Width	235px
Caption	James with the Heat
Position	Small forward/Guard
Height ft	6
Height in	8
Weight lb	250
Team	Miami Heat
Number	6
Nationality	American
Birth date	December 30, 1984
Birth place	Akron, Ohio, United States
Draft round	1
Draft pick	1
Draft year	2003
Draft team	Cleveland Cavaliers
Career start	2003
High school	St. Vincent – St. Mary High School
Profile	lebron_james
Teams
Highlights

LeBron Raymone James (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a sophomore at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School. At just 18, he was selected with the number one pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers and signed a shoe contract with Nike before his professional debut. Listed as a small forward, James has set numerous youngest player records since joining the league. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003–04, NBA Most Valuable Player in 2008–09 and 2009–10, and has been both All-NBA selection and an All-Star every season since 2005. In 2010, a much-publicized free agency process ended with James going to the Miami Heat. He became the third reigning NBA MVP to change teams and the first since Moses Malone in 1982.

The focal point of the Cleveland offense, James led the team to consecutive playoff appearances from 2006 through 2010. In 2007, the Cavaliers advanced to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1992 and to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. James has been a member of the USA national team, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and gold at the 2008 Olympics.

Off the court

James was born on December 30, 1984 in Akron, Ohio, to a 16-year-old mother, Gloria. His biological father, Anthony McClelland, was an ex-convict who left Gloria and forced her to raise LeBron by herself.

James has two children with his high school sweetheart, Savannah Brinson. The first, LeBron James Jr., was born on October 6, 2004,

Endorsements

James has endorsement contracts with Nike, Sprite, Glacéau, Bubblicious, Upper Deck, McDonald's and State Farm. With Nike, James has released six signature shoe styles, and four additional shoes (20–5–5, Soldier, Soldier 2, Ambassador). He has acted in a 2007 series of commercials called "The LeBrons", as well as had his likeness voiced by Kenan Thompson in a 2009 commercial series titled "MVPuppets". In December 2007, James was ranked at #1 in the Forbes Top 20 Earners Under 25 with annual earnings of $27 million.

.]] James and Ice Cube have paired up to pitch a one-hour special to ABC based on James' life. James will act as executive producer if the show is greenlighted. James appeared on the cover of the February 2009 edition of GQ magazine. He stars in the Lions Gate film, More Than a Game (2009).

Public image

During the 2007 NBA Playoffs, James drew criticism when he declined to sign a petition started by his teammate, Ira Newble, regarding the Chinese government's alleged involvement in the ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan, stating that he did not know enough about the issue. A year later, James did talk publicly about the issue, saying, "At the end of the day we're talking about human rights. And people should understand that human rights and people's lives are in jeopardy. We're not talking about contracts here. We're not talking about money. We're talking about people's lives being lost and that means a lot more to me than some money or a contract."

James has received criticism from Cleveland fans and critics for attending Cleveland Indians games against the New York Yankees dressed in a Yankees hat. James said, "As individuals I want every Indian to succeed. I love all these fans for coming out and supporting us. But team-wise I want the Yankees to win." Despite residing in Ohio for all of his childhood, James added that he grew up as a Yankees fan, a Dallas Cowboys fan and a Chicago Bulls fan. In January 2008, Nike released the Air Zoom V LeBron shoe, which featured a Yankees-type motif and was made available only in New York City.

In March 2008, James became the first black man to appear on the cover of Vogue, posing with Gisele Bündchen. He was the third man to appear on the cover of Vogue, after Richard Gere and George Clooney. Some sports bloggers and columnist considered the cover offensive, describing the demeanor of James and his holding Bündchen as a reference to classic imagery of the movie monster King Kong, a dark savage capturing his light-skinned love interest.

In June 2008, James donated $20,000 to a committee to elect Barack Obama. On October 29, 2008, James gathered almost 20,000 people at the Quicken Loans Arena for a viewing of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's 30-minute American Stories, American Solutions television advertisement. It was shown on a large screen above the stage, where Jay-Z later held a free concert.

In August 2008, a source close to James said he would strongly consider playing in Europe for Olympiacos if given a $50-million annual salary. James later said he may sign a contract extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers at the conclusion of the 2008–2009 NBA season.

On July 6, 2009, James courted controversy when he ordered organizers to confiscate CBS video tape of him being dunked on by Xavier University guard Jordan Crawford at the Nike LeBron James Skills Academy.

On July 23 in an interview for his upcoming book "Shooting Stars", James admitted to smoking marijuana at one point during his high school career to help cope with all the stress resulting from constant media attention he was receiving at the time.

James, with comedian Jimmy Kimmel, co-hosted the 2007 ESPY Awards. James himself was nominated for three ESPYs: Best Male Athlete, Best NBA Player (winner), and Best Record Breaking Performance. The performance for which he was nominated was when he scored 48 points in Game 5 of the 2007 NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons, including 29 of the last 30 points and all of the team's 25 points in overtime.

In September, 2010, The Q Score Company ranked James as the sixth most disliked sports personality behind Michael Vick, Tiger Woods, Terrell Owens, Chad Ochocinco and Kobe Bryant. James bought a home in Coconut Grove, a Miami, Florida suburb, on November 12, 2010 for $9 million.

Tattoos

James has a number of tattoos on his body. Across his back is an emblazoned banner, "Chosen 1," a name he received from the cover of Sports Illustrated while in high school. On his right leg vertically, "Witness." On his right arm, a lion with a crown and "Gloria" for his mother. On his upper left arm, the word "Beast" and "Hold my own." On his lower left arm, a rendition of the face of his first son, and the words, "Prince James" for his first son, and "Maximus Bryce" for his second son. On his lower right arm, "Akron", and "330" the telephone area code for Akron, Ohio, James' hometown. Additionally on his lower right forearm, the slogan, "No one can see through what I am except for the one that made me." On his chest, the words, "Gifted Child" and a large animal across his pectorals resembling a "lion-dragon."

High school career

James attended St. Vincent–St. Mary High School in Akron, where he became a starter during his freshman year for the Fighting Irish. He averaged 21 points and 6.2 rebounds, and led the team to a 23–1 record, en route to the Division III state title. Keith Dambrot, now head coach at the University of Akron, was the head coach at St. Vincent–St. Mary. Coach Dambrot started working with James doing $1 clinics at a local recreation center.

