Channing Frye officially retiring at the end of this season

Former Arizona Wildcat great and NBA veteran Channing Frye has decided to retire from the NBA at the end of this season.

It’s official. After playing all four years at Arizona and then playing in 15 seasons for 6 different teams in the NBA, Channing Frye made an official announcement on Twitter that he is going to be retiring at the end of this season. Many former Arizona Wildcat greats have gone on to have successful careers after retirement, wouldn’t surprise me to see the same happen with Frye.

At 7-0, 255 pounds, his ability to shooting from short and long range made him a versatile and valuable player for each team he played on. As the years went on, his playing time did slowly decrease but his understanding and knowledge of the game of basketball helped those around him. Also, his personality was one that players and fans enjoyed being around.

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Frye started his NBA career with the New York Knicks after being drafted in the first round at No.8. He would go on to play two seasons with the Knicks, then, two the Portland Trailblazers, four with the Phoenix Suns, two with the Orlando Magic, three with the Cleveland Cavaliers, one with the Los Angeles Lakers and finally back to the Cavaliers for one more season.

For his career, he averaged 8.8 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, shot 44.1% from the field and 37.1% from three point range. Those stats don’t truly reflect the impact he had on the game. Because of his ability to shoot the three, it forced the defense to respect his outside shot, which then opened up options for Frye down low.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/1/2019.

Highlights of Frye’s career include:

• NBA All-Rookie team in 2006
• NBA Champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016
• McDonald’s All American
• Pac-10 All First Team in 2004 and 2005
• McKale Center Ring of Honor
• Scoring 27 points, which included seven threes, in game three of the 2016 Eastern Conference SemiFinals against the Atlanta Hawks

At Arizona, Frye played all four years, which not many players do these days. He averaged 13.5 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per game. From his freshman year to his senior year, his numbers increased. Frye’s first year he averaged 9.5 points per game and by the time he finished his career at Arizona he was averaging 15.8 points per game.

Provided by CBB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 3/1/2019.

Outside the game of basketball, Frye was known for his funny personality, which is one of the main reasons why he is going to be successful and have plentiful opportunities during this next chapter in his basketball career. Imagine the possibility of both him and Richard Jefferson calling a Pac-12 game – that would be awesome! Not out of the realm of possibility.

Frye made it official with this tweet confirming his retirement at the end of this season:

At Zona Zealots, we would like to congratulate Channing Frye on a remarkable basketball career, both at Arizona and in the NBA. He will go down as one the many greats to have represented Arizona at the next level. We are exciting to see what’s next for him. Bear Down, Arizona!