Adonal David Foyle (born March 9, 1975) is a Vincentian-American former professional basketball center. He was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the eighth overall selection of the 1997 NBA draft. Foyle played ten seasons with the Warriors until the team bought out his contract on August 13, 2007. At the time, he had been Golden State's longest-tenured player.[1] He then played two seasons with the Orlando Magic and part of the 2008–09 season with the Memphis Grizzlies, sat out the next season due to knee surgery, and retired. As of 2018[update], Foyle does Warriors post-game commentary for ABC 7 in San Francisco.
In his official biography, Foyle explained that he enrolled at Colgate University because "he wanted the opportunity to learn the principles of the game in a slower-paced setting, where the coach would be able to give him the attention he desired." With the Colgate Raiders, he was the school's all-time-leading rebounder and 2nd-all-time-leading scorer. He led the Raiders to their first two NCAA tournament appearances in school history. He left as the NCAA's all-time leader in blocked shots with 492, despite playing only three college seasons (his record was broken by Wojciech Myrda in 2002[5]). He now ranks third all-time, behind Myrda and Jarvis Varnado.[6]
In 1999, Foyle graduated from Colgate magna cum laude with a history degree.[7] Politically motivated, he founded the organization Democracy Matters, which tries to curb the effects of money on politics.
NBA career
In his NBA career, Foyle averaged 4.1 points and 1.6 blocks per game. He was among the top 10 in blocks per game three times during his career.
In July 2004, during the offseason, the Golden State Warriors re-signed Foyle to a six-year, $42 million contract.[1] Foyle played sparingly during the 2006–07 season under head coach Don Nelson, and was waived by the Warriors on August 13, 2007, with three years and $29.2 million remaining on his contract.
On August 23, 2007, Foyle signed with the Orlando Magic for the veteran's minimum of $1.3 million.[8] On August 2, 2008, he re-signed with the Magic for another year, also at the veteran's minimum.[9]
On March 1, 2009, the Grizzlies waived Foyle.[11] He signed with the Orlando Magic on March 23, 2009, for the rest of the season.[12] Later that year, in August, Foyle re-signed with the Magic.[13] However, he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery before the season began, and did not play that season.[14] On August 17, 2010, Foyle announced his retirement.[14] On September 7, 2010, the Magic named Foyle the team's director of player development, which he held until 2012.[15]
Off the court
Foyle (right) speaking to guardsmen at Moffett Federal Airfield on behalf of the Golden State Warriors in 2024
In 2001, he founded Democracy Matters,[16] a non-partisan student organization, as an effort to counteract political apathy on college campuses. The organization's signature issue is campaign finance reform, particularly Clean Elections. Active on over 50 college campuses, Democracy Matters involves hundreds of students and faculty nationwide through teach-ins, letter writing and petition campaigns, educational seminars, and voter registration drives.
In 2005, Foyle founded the Kerosene Lamp Foundation, which serves children in St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
He played a cameo role of "detective" in the 2006 movie The Darwin Awards.
In 2013, Foyle released his first children's book, called Too Tall Foyle Finds His Game.[20]
In January 2014, Foyle traveled to Spain and Morocco as a Sports Diplomacy Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State. In this function, he worked with Ruth Riley to conduct basketball clinics for more than 600 youth from under-served areas. In so doing, Foyle helped contribute to Sports Diplomacy's mission to promote conflict resolution, leadership, greater understanding and inclusion through sport.[21][22]
The Golden State Warriors appointed Foyle as the team's community ambassador in 2014.[23]
"Adonal Foyle biography". NBA.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2005.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) at NBA.com
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