In James' junior year his stats improved again. He averaged 29.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.3 steals and was again named Mr. Basketball of Ohio. The petition was unsuccessful, but it ensured him an unprecedented level of nation-wide attention as he entered his senior year. By then, James had already appeared on the covers of Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine. His popularity forced his team to move their practices from the school gym to the nearby James A. Rhodes Arena at the University of Akron. NBA stars such as Shaquille O'Neal attended the games, and a few of James' high school games were even televised nationally on ESPN2 and regionally on pay-per-view.

In 2003, James' mother, Gloria James, got approval of a loan to buy a Hummer H2 for her son's 18th birthday. Under the OHSAA guidelines, no amateur may accept any gift valued over $100 as a reward for athletic performance. James appealed and a judge blocked the ruling, reducing the penalty to a two-game suspension and allowing him to play the remainder of the season. James' team was forced to forfeit one of their wins as a result. That forfeit was the team's only official loss that season.

Despite the distractions, the Irish won a third state title, with James averaging 31.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.4 steals on the season. James finished his high school career with 2,657 points, 892 rebounds and 523 assists.

NBA career

Cleveland Cavaliers (2003-2010)

Rookie season

James was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the first overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. Facing the Sacramento Kings in his first NBA game, James recorded 25 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals and shot 60% from the floor. After recording a season-high 41 points against the New Jersey Nets, James became the youngest player in league history to score at least 40 points in a game. He was scheduled to compete in the 2004 Slam Dunk Contest during the All-Star weekend, although due to an ankle injury he suffered in January 2004, he was unable to participate in the contest. James averaged 20.9 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game for the season, and was named 2003–04 NBA Rookie of the Year; becoming the first Cavalier and youngest NBA player to ever receive the award. The Cavaliers improved by 18 wins and concluded the regular season with a 35–47 record, but failed to make the playoffs.

2004–05 season

In the 2004–05 season, James was selected to his first NBA All-Star Game and recorded 13 points, 6 assists, and 8 rebounds, as the Eastern All-Stars defeated the Western All-Stars 125–115. During the season, James became the youngest player in league history to record a triple-double and make the All-NBA Team.

2005–06 season

In the 2005–06 season, James was elected to his second straight All-Star Game appearance and led the Eastern All-Stars to a 122–120 victory, with 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. He became the youngest All-Star MVP at 21 years, 51 days. He was named NBA Player of the Week for an unprecedented three consecutive weeks and concluded the season with five honors. He scored 35 or more points in nine consecutive games, joining Jordan and Kobe Bryant as the only players since 1970 to accomplish the feat. The Cavaliers made the playoffs for the first time since 1998, and improved from a record of 17–65 in 2002–03 to 50–32 in 2005–06.

Following the regular season, James was named as one of the candidates for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. Although he finished second to Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns in MVP voting, he was awarded co-MVP honors with Nash by The Sporting News; an award given by the publication that is based on the voting of thirty NBA general managers.

James made his playoff debut against the Washington Wizards in 2006. He recorded a triple-double with 32 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds, as the Cavaliers defeated the Wizards 97–86. He joined Johnny McCarthy and Magic Johnson as the only players in NBA history to register a triple-double in their playoff debut. In the process, James set a new record for turnovers in a 6-game series, with 34. In the second round of the playoffs, James and the Cavaliers lost in seven games to the defending Eastern Conference champion and divisional rival Detroit Pistons. James averaged 30.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 5.8 assists in the playoffs. Although it is for fewer years and less money than the maximum he could sign, it allows him the option of seeking a new contract worth more money as an unrestricted free agent following the 2010 season.

2006–07 season

against the Dallas Mavericks]] James was elected to his third consecutive All-Star game appearance during the 2006–07 season. He played a game high 32 minutes and finished with 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists. In the regular season, the Cavaliers tied the previous season's record with 50 wins and clinched the second seed of the Eastern Conference on the last day of the season. For the season, James averaged 27.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.6 steals per game.

In the first round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs, James led the Cavaliers to their first sweep in franchise history over the Washington Wizards in four games. It was the first time the franchise had won consecutive road playoff games.

In the Eastern Conference Finals, James led the Cavaliers from an 0–2 deficit against the Detroit Pistons to win the series in six games. His performance in Game 5 was especially memorable. James recorded a franchise-record 48 points on 54.5% field goal shooting, to go with 9 rebounds and 7 assists. In addition, James scored 29 of Cleveland's last 30 points, including the team's final 25 points in a double-overtime victory. He concluded the night with a game-winning lay-up with 2 seconds left. NBA analyst Marv Albert referred to James' performance as "one of the greatest moments in postseason history," while color commentator Steve Kerr called it "Jordan-esque."

In the 2007 NBA Finals, James averaged 22.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists, as the Cavaliers were swept by the San Antonio Spurs, losing 4 consecutive games. and once again positioning himself as one of the front runners for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. He won the 2008 All-Star Game MVP with 27 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals as the Eastern Conference All-Stars defeated their Western counterparts, 134–128.

On February 19, 2008, James recorded his fifth triple-double of the 2007–08 season by putting up 26 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists against the Houston Rockets. It was the fifteenth triple-double of his career. He is the third youngest player to post 15 triple-doubles, behind Robertson and Johnson. He scored his sixth triple-double of the season and sixteenth of his career against the Indiana Pacers the very next game. It was the second time during the season that he had a triple-double in back-to-back games. The last player to accomplish that feat was Johnson in 1988. James finished the season with seven triple-doubles, breaking his personal and team records for triple-doubles in a season and 17 career triple-doubles broke his team record as well.

On February 27, 2008, against the Boston Celtics, James became the youngest person to score 10,000 points in his career at 23 years and 59 days, achieving the feat in style with a slam-dunk over 11-time All-Star Kevin Garnett, eclipsing the old mark by more than a year. James did so in 368 games, the ninth fastest in league history. On March 5, 2008, James scored 50 points with 8 rebounds and 10 assists on the New York Knicks, becoming only the third player since the ABA-NBA merger to record a 50-point 10-assist game. On March 21, 2008, James scored 29 points against the Toronto Raptors, taking him past Brad Daugherty's all-time Cavaliers scoring record of 10,389 points. Daugherty achieved this record over the course of 548 games, while James took only 380 games to score 10,414 points.

