Tony Allen

No. 9 – Memphis Grizzlies
Shooting guard / Small forward
Personal information
Born	(1982-01-11) January 11, 1982 (age 30) Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	American
High school	Crane (Chicago)
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight	213 lb (97 kg)
Career information
College	Butler County CC (2000-2001) Wabash Valley (2001-2002) Oklahoma State (2002-2004)
NBA Draft	2004 / Round: 1 / Pick: 25th overall
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Pro career	2004–present
Career history
2004–2010	Boston Celtics
2010–present	Memphis Grizzlies
Career highlights and awards
NBA Champion (2008) NBA All-Defensive First Team (2012) NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2011) Big 12 Conference Player of the Year (2004)
Stats at NBA.com

Anthony 'Tony' Allen (born January 11, 1982) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Early career[link]

Allen played at Chicago's Crane High School, where he was a basketball standout. At Crane, Allen played alongside future Celtics prospect Will Bynum.^[1] A 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), 213 lb (97 kg; 15.2 st) shooting guard, Allen spent his freshman year (2000–01) playing for Butler County College in El Dorado, Kansas, where he averaged 16.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.8 steals, going on to being named Jayhawk West Conference Freshman of the Year.^[2] During his sophomore year (2001–02) at Wabash Valley College in Mount Carmel, Illinois, he led his team to 32–6 overall record and fourth place at the NJCAA championships.^[2]

For his final two college seasons (2002–2004), Allen transferred to Oklahoma State University (OSU), where he was named the national junior-college transfer of the year by collegeinsider.com,^[1] and cited by college basketball commentator Dick Vitale as one of the top three junior college transfers during his junior season.^[1] He was named the Big 12 Player of the Year his senior year, after averaging 16 points per game and leading the Cowboys to the Final Four. Allen became the first player in OSU history to score 1,000 career points in two seasons.^[2] He graduated from Oklahoma State with a degree in education.

NBA career[link]

Boston Celtics[link]

Allen (#42) attempts a shot over the Wizards' Antawn Jamison.

Allen was selected by the Boston Celtics with the 25th overall pick of the 2004 NBA Draft. In his rookie season in 2004–05 he averaged 6.4 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, and ranked 3rd in the league in steals per 48 minutes, with 2.89. He was selected to play for the rookies in the Rookie Challenge during All-Star Weekend, along with fellow Celtic Al Jefferson.

Shooting incident[link]

During the 2005 off-season, Allen was charged with aggravated battery stemming from an altercation that escalated into the non-fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man outside a restaurant in Chicago in August 2005. Although he was not a suspect in the shooting, Allen was accused of breaking another man's left eye socket.^[3] He spent two nights in jail, but was not implicated in the shooting. Due to this incident and a severe right knee injury that Allen had suffered prior to the shooting, Allen missed much of the first half of the 2005–06 season. On April 24, 2007, Allen was found not guilty by a Chicago court.^[3]

Knee injury[link]

On January 10, 2007, in the final minutes of a Celtics loss to the Indiana Pacers, Allen suffered a debilitating knee injury as he landed awkwardly following an uncontested slam dunk attempt after the whistle was blown,^[4] tearing both the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL).^[5] Allen underwent a successful ACL reconstructive surgery on January 13 at New England Baptist Hospital^[6] and was sidelined for the rest of the season.^[4] He was averaging 11.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.48 steals in 33 games.^[7] He made a quick return to the court for his type of knee injury only nine months later during the following preseason, even though not at full strength.^[8] However, the explosiveness he displayed prior to the injury has since been noted as "sorely lacking".^[8]

2008–2009[link]

On July 23, 2008, Allen re-signed with the Celtics on a 2-year, $5 million contract.^[9][10]

Memphis Grizzlies[link]

In July 2010, Allen signed a three-year, $9.7 million contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.^[11][12] He later reflected on his final seasons in Boston by saying that he felt was 'overshadowed', in particular, by veterans Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.^[11] He was named to the 2011 NBA All-Defensive 2nd Team for his efforts that season^[13] after averaging 1.79 steals per game, good for 5th in the NBA,^[14] mostly off the bench. He led the league in steals-per-48-minutes at 4.14, more than one steal higher than second-placed Chris Paul.^[15] In the 2011-12 NBA GM survey, Tony Allen was ranked the "Best Perimeter Defender".^[16]

Personal[link]

In his spare time, Allen enjoys listening to music.^[2] In addition, Allen loves watching movies. He also frequently assists his teammates in charity work. Allen was born to Ella Allen, and he has two sisters, Ebony and Dominique, and a brother, Ryan,^[1][2] who plays college basketball for University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His Celtics teammates called him "Gucci".^[17]

