Raef Andrew LaFrentz was born on May 29, 1976, in Hampton, Iowa. He plays power forward for the Portland Trail Blazers.

High school
Raef attended MFL Mar-Mac High School, in Monona, Iowa, where he was a two-sport athlete, in basketball and swimming.

College
Rafe attended the University of Kansas, graduating in 1998.
He was a four-year starter and an All-American in his junior and senior seasons, compiling career averages of 15.8 ppg. and 9.1 rpg., while shooting 55.5 percent from the floor. He was the first KU player to average a double-double in 27 years when as a senior he posted averages of 19.8 ppg. and 11.4 rpg. and led the Jayhawks to a 35-4 record.

NBA

The Denver Nuggets
Raef was the third overall pick by the Denver Nuggets in the 1998 NBA Draft. He played in just 12 games before suffering a torn ACL in his left knee against Dallas on Feb. 25.

He returned to the Nuggets in the 1999-2000 season.

In his third year (2000-01), he started 74 of the 78 games he played in and averaged 12.9 ppg., while ranking seventh in the league in blocks at 2.6 bpg., tied for 25th in rebounding with a 7.8 rpg. average, and tied for 27th in field goal percentage (career high .477).

Dallas Mavericks
Raef was traded, along with Nick Van Exel, Avery Johnson, and Tariq Abdul-Wahad, to the Dallas Mavericks for Juwan Howard, Donnell Harvey, Tim Hardaway and a 2002 first pick on February 21, 2002.

Boston Celtics
The Celtics acquired Raef from the Dallas Mavericks, along with Chris Mills, Jiri Welsch and a first round draft choice, in exchange for Tony Delk and Antoine Walker on October 20, 2003.

Portland TRailblazers
On June 28, 2006, the Boston Celtics traded him, along with guard Dan Dickau, and the number seven pick in the 2006 NBA draft to the Portland Trail Blazers for center Theo Ratliff and guard Sebastian Telfair.

Since 2006, Raef has been dogged by injuries that have seen his averages dropping in points scored, rebounds, and minutes played.