All told, James propelled Cleveland to a 45–37 record, good for second place in the Central Division and the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Prior to Cleveland's first-round series versus the Washington Wizards, Wizards guard Deshawn Stevenson said James was "overrated," prompting James to say that he would not return the insult, as that would be "almost like Jay-Z [responding to a negative comment] made by Soulja Boy." In response, Soulja Boy himself made an appearance at Game 3 of the series (played in Washington) in support of the Wizards, and his music was played over the PA system. James would later say that he meant no disrespect to Soulja Boy with his comment, and that his young son is a big fan of the rapper. Jay-Z responded by producing a freestyle version of the Too Short single "Blow the Whistle", named "Playoff", in which he "disses" Stevenson and Soulja Boy on James' behalf. The Cavaliers won the series against the Wizards in 6 games (4–2). The Cavaliers were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in the next round (4–3). During the decisive seventh game, which was played in Boston, James scored 45 points, but opponent Paul Pierce's 41 led the Celtics to a narrow victory.

2008–09 season

In the 2008–09 season James continued to improve facets of his game while setting new career highs. He had 23 chase-down blocks (93 blocks in total, a career-high) and improved his free-throw shooting (78.0%, a career-high, with league-leading 594 free-throws made). He was the NBA Player of the Month four times, making him the second player in NBA history to do that after Kevin Garnett did so in his 2003–04 MVP season. In addition, he became the fourth player in NBA history to lead his team in all five major statistical categories (total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks) in one season. of the Boston Celtics in October 2008]] After a win on March 25 against the New Jersey Nets the Cleveland Cavaliers improved their record to 58–13 exceeding their previous franchise best of 57–25 set in the 1988–89 and 1991–92 NBA seasons. They ended the regular season with a league best of 66–16 after losing their final home game to the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime. The Cavaliers had a chance to tie the 1985–86 Boston Celtics for the all-time best NBA home record but ended at 39–2 after home losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and 76ers. In the playoffs, the Cavaliers swept the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs. James averaged 32.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists in the series and became just the third player in NBA history to average at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in a postseason series. At the end of the last game, in which he tallied 36 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists on 16–17 free throw shooting, there were MVP chants for him in The Palace of Auburn Hills. On May 4, he was announced as the NBA Most Valuable Player. He became the first Cavaliers player in history to win the award.

He was named to the NBA All-Defensive Team for the first time in his career.

In the next series in the playoffs, James once again led his team to a sweep against the Atlanta Hawks.

On May 22, during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Orlando Magic's Hedo Türkoğlu shot a 12-foot jumper to give the Magic a 2-point lead with 1 second left. Following a Cleveland timeout, Williams inbounded the ball to James, but heavy defense by Türkoğlu denied James a chance at a tying layup. James then attempted and successfully made a three-point shot over Türkoğlu, giving the Cavs a 96–95 victory to tie the series 1–1. Following a Game 3 loss, James missed a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer in Game 4 and the Cavaliers were down 3-1. After a Game 5 home win, he scored a playoff low 25 points in Game 6 and Cleveland lost the series to Orlando. James' postgame behavior incited some controversy when he left the game floor without shaking hands with his opponents. Jalen Rose, a former NBA player and current ESPN commentator, said James' actions were "immature and ingracious." James later told reporters: }}

2009–10 season

.]] Before the 2009–10 season, Cleveland traded for four-time NBA champion Shaquille O'Neal to address an inside presence that was missing against Orlando. O'Neal's goal was to "Win a Ring for the King." James was selected to his sixth consecutive All-Star game appearance. James recorded 25 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals as the Eastern Conference All-Stars defeated the Western Conference All-Stars 141–139. In a 118–116 loss to the Denver Nuggets, James tallied 43 points, 13 rebounds, 15 assists, two steals and four blocks in a game. All-Star Antawn Jamison was acquired by the Cavs on February 17, 2010. On March 13, 2010, James became the youngest player in NBA history to score 15,000 regular season points during a 92–85 win over the Chicago Bulls.

At the end of the regular season, Cleveland finished with the best regular season record for the second year consecutive year. James won the Most Valuable Player for the second time in his career, becoming the tenth NBA player in history to do so. James received 116 of a possible 122 first-place votes to win. James was criticized for not playing well, especially in Game 5 of the series, in which he shot only 3 for 14 and scored 15 points. He walked off the court in that game, his final home game as a Cavalier, "to a smattering of boos and rows of empty seats" and Cleveland lost 88-120 in their worst home playoff loss in team history. Cleveland was eliminated in Game 6, James' last playing for Cleveland, as he recorded 27 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists, but also 9 turnovers. He filed papers to formally change his jersey number 23 to 6 for the season. James was courted by several teams, including the Knicks, Nets, Heat, Bulls, Mavericks, Clippers, and his hometown Cavaliers.

On July 8, 2010, James announced on a live ESPN special, The Decision, that he will be playing for the Miami Heat for the 2010–11 season and teaming with Miami's other All-Star free agent signees Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The Decision was broadcast from the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich, Connecticut.

|Lebron James}}

The Cavaliers were informed of James' decision minutes before the show began. The television program drew high ratings as well as criticism for the prolonged wait until James' actual decision and the spectacle of the show itself.

In Cleveland, fans considered James' departure a betrayal that ranks second to Art Modell's efforts to relocate the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore. Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert almost immediately published an open letter to fans, denouncing James' decision as a "selfish", "heartless", "callous", and "cowardly betrayal", while guaranteeing that the Cavs would win an NBA title before the "self-declared former King." Gilbert's sports-memorabilia company Fathead also lowered the price of wall graphics depicting James from $99.99 to $17.41, the birth year of Benedict Arnold. William Rhoden of The New York Times defended James by stating that Gilbert's "venomous, face-saving personal attack", along with the ensuing "wrath of jersey-burning fans", only validated James’ decision to leave Cleveland. Reverend Jesse Jackson, American civil rights activist, said Gilbert's feelings "personify a slave master mentality", and he was treating James as "a runaway slave". J. A. Adande of ESPN said, however, that James chose to promote the drama of his decision in an hour-long television special instead of showing "common courtesy" to notify Cleveland and other teams of his plans. On July 12, 2010, NBA Commissioner David Stern fined Gilbert $100,000 for the letter's contents, while also criticizing the way James handled free agency. On July 14, James told J.R. Moehringer for a GQ article that there was "nothing at all" he would change about his handling of free agency.