NBA career statistics[link]

Regular season[link]

Playoffs[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tony Allen (basketball)

• Tony Allen at NBA.com
• Tony Allen at Basketball-Reference.com

Tony Allen at the Eurockéennes of 2007

Tony Oladipo Allen (born August 12, 1940 in Lagos, Nigeria) is a Nigerian drummer, composer, and songwriter who currently lives and works in Paris. He is currently writing his autobiography "Tony Allen: Master Drummer of Afrobeat" with author/musician Michael E. Veal, who has previously written a comprehensive biography of Fela Kuti.^{[citation needed]}

As drummer and musical director of Fela Anikulapo Kuti's band Africa 70 from 1968 to 1979, Tony Allen was one of the primary co-founders of the genre of Afrobeat music. Fela once stated that, "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat."^[1] He has also been described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived."^[2]

Early career[link]

A self-taught musician, Allen began to play drum-kit at the age of eighteen, while working as an engineer for a Nigerian radio station. Allen was influenced by music his father listened to (Juju, traditional Yoruba ceremonial music), but also American jazz, & the growing highlife scene in Nigeria and Ghana. Allen worked hard to develop a unique voice on the drums- feverishly studying LP's & magazine articles by Max Roach & Art Blakey, but also revolutionary Ghanaian drummer Guy Warren (now Kofi Ghanaba-who developed a highly sought sound that mixed tribal Ghanaian drumming with bop- working with Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and Max Roach).

Tony was hired by 'Sir' Victor Olaiya to play claves (sticks) with his highlife band, "the Cool Cats". Tony was able to fill the drum-set chair when the former Cool Cats drummer left the band. Allen later played with Agu Norris and the Heatwaves, the Nigerian Messengers and the Melody Makers.

Fela and Africa '70[link]

In 1964, Fela Ransome Kuti invited Allen to audition for a jazz-highlife band he was forming. Kuti and Allen had played together as sidemen in the Lagos circuit. Fela complimented Allen's unique sound: "How come you are the only guy in Nigeria who plays like this - jazz and highlife?" Thus Allen became an original member of Kuti's "Koola Lobitos" highlife-jazz band.

In 1969, following a turbulent and educational trip to the United States, Fela and the newly renamed Africa ’70 band developed a new militant African sound- mixing the heavy groove and universal appeal of soul with jazz, highlife, and the polyrhythmic template of Yoruba conventions. Allen developed a novel style to compliment Fela's new African groove that blended these disparate genres.

Allen recounts how Fela and he wrote in 1970, "Fela used to write out the parts for all the musicians in the band (Africa '70). I was the only one who originated the music I played. Fela would ask what type of rhythm I wanted to play… You can tell a good drummer because we… have four limbs… and they are… playing different things… the patterns don’t just come from Yoruba… [but] other parts of Nigeria and Africa." (Graeme Ewens, "Africa O-Ye!", 1991)

Allen recorded over 30 albums with Fela and Africa ’70, arguably Fela's best works. But by the late 1970's, dissension was growing in the ranks of the Africa ’70. Arguments over royalties/pay, and recognition grew in intensity. As inventor of the rhythms that underpinned Afrobeat and musical director, Allen felt especially slighted. Fela stood his ground, stating, that he would get the royalties for his songs. Fela did support Allen's three solo recordings: Jealousy (’75), Progress (‘77), No Accommodation For Lagos (’79), but by 1979, Allen chose to leave Africa ’70, taking many members with him. ‘What makes me decide it's time to go? It's … everything...and (his) carelessness....like he doesn’t care, like he doesn’t know ...he doesn’t feel he's done anything (wrong). And with all the parasites around too.... there were 71 people on tour by now and only 30 working in the band....you got to ask why. Those guys were sapping Fela of his Force, of his Music.’ So Tony moved on, once again in search of his own sound.’

Afrobeat to Afrofunk[link]

Allen formed his own group, recording No Discrimination in 1980, and performing in Lagos until emigrating to London in 1984. Later moving to Paris, Allen recorded with King Sunny Adé, Ray Lema & Manu Dibango. Allen recorded N.E.P.A. in 1985.

Post-Fela, Allen developed a hybrid sound, deconstructing & fusing Afrobeat with electronica, dub, R&B, and rap. Allen refers to this synthesis as afrofunk.

Tony Allen returns with a much anticipated new project for his thirteenth release. Recorded live in Lagos, with a full-sized Afrobeat band, Lagos No Shaking (Lagos is OK), signifies Allen's return to roots Afrobeat after forays into avant-garde electronica hybrids. Lagos No Shaking was released on June 13, 2006.

