Reprise | Joe Kleine, Former NBA Player & Arkansas Razorback

Joe Kleine played basketball at a level very few people will ever play. The 7 foot tall center from Slater Missouri was a winner at every level, from high school, to college, the Olympics, and the NBA. As sportswriter Jon Goode once wrote, Kleine was never a star, but what made Kleine great was that he accepted his role and was ready to play every night. Sometimes a large part of being a legend, is making everyone else around you better. That's exactly what made Joe Kleine the kind of teammate every player wants to have. Kleine's first season at Arkansas, he helped the Razorbacks to a 26-4 record, finish second in the Southwest Conference (SWC), and make the second round the NCAA Tournament. His junior season, Kleine helped Arkansas to a record of 25-7, another second place finish in the SWC, and a first round loss in the NCAA Tournament. The biggest victory of the season came on February 12, 1984 at the Convention Center in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, when Kleine helped the Razorbacks upset the #1 ranked North Carolina Tarheels, led by Michael Jordan, thanks to a basket by teammate Charles Balentine at the end of the game. It is considered one of the greatest victory's in Razorback basketball history. Kleine finished that game with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Kleine was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the sixth pick in the 1985 NBA Draft. Kleine went on to have a fifteen-year NBA career, playing with the Kings as well as the Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets, Chicago Bulls, and Portland Trail Blazers. Kleine played on teams with legendary NBA players Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. He won an NBA championship in 1998, as a center, for a Chicago Bulls team that included Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Steve Kerr.