Former NBA players criticized his decision to not stay with Cleveland and continuing to try to win a championship as "the guy". Michael Jordan stated that he would not have contacted his rivals from other teams like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird to play on one team together, as "I wanted to defeat those guys." Jordan added that "...things are different [now]. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today." Johnson echoed Jordan's sentiments on teaming with rivals.

On September 29, 2010, asked by Soledad O'Brien of CNN if race was a factor in the fallout from The Decision, James said, "I think so, at times. There's always -- you know, a race factor. James had previously stayed clear of racial issues. When the earlier controversy over his cover on Vogue became a national debate, James had no comment. Adande, however, said James "didn't claim to be a victim of racial persecution" and "caused us to examine the bias that's always lurking".

Miami Heat (2010–present)

On July 9, James officially completed a sign-and-trade deal with the Heat. On the same day, the Heat threw a welcome party and introduced James, Wade and Bosh to the 13,000 Heat fans at American Airlines Arena. The rock concert atmosphere featured the trio arriving to plumes of smoke with Bosh and Wade pointing to the crowd and James strutting around. Howard Beck of The New York Times described the national fan reaction to the party: "Everyone saw something: greatness, arrogance, self-indulgence, boldness, cowardice, pride, friendship, collusion, joy, cynicism, heroes, mercenaries."

In New Jersey on October 31, he was booed by Nets' fans as expected. Boos came when James’ name was called during the pregame introductions, and continued whenever he touched the ball. When James was running the point, fans had more time to notice and the booing was more intense. On November 2, James had a game-high 12 assists in a 129-97 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Heat public relations announced that James's 12 assists was the highest in franchise history by a forward. On November 9 in a 116-114 loss to the Utah Jazz, James finished with 20 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds, his first triple-double with the Heat. It was his 29th career triple-double, the seventh that came in a loss. In a well publicized arrival after spurning the franchise, LeBron James had his second triple double of the season with 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden in a blowout victory.

International career

in the Group B men's Olympic basketball game between the U.S. and China on August 10, 2008, at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.]] }} After his rookie season, James played on the 2004 U.S. Olympic basketball team in Athens, where the United States won the bronze medal in men's basketball. It was the first time a U.S. Olympic team with NBA players failed to win the gold medal. Limited to 14.6 minutes per game, James averaged just 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. James competed in the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan and averaged 13.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. The team finished with an 8–1 record, and was again awarded the bronze medal. After failing to win the 2006 World Championships, the team competed at the 2007 Tournament of Americas Olympic qualifiers to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. During the gold medal game against Argentina, James recorded 31 points, the most by an American in an Olympic qualifier, as the United States captured gold medal honors. He averaged 18.1 points (on tournament-high field-goal percentage (76%) and three-point percentage (62.2%), 4.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 22.2 minutes per game.

James, along with the rest of Team USA reclaimed the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, defeating Spain 118 to 107. He finished the gold medal game with 14 points along with 6 rebounds and 3 assists as the U.S. went unbeaten, winning their first Gold Medal since the 2000 Olympics. It was later reported that James' "immaturity and downright disrespectfulness" were a risk to his being included on the Beijing Olympic team as Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski and managing director Jerry Colangelo believed that Bryant joining the national team could allow the team to win the gold medal with or without James. with 28 in the regular season and six in the postseason. James' skills have led to many comparisons to NBA legends Robertson, Johnson, and Jordan. James was not named to the NBA All-Defensive Team until the 2008–09 season, when he finished second in voting for Defensive Player of the Year.

James started a petition saying that no one should be allowed to wear the #23 in the NBA to honor Jordan. On March 1, 2010, James filed an application to the NBA to wear the #6 starting the 2010/2011 season.

Salaries

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Season !! Team !! Salary |- | 2003–04 || Cleveland || $4,018,920 |- | 2004–05 || Cleveland || $4,320,360 |- | 2005–06 || Cleveland || $4,621,800 |- | 2006–07 || Cleveland || $5,828,090 |- | 2007–08 || Cleveland || $13,041,250 |- | 2008–09 || Cleveland || $14,410,581 |- | 2009–10 || Cleveland || $15,779,912 |- | 2010–11 || Miami || $14,500,000 |}

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 79 || 79 || 39.5 || .417 || .290 || .754 || 5.5 || 5.9 || 1.6 || .7 || 20.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 80 || 80 || 42.4 || .472 || .351 || .750 || 7.4 || 7.2 || 2.2 || .6 || 27.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 79 || 79 || 42.5 || .480 || .335 || .738 || 7.0 || 6.6 || 1.6 || .8 || 31.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 78 || 78 || 40.9 || .476 || .319 || .698 || 6.7 || 6.0 || 1.6 || .7 || 27.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 75 || 74 || 40.4 || .484 || .315 || .712 || 7.9 || 7.2 || 1.8 || 1.1 || 30.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 81 || 81 || 37.7 || .489 || .344 || .780 || 7.6 || 7.2 || 1.7 || 1.1 || 28.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 76 || 76 || 39.0 || .503 || .333 || .767 || 7.3 || 8.6 || 1.6 || 1.0 || 29.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 548 || 547 || 40.3 || .475 || .329 || .742 || 7.0 || 7.0 || 1.7 || .9 || 27.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| All-Star | style="text-align:left;"| | 6 || 6 || 25.3 || .504 || .350 || .667 || 6.3 || 5.3 || 1.8 || .3 || 23.7 |}

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005–06 | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 13 || 13 || 46.5 || .476 || .333 || .737 || 8.1 || 5.8 || 1.4 || .7 || 30.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 20 || 20 || 44.7 || .416 || .280 || .755 || 8.1 || 8.0 || 1.7 || .5 || 25.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 13 || 13 || 42.5 || .411 || .257 || .731 || 7.8 || 7.6 || 1.8 || 1.3 || 28.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 14 || 14 || 41.4 || .510 || .333 || .749 || 9.1 || 7.3 || 1.6 || .9 || 35.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 11 || 11 || 41.8 || .502 || .400 || .733 || 9.3 || 7.6 || 1.7 || 1.8 || 29.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 71 || 71 || 43.5 || .459 || .316 || .743 || 8.4 || 7.3 || 1.6 || 1.0 || 29.3 |}