Current work[link]

In 2002, Allen appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot and Riot in tribute to Fela Kuti. Allen appeared alongside Res, Ray Lema, Baaba Maal, Positive Black Soul and Archie Shepp on a track titled "No Agreement."

Tony Allen played drums throughout the 2003 album 'Love Trap' by Susheela Raman and has also performed with her live.

In 2004 he recorded with Parisian artist Sébastien Tellier on the Frenchman's album "Politics" including the popular song "La Ritournelle".

In 2006, Tony Allen joined with Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, and Simon Tong as drummer for The Good, the Bad and the Queen.

Tony plays drums on two tracks on the 2007 album "5:55" by Charlotte Gainsbourg: "5:55" and "Night-Time Intermission", backed by French duo Air and Jarvis Cocker of Pulp.

He also made an appearance playing the drums in the Video for "Once Upon a Time" by French duo Air in late 2007.

He has been a featured artist on Zap Mama's albums Supermoon (2007) and ReCreation (2009), adding his voice to the tracks "1000 Ways" and "African Diamond."

His new album entitled "Secret Agent" was released in June 2009 by World Circuit.^[3]

Tony Allen has influenced a range of artists across a number of genres. In the single Music Is My Radar (2000) Blur pay homage to Tony Allen, and the song ends with Damon Albarn repeating the phrase "Tony Allen got me dancing."^[4]

He has collaborated with Damon Albarn and Flea in a project called Rocketjuice and The Moon with an album released in 2012.

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tony Allen

• Tony Allen interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' February 2009
• Kokolo Official Homepage
• The Shrine The Unofficial Website for Fela Kuti and Afrobeat Music with news, bio's, tour dates, gig reviews, interviews, lyrics and forum.
• - Profile from AfricanMusiciansProfiles.com
• - A Fela Kuti/Africa 70 Discography
• Tony Allen Website
• Wrasse Records - Tony Allen bio
• Tony Allen: National Geographic World Music
• Tony Allen podcast interview flyglobalmusic.com 2009
• http://www.wrasserecords.com/artists/info/31.html
• http://www.babab.com/no16/tony_allen_EN.htm
• http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2003/11/10/20031110art01.html
• http://www.tigersushi.com/site/frameset.jsp?page=Lbl.jsp&LblId=244

Two Tony Allen radio shows on Red Bull Music Academy Radio (RBMA Radio)

• Live at Broad Casting featuring the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble & guests
• Toronto Treasures

Downloadable podcast of a lecture Tony Allen delivered to Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) attendees

• Lecture Session with Tony Allen

Antawn Jamison

Jamison with the Cleveland Cavaliers
No. 4 – Cleveland Cavaliers
Power forward / Small forward
Personal information
Born	(1976-06-12) June 12, 1976 (age 36) Shreveport, Louisiana
Nationality	American
High school	Providence (North Carolina)
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
College	North Carolina (1995–1998)
NBA Draft	1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4th overall
Selected by the Toronto Raptors
Pro career	1998–present
Career history
1998–2003	Golden State Warriors
2003–2004	Dallas Mavericks
2004–2010	Washington Wizards
2010–present	Cleveland Cavaliers
Career highlights and awards
NBA Sixth Man of the Year (2004) 2× NBA All-Star (2005, 2008) NBA All-Rookie Second Team (1999) Naismith Trophy winner (1998) Wooden Award winner (1998) Oscar Robertson Trophy winner (1998) Adolph Rupp Trophy winner (1998) ACC Player of the Year (1998) Consensus NCAA All-American First Team (1998) Consensus NCAA All-American Second Team (1997) North Carolina Mr. Basketball (1995)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Competitor for  United States World Championships Bronze 2006 Japan USA

Antawn Cortez Jamison ( /ˈæntwɑːn/; born June 12, 1976) is an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He currently plays power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers and was a member of the USA National Team for the 2006 FIBA World Championships

Early years[link]

Jamison was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. His name was accidentally printed as "Antawn" instead of "Antwan" on his birth certificate. However, his family decided to keep the misspelling as they felt it would be more distinctive.^[1] His first name is still pronounced as though it were spelled "Antwan" or "Antoine".^[2] Jamison played middle school basketball and was a quarterback in football at Quail Hollow Middle School in Charlotte, North Carolina.^[3] Jamison played high school basketball at Providence High School in Charlotte, North Carolina and was named a McDonald's All-American after his senior season.^[4]

College career[link]

Jamison played college basketball at University of North Carolina for three seasons, averaging 19.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.^[5] In his junior year, he was awarded both the Naismith and Wooden Awards as the most outstanding men's college basketball player for the 1997–98 season. Jamison decided to forgo his senior year of eligibility and enter the NBA draft in 1998 thus ending his college career. On March 1, 2000 Jamison's #33 was retired at the Dean E. Smith Center. He became only the seventh North Carolina basketball player to have his number retired.

