Tom Gugliotta

Thomas James Gugliotta (born December 19, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played thirteen seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was an All-American college player for the NC State Wolfpack.

Early life
Gugliotta was born in Huntington Station on New York’s Long Island. He is the youngest of seven children, and has far Italian descents (from Sicily). He attended Walt Whitman High School. His two older brothers, Frank Jr. and Charlie, both enjoyed limited collegiate success on the hardwood and played professionally in Europe. His father called an old friend, Jim Valvano at North Carolina State University, during his senior season and told Valvano that his youngest son was going to be a special basketball player. Valvano took a chance on Gugliotta and brought him to Raleigh.

College career
During his freshman season, "Googs" was limited by a knee injury. However, he emerged in the second half of the ACC season as a member of the rotation for the Wolfpack and appeared in 28 games, averaging two points and 1.3 rebounds per game. During the offseason, Valvano began telling crowds at Wolfpack Club meetings that Gugliotta was beginning to blossom. Emerging as a taller, heavier sophomore, Gugliotta averaged 11.1 points and seven rebounds a game. As a junior, Gugliotta began to show his star potential, averaging more than 15 points and nine rebounds per game. As a senior, Gugliotta averaged more than 22 points and almost 10 rebounds per game.

NBA
Gugliotta was drafted in 1992 out of NC State with the sixth overall pick by the National Basketball Association's Washington Bullets. On November 21, 1992, Gugliotta scored a career-best 39 points during a win over the Utah Jazz. At the end of the season, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team.

In 1994, Gugliotta was traded, alongside draft considerations, to the Golden State Warriors for Chris Webber. Halfway through the season, Gugliotta was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for rookie Donyell Marshall. His best years were with the Minnesota Timberwolves, scoring 20.6 and 20.1 ppg in the 1996–1997 and 1997–1998 seasons.

Gugliotta signed with the Phoenix Suns in 1999. In 2004, Gugliotta was traded to the Utah Jazz for Keon Clark and Ben Handlogten. In 2004, Gugliotta signed with the Boston Celtics, and was traded with Michael Stewart and Gary Payton to the Atlanta Hawks for Antoine Walker. In total, he played in 13 NBA seasons and averaged 13.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 2.8 apg over 763 regular season games, though he appeared in only 12 playoff games.

Accident
On December 17, 1999, Gugliotta had a near-death experience. Having trouble sleeping after games, Gugliotta took a supplement marketed as a "sleep aid" which included furanon di-hydro, also known as gamma butyrolactone, or GBL. Gugliotta was talking to his wife, Nikki, on his cellular telephone when he collapsed and stopped breathing. His wife heard the commotion and called the wife of teammate Rex Chapman, who was able to call her husband on the bus and instruct him to check his bag for the supplement bottle.

Personal life
Tom met his wife, Nikki, at North Carolina State and the two have a daughter, Greer. The couple later divorced.

He was inducted into the Suffolk Sports Hall of Fame on Long Island in the Basketball Category with the Class of 1994.