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Marcus Dion Camby (born March 22, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player who played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named Defensive Player of the Year during the 2006β07 NBA season, leading the league in blocked shots per game. Camby is also a four-time member of the NBA All-Defensive Team and is 12th on the NBA's all-time career blocks list.
Camby won the John R. Wooden Award and the Naismith College Player of the Year Award during the 1995β96 season. He led UMass to numerous #1 rankings and the 1996 NCAA Final Four.Vautour, Matt, " Remembering the magical Final Four season: Players and coaches reflect 10 years later " The Daily Hampshire Gazette, November 24, 2005. In the NCAA tournament, Camby set a tourney record of 43 total blocked shots in 11 games. On April 29, 1996, Camby announced that he would forgo his senior year at UMass and enter the NBA draft.
In 1997, UMass' visit to the Final Four was vacated by the NCAA because Camby had been found to have accepted $28,000 from two sports agents.Decourcy, Mike; " An asterisk can't ruin UMass' Final Four dream", "The Sporting News", June 9, 1997 As part of the penalty, the school was forced to return their $151,617 in revenue from the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Camby later reimbursed the school for the amount lost. According to a 1997 Sports Illustrated article, the agents, John Lounsbury and Wesley Spears of Connecticut, had hoped that Camby would hire them to represent him when he became a professional. The article reported that Camby had also received "jewelry, rental cars and prostitutes" from the agents.Taylor, Phil, Tangled Web β MARCUS CAMBY WAS BOTH VICTIM AND VILLAIN IN HIS ILLICIT DEALINGS WITH AGENTS WHILE AT UMASS. Sports Illustrated, September 17, 1997
Camby was inducted into the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame on September 10, 2010. Though some criticized the school for inducting a student-athlete who caused their Final Four achievement to be vacated, others saw it as a positive recognition of one of the school's best ever athletes.
Camby returned to school, taking online courses from UMass, and earned his degree on May 12, 2017.
For his first two seasons in New York, Camby backed up veteran All-Star center Patrick Ewing. The Knicks struggled to establish on-court chemistry in the lockout-shorted 1998β99 season, finishing with a 27β23 record, which was just good enough to qualify for the 8th and final seed in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, Camby and teammate (and close friend) Latrell Sprewell began to assert themselves as the Knicks shocked the top-seeded Miami Heat and swept the Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds, setting up a meeting with the rival Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. After Ewing went down with a season-ending Achilles injury early in the series, Camby filled the void, averaging double-doubles in the last three games of the series to lead the Knicks to a six-game upset series win over the Pacers and into the NBA Finals. The Knicks became the first 8th-seeded team to make it to the NBA Finals, where they matched up with the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs defeated the Knicks in five games to win the 1999 Championship.
In the 1999β00 season the Knicks with Ewing back at center bounced back and won 50 games thanks to the contributions of many of the veteran players, including the Sixth Man of the Year Award-type season from Camby. In the playoffs, the Knicks defeated the Toronto Raptors in three games and Miami Heat in seven games in the first two rounds of the playoffs en route to making it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row. There they faced the top seed in the East, the Indiana Pacers, and were defeated by them in six games.
During a game against the San Antonio Spurs on January 15, 2001, Camby took a roundhouse swing at Spurs' forward Danny Ferry after he was hit in the eye on a box-out. The punch missed Ferry because Knicks' head coach Jeff Van Gundy stepped in at the last second, resulting in his being head-butted by Camby. Van Gundy required 15 stitches to close a gash above his left eye. Camby, who ended up with scratches on his face from both incidents, was suspended for five games and fined $25,000. Ferry was suspended for one game and fined $7,500 for the initial foul. Upon returning from the suspension, Camby began to play his best ball of the season in averaging 12 points with 11 rebounds and 2 blocks a game; however, it was not enough as the Knicks were defeated by the Toronto Raptors in five games in the first round of the playoffs. Camby spent most of the 2001β02 season injured, and without him as an inside presence, the Knicks struggled with a 30β52 record and missed the playoffs. Camby, after getting traded to Denver, accused the Knicks training staff of misdiagnosing his injury and causing him to miss more games than he should have. The Nuggets however, sided with the Knicks.
