Sean May

Sean Gregory May is a professional basketball player currently signed as a power forward for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born on April 4, 1984 in Chicago, Illinois.

May attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for college, where he joined the Tar Heels basketball team for three seasons. As a junior in 2005, he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 NCAA tournament, after helping North Carolina win its 4th national championship. May contributed 24 points and 10 rebounds to North Carolina's 75-70 victory over the University of Illinois.

Shy of his senior season, May declared eligible for the 2005 NBA Draft. He was selected in the first round, as the 13th overall pick by the Charlotte Bobcats.

As a result of having micro-fracture surgery in 2007, May experienced conditioning problems, tiredness and tendinitis throughout the 2008 NBA season. He was subsequently placed on Charlotte's inactive list, after it was deemed he was physically unfit to play.

In 2009, May signed a one year contract with the Sacramento Kings upon passing his physical.

College Career

When the heavily-recruited May chose to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, it was a major surprise to most basketball recruiting observers; it had been thought that he would stay in his hometown and attend Indiana. He had strong family connections to IU; his father Scott was a forward on the school's undefeated 1976 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament championship team and won the Naismith Award the same year, and his brother Scott Jr. played for the IU team that made the NCAA title game in 2002.

At North Carolina, May made his mark as the starting center for the Tar Heels basketball team from 2003 to 2005. As a junior, he was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 NCAA tournament after leading North Carolina to its fourth national championship. The Tar Heels defeated the University of Illinois by a score of 75-70 to win the title, with May scoring 24 points on 10-11 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds.


Professional Career

In April 2005, May declared that he would forgo his senior year at UNC to enter the NBA Draft. He was selected 13th overall by the Charlotte Bobcats, becoming one of a record four Tar Heels to be lottery picks in the 2005 NBA Draft. He started his professional career strongly by being named MVP of the Rocky Mountain Revue summer league. An injury in December, however, cut his rookie season short. On October 5, 2007, May announced that he had decided to have micro fracture surgery on his right knee and would likely miss the entire 2007-08 NBA season, which is what occurred. The effects of the surgery affected him the following season (2008-09), as he experienced conditioning problems, tiredness, and tendinitis. On December 30, 2008, May was deemed physically unfit to play, making Bobcats coach Larry Brown place him on the inactive list for the foreseeable future. On June 23, 2009, ESPN News reported that the Charlotte Bobcats declined to make a qualifying offer for the 4th year of his rookie contract, making him an unrestricted free agent.

On July 21, 2009, Sean May signed a one year, minimum NBA contract for $884,881 with the Sacramento Kings contingent upon passing his physical.