one of the fifty best players in Atlantic Coast Conference history by the ACC 50th Anniversary men’s basketball team. Only three Virginia Cavaliers have received this honor.
Ralph Sampson: Injuries and Drop
The story of Ralph Sampson’s greatness on the basketball court was winding down, as it is with all great stories. His overall contribution to the game began to dwindle as the injuries began to take their toll on the ‘giant.’
During the NBA Finals against Boston, Sampson suffered a back injury as a result of a fall. After that, his season was never the same.
As a result, during the 1986-87 season, he fell out of favor with Rockets Coach Bill Fitch, leading to his trade to the Golden State Warriors in a deal that also included Eric “Sleepy” Floyd.
Despite the move, his injury problems persisted, and he never played a full season in the following four seasons.
He was later traded to the Sacramento Kings for Jim Petersen prior to the 1989-90 season.
However, 51 games in two seasons with an average of 7.2 points can only be described as a letdown.
After being released by the Kings in 1991, Sampson joined the Washington Bullets for 10 games before being released, and he finished the season playing eight games for Unicaja Ronda in the Spanish League.
But he’d had enough, and at the age of 32, Ralph called it quits on his professional playing career.
In total, the man dubbed “the greatest basketball player in history” played 441 games in 10 NBA seasons, accounting for slightly more than half of the 820 games scheduled.
Looking back on his career, Sampson admitted that he rushed his recovery and returned too soon from three career-defining knee surgeries, decisions he considers rash and that cost him his career.
Ralph Sampson: Relationship Status
Ralph Sampson married Aleize R. Dial when he was 26 years old in 1986. The couple exchanged vows in front of 200 guests at their wedding ceremony in Anniston, Alabama.
The marriage, however, did not last and ended in divorce in 2003. Despite the fact that his marriage ended, Sampson faced several court charges for child support brought against him by his wife and other women.
Despite the fact that their marriage lasted only 17 years, they had four children – two sons and two daughters. Both sons play basketball, and the elder daughter works at ESPN while the younger assists her father.
Ralph Lee Sampson III, his first son, played collegiate basketball for the University of Minnesota. His second son, Robert Alan Sampson, transferred to Georgia Tech after playing three seasons of college basketball for East Carolina University (2010–2013).
His first daughter, Rachel Lee Sampson, is a Stanford University graduate who works at ESPN, and his youngest is Anna Aleize Sampson.
Sampson is rumored to have children from women other than Aleize, and while the rumours have not been confirmed or even denied by Sampson, a source claims he fathered a daughter in 1985 and another in 1988 with an anonymous woman.
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Ralph Sampson: Height, Weight, & Body Measurement
Ralph Sampson weighs 228 pounds (103.4 kg) and his height is 7′ 4″ (224 cm)