Awards and honors

2× NBA Most Valuable Player: 2009, 2010

NBA Rookie of the Year: 2004

NBA Scoring Champion: 2008

2× NBA All-Star Game MVP: 2006, 2008

6× NBA All-Star: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

6× All-NBA:

* First Team: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010

* Second Team: 2005, 2007

2× NBA All-Defensive:

* First Team: 2009, 2010

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2004

'''Bronze medal with Team USA, 2004 Summer Olympic Games

'''Bronze medal with Team USA, 2006 FIBA World Championship

'''Gold medal with Team USA, 2007 FIBA Americas Championship

'''Gold medal with Team USA, 2008 Summer Olympic Games

References

External links

Official website

LeBron: The Moment

U.S. National Team Bio

LeBron James: NBA.com Draft Profile

"LeBron James", n°1 on Times list of "100 Olympic Athletes To Watch"

LeBron James: Monster Dunks – slideshow by Life magazine

LeBron James on ESPN Video Archive

LeBron James on FoxSports Video Archive

Category:1984 births Category:American basketball players Category:African American basketball players Category:Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players from Ohio Category:Cleveland Cavaliers draft picks Category:Cleveland Cavaliers players Category:Miami Heat players Category:Gatorade National Basketball Player of the Year Category:Living people Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:National Basketball Association high school draftees Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Akron, Ohio Category:People from Cleveland, Ohio Category:Small forwards Category:United States men's national basketball team members

Caption	Anthony with the Nuggets against the Mavericks
Position	Small forward
Number	15
Height ft	6
Height in	8
Weight lb	228
Birth date	May 29, 1984
Birth place	Brooklyn, New York
High school	Towson Catholic, Oak Hill Academy
Team	Denver Nuggets
College	Syracuse
Career start	2003
Nationality	American
Draft round	1
Draft pick	3
Draft team	Denver Nuggets
Draft year	2003
Teams
Highlights

Carmelo Kiyan Anthony (born May 29, 1984), nicknamed "Melo", is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a successful high school career at Towson Catholic High School and Oak Hill Academy, Anthony attended Syracuse University for college where he led the Orangemen to their first National Championship in 2003. He earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award and was named the Most Valuable Player of NCAA East Regional. After one season at Syracuse University, Anthony left college to enter the 2003 NBA Draft, where he was selected as the third pick by the Nuggets.

Since entering the NBA, Anthony has emerged as one of the most well-known and popular players in the league. He was named to the All-Rookie team, to the All-Star team three times and to the All-NBA team four times. Anthony has led the Nuggets to two division titles and to the playoffs every season since his rookie year. In 2009, he helped the Nuggets advance to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1985. As a member of the USA national team, Anthony won a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics.

Early life and high school

Anthony was born in the Red Hook projects in Brooklyn, New York City. He was born to a Puerto Rican father and an African American mother. His father, after whom he is named, died of cancer when Anthony was two years old. When Anthony turned eight, his family moved to Baltimore, where he honed not only his athletic skills, but his survival skills. Kenny Minor, one of Anthony's childhood friends, said, "from drugs, to killings, to anything you can name that goes on in the roughest parts of town, we've seen and witnessed hands on. Those are the things that teach you toughness and keep you mentally focused on your goals." Sports would serve as an important diversion from the violence and drug dealing that were pervasive in the housing projects a few blocks from the homes of Anthony and his friends.

Anthony commuted to Towson Catholic High School for his first three years of high school. During the summer of 2000, Anthony grew five inches into the frame of a 6-5 swingman. He suddenly became one of the area’s top players and made a name for himself in the area, being named The Baltimore Sun's metro player of the year in 2001, as well as Baltimore Catholic League player of the year. During his sophomore year, he averaged 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Due to his struggles with the ACT, his family and friends wondered whether Anthony would forget about college and move on to the NBA. Anthony's 33-point outburst against the University of Texas in the Final Four set an NCAA tournament record for most points by a freshman. In the championship game against the University of Kansas, Anthony had 20 points and 10 rebounds. For his efforts during the NCAA tournament, Anthony earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player Award. Afterwards, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim described Anthony as "[…] by far, the best player in college basketball. It wasn't even close. Nobody was even close to him last year in college basketball. That's the bottom line".

Anthony said that he originally planned to stay at Syracuse for two to three seasons, but having already accomplished everything he set out to do, he chose to abandon his collegiate career (with Boeheim's blessing) and declared himself eligible for the 2003 NBA Draft. Some of Anthony's highlights in his time with Syracuse include being named Second-Team All-American by the Associated Press as a freshman, leading his team to a 30-5 record, capturing the school's first ever NCAA title and being the consensus pick for NCAA Freshman of the Year. He was also named to the All-Big East First Team and was the consensus selection for the Big East Conference Freshman of the Year.

NBA career

Rookie season

Anthony's NBA career began on June 26, 2003, when he was chosen in the first round (3rd overall) of the 2003 NBA Draft draft by the Denver Nuggets. He was selected behind LeBron James (1st overall, Cleveland Cavaliers) and Darko Miličić (2nd overall, Detroit Pistons). He made his NBA regular season debut on October 29, 2003, in an 80–72 home win against the San Antonio Spurs. Anthony finished the night with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. In just his sixth career NBA game (November 7 versus the Los Angeles Clippers), Anthony scored 30 points, becoming the second youngest player in NBA history to score 30 points or more in a game (19 years, 151 days; Kobe Bryant was the youngest). It was the fewest number of games a Nuggets rookie took to score 30 points in a contest since the ABA-NBA merger. On February 9, 2004, against the Memphis Grizzlies, Anthony became the third-youngest player to reach the 1,000-point plateau in NBA history with a 20-point effort in an 86–83 win.