In the 2003β04 season, along with rookie teammate Carmelo Anthony, Camby helped lead the Nuggets back to the playoffs where they were defeated by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Camby led the NBA in blocked shots four times - 1997-'98, '05-'06, '06-'07, and '07-'08. During the 2005β06 season with the Nuggets he had 12.0 rebounds per game, 9.6 defensive rebounds per game and 1.4 steals per game. He also averaged 12.8 points per game and led the league in blocks per game (3.3), while helping Denver earn a playoff berth by winning the Northwest Division.
On December 16, 2006, Camby was involved in the KnicksβNuggets brawl. He was one of 10 players ejected from the game, but received no suspension.
Camby won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award for the 2006β07 season. The honor was the first of Camby's career. He received the actual award from NBA commissioner David Stern on April 28, 2007, during a pregame ceremony at the Nuggets' first home 2006β07 playoff game against the San Antonio Spurs. During the 2006β07 season, Camby averaged 3.3 blocks per game (first in the league), 11.7 rebounds per game (fifth in the league), 9.3 defensive rebounds per game (second in the league) and 1.24 steals per game (second among centers). Camby unable to join team due to family matter posted May 17, 2007
During the 2007β08 NBA season, Camby continued to make his mark as one of the best defensive players and centers in the game. He finished the season averaging 13.1 rebounds per game (second in the league), 18.1 rebounds per 48 minutes (first in the league), 10.2 defensive rebounds per game (second in the league), 14.1 defensive rebounds per 48 minutes (first in the league), 3.61 blocks per game (first in the league), 4.96 blocks per 48 minutes (first in the league), 285 total blocks (first in the league), 1.06 steals per game (third among centers) and 3.3 assists per game (second among centers). On December 26, 2007, in a Nuggets home win against the Milwaukee Bucks, Camby posted a triple-double, with 10 points (which included a three-pointer), 11 rebounds and 10 blocks. The triple-double was Camby's third of his career and the first since April 19, 1998, against the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 14, 2008, in a Nuggets road loss against the Charlotte Bobcats, Camby had a game of 20 points, 23 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 blocks. He became only the fourth player since 1990 to have at least 20 points, 20 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 blocks in one game. On January 17, 2008, in a Nuggets home win against the Utah Jazz, Camby became just the third player since blocked shots became an official NBA stat in 1973β74 with at least 24 rebounds and 11 blocks in a game. On January 25, 2008, in a Nuggets home win against the New Jersey Nets, Camby blocked 4 shotsβand in the processβrecorded his 1,000th blocked shot as a member of the Nuggets. On March 16, 2008, in a historic 168β116 home win in regulation over the Seattle SuperSonics (the 168 points were the most points scored in franchise history β fourth most in NBA history β for a non-overtime game), Camby recorded his second triple-double of the 2007β08 NBA season when he had 13 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. The triple-double was accomplished in an NBA record-tying 27 minutes.
"I thought I had done everything possible that I could do with that team, and just tried to go about things the right way. I just thought the way they went about it was classless; they didn't let me know anything. That's a thing of the past right now, that's something I put behind me and I'm looking forward to embarking on this journey."
In the first part of the 2008β09 NBA season, he started at power forward, with Chris Kaman remaining as the starting center. Then, an injury that occurred to Kaman and the arrival of forward Zach Randolph brought Camby back to the starting center position. On December 17, 2008, Camby pulled down a career-high 27 rebounds in a 115β109 overtime loss against the Chicago Bulls. He also had 19 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 4 blocks.
Camby played in 23 games for the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2009β2010 season. With injuries to fellow centers Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla, Camby helped the team secure a playoff berth as the Western Conference's sixth seed. On April 12, 2010, in a game in Portland against the Oklahoma City Thunder Camby led the team in scoring with 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. On April 20, 2010, he signed a two-year contract extension to stay with the Blazers.
On January 27, 2012, Camby became only the second-ever NBA player (Dennis Rodman being the first) to snare 20 or more rebounds but score zero points in a game, in a 109-71 win over the Phoenix Suns.
On July 10, 2013, Camby, Steve Novak, Quentin Richardson, a future first round draft pick, and two future second round draft picks were traded from the Knicks to the team that drafted him 2nd overall in 1996, the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Andrea Bargnani. The Raptors then bought out Camby's contract. RaptorsMR on Twitter. July 17, 2013.
On July 29, 2013, Camby re-signed with the Houston Rockets. However, he was waived by the Rockets on October 28, 2013.
In 1996, Camby established the Cambyland Foundation, a non-profit organization. Cambyland partners with school and community organizations to provide opportunities for young people.
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