NBA career[link]

From Golden State to Dallas[link]

Jamison was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the fourth pick of the 1998 NBA Draft, who then dealt his rights to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for former North Carolina teammate and best friend Vince Carter. Jamison spent the first five years of his NBA career with the Warriors, and despite a disappointing rookie season, was often the only bright spot on a low-performing team. He scored a career-high 51 points on 2 occasions, back to back against Seattle and the Lakers (the Warriors won that game). He averaged a career-high 24.9 points per game in 2000–01, his third season in the league. In 2003, he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in an eight-player deal, and experienced his first winning season in 2003–04 as the Mavericks finished 52–30 and made the playoffs, which marked the first time in his career that Jamison has experience post-season play. Jamison was also named as the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year for his efforts. Unfortunately for the Mavericks, they suffered a setback in the first round, falling in five games to the Sacramento Kings.

Washington Wizards[link]

Antawn Jamison with the Wizards in 2009.

At season's end Jamison was traded again, this time to the Wizards, in exchange for former Tar Heel Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner, and a first round draft pick (which turned out to be University of Wisconsin–Madison point guard, Devin Harris).

In the 2004–05 season with the Wizards, he was named to the NBA All-Star team for the first time in his career and the Wizards enjoyed a solid 45–37 win–loss season, their finest effort in 26 years. They also made the playoffs for the first time since 1997 and advanced to the second round for the first time since 1982. In 2005, Jamison played for the US national team in the 2006 FIBA World Championship, winning a bronze medal.^[6]

Jamison led the Wizards against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the 2007 playoffs. Jamison averaged 32 points and 10 rebounds per game during the series.

During the 2007–08 season, Jamison was named to his second NBA Eastern All-Star team.

On June 30, 2008, Jamison signed a four-year, 50-million dollar contract with the Wizards. Jamison stated his desire to end his career with the Wizards.^[7]

Cleveland Cavaliers[link]

On February 17, 2010, Jamison was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a three-team, six-player trade that sent Al Thornton from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Washington Wizards, Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, a 2010 first round pick and the rights to Emir Preldžič from Cleveland to Washington, Drew Gooden from Washington to Los Angeles and Sebastian Telfair from Los Angeles to Cleveland. In his first game with the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Charlotte Bobcats, Jamison scored only two points from two free throws as he went 0 for 12 from the field.^[8] In his second game with the Cavaliers, Jamison scored 19 points against the Orlando Magic. The Cleveland Cavaliers made the NBA playoffs as the team with the best record. The Cavaliers defeated Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls in five games, but fell to the Boston Celtics in 6 games. Weeks after the series, Jamison's teammate LeBron James left the Cavaliers, to join the Miami Heat alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Antawn Jamison and the Cleveland Cavaliers had very little success in the 2010-11 NBA season. They would set NBA history with a 26 game losing streak (previously set by themselves in 1983). That streak was finally snapped with a 126-119 overtime win against the Los Angeles Clippers. In January 2011, Jamison said that he was considering retirement, and that his 2011-2012 season could be his last.^[9] On February 27, in a loss to the 76ers, Jamison was fouled and broke his left pinky. He underwent a surgery, and would be out the rest of the season.^[10]

Philanthropy[link]

Jamison awarded his first Antawn C. Jamison Scholarship at his high school alma mater in 2003.^[11] Jamison has also launched a campaign which he calls "A Better Tomorrow" which he hopes to use to provide the underprivileged with a chance at a better future. He says of the project: "As a professional athlete, I have an obligation to help those less fortunate. I really enjoy being in a position to aid my community - both in the Bay Area and back home in Charlotte - and put a smile on somebody's face. That is what it is all about. I think it is especially important to give back during the holidays, when people tend to feel a little down if things are not going too well."^[12]

NBA career statistics[link]

Regular season[link]

Playoffs[link]

Career highs[link]

• Points: 51 2 times
• Rebounds: 23 vs. New York 01/30/10
• Assists: 7 7 times
• Steals: 6 5 times
• Blocks: 5 vs. Miami 12/15/06

See also[link]

Biography portal

• List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Antawn Jamison

• Video Interview with Antawn Jamison @ fiba.com
• NBA.com - Antawn Jamison
• Official Website of Antawn Jamison
• 1998 Oscar Robertson Trophy College Player of the Year