On February 13, 2004, Anthony participated in the Got Milk? Rookie Challenge at All-Star Weekend. On March 30, 2004, he scored 41 points against the Seattle SuperSonics to set a new Denver Nuggets franchise record for most points in a game by a rookie. He also became the second-youngest player (19 years, 305 days) to score at least 40 points in a game in NBA history. After winning the Rookie of the Month award for the Western Conference in the month of April, Anthony became the fourth player in NBA history to capture all six of the Rookie of the Month awards in a season. Anthony averaged 21.0 ppg during the season, which was more than any other rookie. Anthony was second in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting, finishing as the runner-up to the Cavaliers rookie standout, James.

Anthony was a major part in the turn around of the Denver Nuggets from league laughingstock to playoff contender. In the season before Anthony was drafted by the team, the Nuggets finished with a 17–65 record, which tied them for worst in the NBA with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They finished the 2003-04 campaign with a 43–39 overall record, qualifying them as the eighth seed for the post-season. Anthony became the first NBA rookie to lead a playoff team in scoring since David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs during the 1989–90 season. The Timberwolves eliminated the Nuggets in five games.

2004–05 season

In Anthony's second season, he averaged 20.8 points per game, ranking him 19th in the NBA. Anthony placed 16th in the NBA for points per 48 minutes. On December 4, 2004, versus the Miami Heat, Anthony became the third-youngest player in NBA history to reach 2,000 career points. Only James and Bryant were younger when they reached that plateau. Anthony played again in the Got Milk? Rookie Challenge, this time suiting up for the sophomore squad. In front of his home fans of Denver (who were hosting the 2005 All-Star Game), Anthony scored a game-high 31 points to go along with 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 steals, en route to becoming the MVP of the game.

With Anthony's help, the Nuggets improved their season record by six games from the previous season, ending with a mark of 49–33. The Nuggets finished seventh place in the Western Conference (one spot higher than they finished the previous season). Denver faced the second-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round, winning the first game in San Antonio, 93–87. However, the Spurs won the next four games, eliminating the Nuggets from the playoffs.

2005–06 season

during the 2005-06 season.]] Anthony played and started in 80 games during the 2005–06 season. He averaged 26.5 ppg (8th, NBA), 2.7 apg, 4.9 rpg and 1.1 spg. His eighth place finish in NBA scoring was the highest finish by a Denver player since the 1990–91 season, when Nuggets guard Michael Adams finished the season sixth in NBA scoring. On November 23, 2005, with the Nuggets facing the two-time defending Eastern Conference Champion Detroit Pistons, Anthony hauled down his 1,000th career rebound. A month later, Anthony recorded a then career-high 45 points in a losing effort against the Philadelphia 76ers. On March 17, 2006, versus the Memphis Grizzlies, he scored 33 points to push his career point total over the 5,000 mark. Also, in doing so, he became the second youngest player to accomplish that feat (behind James). As the month of March came to a close, the Nuggets finished 11–5, and Anthony was named as the NBA Player of the Month for March. He also took home Player of the Week honors for March 13, 2006 – March 19, 2006.

During the season, Anthony made five game-winning shots in the last five seconds: at Houston on January 8, 2006; at home versus Phoenix on January 10; at Minnesota on February 24; at Indiana on March 15; at home versus the Los Angeles Lakers on April 6. All five of those game-winners were made on jump shots, while the shot against Minnesota was a three-point field goal. Anthony also made a shot in the final seconds to force overtime vs. the Dallas Mavericks on January 6. He made shots in the final 22 seconds against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 18, 2006, and the Philadelphia 76ers on March 9, which gave the Nuggets leads they would never lose. Anthony was named to the All-NBA Third Team for the season, alongside Phoenix' Shawn Marion, Houston's Yao Ming, Philadelphia's Allen Iverson and Washington's Gilbert Arenas.

The Nuggets finished the season in third place, winning the Northwest Division for the first time in Anthony's career. Denver faced the sixth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the playoffs. The Clippers held home court advantage in the series, due to ending the regular season with a better record (Denver finished 44-38; Los Angeles finished 47–35). The Clippers won the first two games of the series on their home floor. The Nuggets split their games at home in Denver (winning game three; losing game four). Denver then lost game five at Los Angeles, which eliminated the Nuggets from the playoffs. After the season, Anthony signed a 5 year, $80 million extension with the Nuggets.

2006–07 season

In the eighth game of the season (a 117-109 home win against the Toronto Raptors), Anthony tied the franchise record of six-straight 30-point games recorded by Alex English (1982-83 season). Coincidentally, Alex English witnessed Anthony tie his record as English is now an Assistant Coach with the Toronto Raptors. Anthony fell short of establishing a new record in his ninth game (a 113–109 home victory over the Chicago Bulls) on November 21, as he finished with 29 points. After the Chicago victory, Anthony again tied the club record of six-straight 30-point games, failing to break it the second time around, as he scored 24 points in his 16th game (a 98-96 home loss to the Atlanta Hawks) on December 6. During a game at Madison Square Garden on December 16, Anthony was one of many players involved in the infamous Knicks–Nuggets brawl. Footage showed Anthony laying a punch on the face of New York's Mardy Collins and subsequently backing away. As a result of his actions, Anthony was suspended for 15 games by NBA commissioner David Stern. Shortly thereafter, the Nuggets traded for Allen Iverson in a bid to form a deadly combination with Anthony. The duo didn't get to play alongside one another until a home game against the Memphis Grizzlies on January 22, which was the day Anthony was allowed to return from his 15-game suspension. Anthony finished the game with 28 points, as he and Iverson combined for 51 points.

On February 2, 2007, Anthony and fellow teammate J.R. Smith were involved in a minor car accident. Neither player was injured in the collision. The only information released by the team was that the car Smith was driving belonged to Anthony. Three days later, Anthony recorded his first career triple-double, with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, in a 113–108 loss to the Phoenix Suns. When the reserves for the Western Conference All-Star team were announced, Anthony was not included on the roster. However, with Yao Ming and Carlos Boozer out with injuries, NBA commissioner David Stern chose Anthony as a replacement (along with Josh Howard). Anthony scored 20 points with 9 rebounds in his All-Star debut. Anthony was the first Denver Nugget to be named an All-Star since Antonio McDyess in 2001.

