pick, of the 1995 NBA Draft. The Blazers traded his NBA rights to the Milwaukee Bucks for the rights to Gary Trent and a first-round pick. Respert was traded to Toronto in his second year, where he scored 5.6 points a game. He next played briefly in Dallas the next season and then had a second stint with the Raptors. Respert finished his career in Phoenix during the 1998–99 season. He was under contract with Los Angeles Lakers for a brief period in October 2000 but was waived before playing in any NBA games for them. In his NBA career, Respert played in 172 games and scored a total of 851 points on averages of 4.9 points in 13.7 minutes per game. He played professionally in Italy for Adecco Milano (1999–2000) and Fillattice Imola (2001–2002). He also played in Poland for Spójnia Stargard Szczeciński (2002–2003). Respert had stomach cancer but did not admit it until 2005. He started being bothered with stomach cramps towards the end of his rookie season. He noticed a lump below his belly button even after changing his diet. Respert was diagnosed with cancer after undergoing a series of tests at Milwaukee's St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in May 1996. After confirmation through a second opinion, he underwent daily radiation therapy for three consecutive months, losing twenty pounds in the process. The only people who knew about this treatment were the Bucks' trainers, doctors, his coach Mike Dunleavy, Sr. and Michigan State backcourt partner Eric Snow. He only told a select few; not even his family and girlfriend knew, because "people don't want to hear excuses in pro sports, even if the excuse is cancer." NBA career statistics |- | align="left" | 1995–96 | align="left" | Milwaukee | 62 || 0 || 13.6 || .387 || .344 || .833 || 1.2 || 1.1 || 0.5 || 0.1 || 4.9 |- | align="left" | 1996–97 | align="left" | Milwaukee | 14 || 0 || 5.9 || .316 || .111 || 1.000 || 0.5 || 0.6 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 1.4 |- | align="left" | 1996–97 | align="left" | Toronto | 27 || 0 || 15.3 || .442 || .396 || .844 || 1.2 || 1.2 || 0.7 || 0.1 || 5.6 |- | align="left" | 1997–98 | align="left" | Toronto | 47 || 4 || 14.8 || .450 || .373 || .815 || 1.6 || 0.9