Nenê

For other people named Nenê, see Nene (disambiguation).

Nenê

Power forward / Center
Personal information
Date of birth	September 13, 1982 (1982-09-13) (age 29)
Place of birth	São Carlos, Brazil
Nationality	Brazilian
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight	250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
NBA Draft	2002 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7th overall
Selected by the New York Knicks
Pro career	2000–present
Career history
2000–2002	Vasco da Gama (Brazil)
2002–2011	Denver Nuggets
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2003)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Men’s basketball Competitor for  Brazil FIBA Americas Championship Silver 2001 Neuquén National team Goodwill Games Bronze 2001 Brisbane National Team

Nenê (Portuguese pronunciation: [neˈne]; born on September 13, 1982 in São Carlos, Brazil) is a Brazilian professional basketball player who last played for the NBA's Denver Nuggets. His name at birth was Maybyner Rodney Hilário, but it was legally changed to Nenê in 2003.^[1]

Early life

He received his nickname Nenê (Brazilian Portuguese for baby) because he was the youngest in both his family and his group of childhood friends. Like most Brazilian children, he started out playing soccer, and played well enough to receive some interest from professional clubs.^{[citation needed]}

Professional career

He first came to international attention at the 2001 Goodwill Games as a member of the Brazilian national team. He also played in the Brazilian club Vasco da Gama. Afterward, he excelled at the NBA's predraft camp in Chicago in 2002; the New York Knicks picked him seventh overall in the 2002 NBA Draft and immediately traded him to the Denver Nuggets.

He began the 2002–03 season on the bench, but ended it as a starter, averaging 10.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals, and finishing in the league's top ten in shooting percentage (.519).^[2] After the season, he was selected to the NBA All-Rookie first team.

On November 1, 2005, against the San Antonio Spurs, Nenê suffered a serious knee injury on an awkward fall consisting of a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a sprained medial collateral ligament and a torn meniscus in his right knee during Denver's first game of the NBA season.^[3] He had played just 3 minutes.

Personal

Nenê married Lauren Prothe on February 14, 2009 (Valentine's Day).^[4][5]

Cancer scare

On January 11, 2008, Nenê released a statement saying that he was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team to take care of a personal medical issue.^[6] On January 14, he had a testicular tumor removed at a Denver hospital.^[7] He returned to action on March 27, 2008, in a 118-105 Nuggets home win over the Dallas Mavericks.^[8] Nenê entered the game with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter to a standing ovation.^[8]

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2002–03	Denver	80	53	28.2	.519	.000	.578	6.1	1.9	1.6	.8	10.5
2003–04	Denver	77	77	32.5	.530	.000	.682	6.5	2.2	1.5	.5	11.8
2004–05	Denver	55	18	23.9	.503	.000	.660	5.9	1.5	.9	.9	9.6
2005–06	Denver	1	0	3.0	.000	.000	.000	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0
2006–07	Denver	64	42	26.8	.570	.000	.689	7.0	1.2	1.0	.9	12.2
2007–08	Denver	16	1	16.6	.408	.000	.551	5.4	.9	.6	.9	5.3
2008–09	Denver	77	76	32.6	.604	.200	.723	7.8	1.4	1.2	1.3	14.6
2009–10	Denver	82	82	33.6	.587	.000	.704	7.6	2.5	1.4	1.0	13.8
2010–11	Denver	75	75	30.5	.615	.200	.711	7.6	2.0	1.1	1.0	14.5
Career		527	424	29.6	.563	0.095	.678	6.9	1.8	1.2	.9	12.3

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2003–04	Denver	5	5	26.4	.444	.000	.538	5.0	3.0	1.0	.6	7.8
2004–05	Denver	5	0	20.2	.429	.000	.652	5.0	.4	.4	.4	6.6
2006–07	Denver	5	5	35.8	.585	.000	.778	7.8	2.4	.6	.6	15.2
2007–08	Denver	3	0	10.0	.556	.000	1.000	2.3	.3	.7	.3	4.3
2008–09	Denver	16	16	32.8	.548	.000	.657	7.5	2.6	1.2	.6	11.5
2009–10	Denver	5	5	33.8	.621	.000	.583	5.8	2.2	1.2	.2	11.4
2010–11	Denver	5	5	32.4	.478	.000	.563	9.0	1.6	1.0	.8	14.2
Career		44	36	29.5	.531	.000	.630	6.6	2.1	1.0	.6	10.8

NBA achievements

• 2010–11 field goal percentage leader

References

1. ^ No More Hilário for Nenê, NBA.com, 2003-08-06, http://www.nba.com/nuggets/news/nene_namechange_030806.html, retrieved 2008-03-05 
2. ^ 2002-03 Regular Season Field Goals Percentage, NBA.com, http://www.nba.com/statistics/2002/default_regular_season_leaders/LeagueLeadersFGPQuery.html?topic=0&stat=6, retrieved 2008-03-05 
3. ^ Nuggets' Nenê likely out for season with torn ACL, USATODAY.com, 2005-11-02, http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/nuggets/2005-11-02-nene-acl_x.htm, retrieved 2008-03-05 
4. ^ http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/02/20/10/1604-82/index.xml
5. ^ http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2009/jan/11/nene-savor-time-life/
6. ^ Graham, Pat (2008-01-12), Nenê leaves team to care for personal medical issue, DenverPost.com, http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_7954264, retrieved 2008-03-05 
7. ^ (– ^{Scholar search}) Nenê has testicular tumor removed, Fox Sports, 2008-01-15, http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/7665354?MSNHPHMA, retrieved 2008-01-15 ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ ^{a b} ESPN - Dallas vs. Denver - Recap - March 27, 2008

External links

• Nenê's official NBA player page
• ESPN Profile
• Interbasket.net Profile

Persondata
Name	Nenê
Alternative names	Hilário, Maybyner Rodney (birth name)
Short description	Professional basketball player
Date of birth	September 13, 1982
Place of birth	São Carlos, Brazil
Date of death
Place of death