Anthony won Player of the Week honors three times during the season (November 20–November 26; November 27–December 3; and February 5–February 11), and received Player of the Month honors for April, after leading the Nuggets to a 10-1 record for the month and into sixth place in the final regular season standings of the Western Conference. Anthony finished the season as the league's second leading scorer behind Bryant, with an average of 28.9 ppg, while adding 6.0 rpg, 3.8 apg and 1.2 spg. He was named to All-NBA Third Team for the second straight year, along with Miami's Dwyane Wade, Detroit's Chauncy Billups, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett and Orlando's Dwight Howard. For the second time in three years, Anthony and the sixth-seeded Nuggets faced the third-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. In a virtual repeat of the 2005 first round playoff matchup between the two teams, Denver won the first game in San Antonio, 95-89, only to lose the next four games. The Nuggets were eliminated in the first round for the fourth straight year. In the playoff series against the Spurs, Anthony averaged a team-high 26.8 ppg to go along with 8.6 rpg, 1.2 apg and 1.0 spg.

2007–08 season

On January 24, 2008, Anthony was named to his second consecutive NBA All-Star Game—his first as a starter. He finished as the leading vote-getter among Western Conference forwards (1,723,701 votes) and second in overall voting to Kobe Bryant (2,004,940 votes) among all Western Conference players. He had a field goal percentage of .760 on a 19-of-25 shooting effort, and his shooting percentage was the second highest in the last 13 years for a player who took 25 or more shots in a game (Bryant was first with a .769 field goal percentage on a 20-of-26 shooting effort, in a 99–94 road victory over the Houston Rockets on December 21, 2000). On March 27, in a home win over the Dallas Mavericks, Anthony scored his 9,000th career point. He played in 77 games during the regular season, finishing as the NBA's fourth-leading scorer with 25.7 points per game, and had career-highs in rebounds per game (7.4) and steals per game (1.3). He tied his career-high in blocks per game (0.5), and ended the season with 3.4 assists per game, which was the second-best mark of his career.

The Nuggets finished the 2007–08 season with exactly 50 wins (50–32 overall record, tied for the third-best all-time Nuggets record since the team officially joined the NBA in 1976), following a 120-111 home victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in the last game of the season. It was the first time since the 1987-88 NBA season that the Nuggets finished with at least 50 wins in a season. For the series, Anthony averaged 22.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg (playoff career-high), 2.0 apg and 0.5 spg.

2008–09 season

The 2008–09 campaign began with Allen Iverson being traded to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for guard Chauncey Billups. On December 10, 2008, in a 116-105 home win over the Timberwolves, Anthony tied George Gervin for the most points scored in one quarter in NBA history by scoring 33 points in the third quarter. Gervin had set the record when he was competing against David Thompson for the scoring title on the last day of the 1977–78 season. Anthony shot 12 of 15 (80%) in the third quarter and finished the game with 45 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. On January 4, 2009, Anthony broke a bone in his hand in a game against the Indiana Pacers. He opted to have the hand splinted rather than have surgery; his recovery time was estimated at three to four weeks. He had already missed three games in late December with a sore elbow. Anthony returned from injury and to the Nuggets starting lineup on January 30, 2009 in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats in which he scored 19 points. Anthony was suspended for one game by the Nuggets for staying on the court and refusing to leave the game after coach George Karl benched him during a game against the Pacers.

The Nuggets won the Northwest Division and placed 2nd in the Western Conference, finishing the season with a franchise record-tying 54 wins (54–28 overall). Anthony averaged 22.8 ppg and made a career high 37.1% of his shots from three-point range. After losing in 5 straight playoff appearances (2004–2008), on April 29, 2009, Anthony won his first playoff series when the Nuggets beat the New Orleans Hornets at home 107–86 where Anthony finished with a playoff career high 34 points and 4 steals. In a post-game conference Anthony said "Yeah, finally.. Took me 5 years to get that gorilla off my back, it's a great feeling." The Nuggets beat the Hornets in five games in the first round of the playoffs and proceeded to beat the Dallas Mavericks 4-1 in the conference semifinals with Anthony scoring 30 points in a solid game 5 performance. In the third game of the semifinals, Anthony made a last second three point shot to give the Nuggets the win after being down by 2 points (103–105). Denver advanced to the conference finals, but was eliminated, 4-2, by the Los Angeles Lakers on his birthday.

2009–10 season

in Taiwan.]] In the opening two games of the 2009–10 season, Anthony totaled 71 points, scoring 30 points in the home opener and 41 the next night, in wins against division rivals Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers respectively. Anthony became one of three players in the Nuggets' history to open with 70 or more points through two games—tied with Nick Van Exel with 71 points—surpassed only by Alex English who did it twice, in 1985 (79) and 1988 (74). It was also only the second time since 1987 that the Nuggets started the season 2–0. a game after his 41-point explosion against the Blazers, becoming the first Nugget to have scored back-to-back 40-point games since Michael Adams did it in 1991. It was the first time they went 3–0 since 1985.

In the fifteenth regular season game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony entered the game leading the league in points per game (30.2) and was the only player in the league to score at least 20 points in every game. He finished the game with 22 points which was his fifteenth consecutive game with at least 20 points breaking the previous franchise record of 14 straight set by English. The following game, Anthony scored a career-high 50 points in a home game against the New York Knicks while teammate Chauncey Billups added 32 points in the game, making them only the third duo in NBA history to score at least 50 and 30 points respectively. Two days later, Anthony scored 19 points in the first quarter—tying a season-high he made in the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers—in a home loss to the Timberwolves. On January 21, 2010, Anthony was named as a starter for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game leading the Western Conference ballots in votes for forwards. This was Anthony's third All-Star appearance and second as a starter. He finished the game with a team-high 27 points and 10 rebounds, in a losing effort as the team bowed to the Eastern Conference team.

In the team's first game after the All-Star Game, the Nuggets visited the Cleveland Cavaliers in a highly-anticipated game with the Cavaliers having a 13-game winning streak. While LeBron James posted a triple-double of 43 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists, Anthony compiled 40 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists in an overtime win as Anthony nailed a jumper over the outstretched arms of James with just 1.9 seconds left in the game, ending the Cavaliers' win streak. On March 26, 2010, Anthony made a game-winning shot at the buzzer, after missing his first attempt, against the Toronto Raptors. The Nuggets concluded the 2009–10 regular season with a 53-29 record and the Northwest Division title for the second straight season facing the Utah Jazz in the first-round. In Game 1, Anthony scored a playoff-career high 42 points. This also matched a franchise-playoff high for scoring in a single playoff game, tied with Alex English. However, the Nuggets lost the series to the Utah Jazz 4-2, with Anthony averaging a playoff career-high 30.7 points per game, along with 8.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals.

2010–11 season

On November 15, 2010, Anthony had 20 points and a career-high 22 rebounds for the first 20-20 game of his career against the Phoenix Suns. He also hit game-winning jumper at the buzzer against the Bulls on November 26, 2010. In December 2010, Anthony missed five games due to the death of his sister Michelle. He returned to the lineup in a game against the Kings on January 1, 2011.

United States national team

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Anthony was one of 12 players named to the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team in the summer of 2002. He was a member of the bronze-medal winning Team USA at the 2002 Men’s Junior World Championship held in La Asuncion, Margarita, Venezuela. He started all five contests and averaged a team-best 15.6 ppg despite playing an average of just 22.2 minutes an outing. His 6.2 rebound mark ranked second on the club. Anthony had 15 points and nine rebounds in a first-round win against Dominican Republic. He had 21 points and seven boards in 21 minutes versus Mexico, another Team USA triumph. He keyed a 75-73 victory against Argentina with a team-leading 23 points. In a two-point semifinal loss to host Venezuela, Anthony contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds. Team USA earned the bronze by beating Argentina, 71-65. The squad was coached by Oregon mentor Ernie Kent. Anthony had previous USA Basketball experience as a participant in the 2001 Youth Development Festival.

After his rookie season, Anthony was chosen as a member of the 2004 USA Olympic basketball team that won the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He averaged 2.4 ppg and 1.6 apg. Anthony was named co-captain (along with fellow 2003 draftees LeBron James and Dwyane Wade) of Team USA at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. The team won the bronze medal. On August 23, 2006, Anthony set the U.S. scoring record in a game with 35 points against Italy in the said FIBA tournament. The record was previously held by Kenny Anderson with 34 points in 1990. Anthony was named to the FIBA World Championship All-Tournament Team, posting averages of 19.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg and 1.6 apg.

Anthony was also named to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, again alongside James and Wade, with Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd among others. The team won its games by an average winning margin of 32.2 points, eliminating Australia in the quarterfinals by 31 and beating Argentina by 20 points. Anthony scored 21 points against Argentina, making 3 of 14 field goals and 13-of-13 in free throws, setting USA Olympic game records for made free throws and free throw percentage. In the gold medal game, the United States defeated 2006 World Champion Spain, with Anthony scoring 13 points. Anthony posted averages of 11.5 ppg (92 points/8 games), 4.3 rpg (34 rebounds/8 games) and 1.0 spg (8 steals/8 games).

Player profile

Anthony plays the small forward position though he is also capable of playing power forward. His scoring prowess is considered his best asset with his ability to take over any game on the offensive end; he shares the single-game NBA record for mosts points in one quarter with thirty-three. On offense, Anthony is recognized for being a prolific scorer with a variety of crafty offensive moves. Listed at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and 228 pounds (103 kg), he has strength and quickness to be an immediate and consistent scoring threat in the post. He also likes creating space from his defenders which allows him to step into his jump shot or put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket and get to the free throw line. Anthony is often known for being one of the premier clutch performers in the NBA; during the 2005–06 season, Anthony made five game-winning shots in the last five seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime. Despite being a prolific scorer, he has been criticized for his defense and has never been named to the NBA All-Defensive Team.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Denver | 82 || 82 || 36.5 || .426 || .322 || .777 || 6.1 || 2.8 || 1.2 || 0.5 || 21.0 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Denver | 75 || 75 || 34.8 || .431 || .266 || .796 || 5.7 || 2.6 || .9 || 0.4 || 20.8 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Denver | 80 || 80 || 36.8 || .481 || .243 || .808 || 4.9 || 2.7 || 1.1 || 0.5 || 26.5 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Denver | 65 || 65 || 38.2 || .476 || .268 || .808 || 6.0 || 3.8 || 1.2 || 0.3 || 28.9 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Denver | 77 || 77 || 36.4 || .492 || .354 || .786 || 7.4 || 3.4 || 1.3 || 0.5 || 25.7 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Denver | 66 || 66 || 34.3 || .443 || .371 || .793 || 6.8 || 3.4 || 1.1 || 0.4 || 22.8 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" | Denver | 69 || 69 || 38.2 || .458 || .316 || .830 || 6.6 || 3.2 || 1.3 || 0.4 || 28.2 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 514 || 514 || 36.5 || .459 || .308 || .801 || 6.2 || 3.1 || 1.2 || 0.4 || 24.7 |- | align="left" | All-Star | align="left" | | 3 || 2 || 25.0 || .574 || .250 || .500 || 8.7 || 1.3 || .3 || 0.0 || 21.7

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2003–04 | align="left" | Denver | 4 || 4 || 35.8 || .328 || .182 || .800 || 8.3 || 2.8 || 1.2 || .0 || 15.0 |- | align="left" | 2004–05 | align="left" | Denver | 5 || 5 || 36.0 || .422 || .000 || .813 || 5.4 || 2.0 || .6 || .2 || 19.2 |- | align="left" | 2005–06 | align="left" | Denver | 5 || 5 || 38.6 || .333 || .000 || .750 || 6.6 || 2.8 || .8 || .2 || 21.0 |- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Denver | 5 || 5 || 42.0 || .480 || .500 || .795 || 8.6 || 1.2 || 1.0 || .0 || 26.8 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Denver | 4 || 4 || 36.5 || .364 || .250 || .828 || 9.5 || 2.0 || .5 || .2 || 22.5 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Denver | 16 || 16 || 38.3 || .453 || .364 || .826 || 5.8 || 4.1 || 1.8 || .6 || 27.2 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" | Denver | 6 || 6 || 42.3 || .464 || .316 || .877 || 8.5 || 3.2 || 2.0 || .5 || 30.7 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 45 || 45 || 38.6 || .424 || .339 || .818 || 7.1 || 3.0 || 1.3 || .4 || 24.5

Awards and honors

4× All-NBA selection:

:*Second team: 2010 :*Third team: 2006, 2007, 2009

3× NBA All-Star: 2007, 2008, 2010

NBA Rookie Challenge MVP: 2005

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2004

'''Bronze medal with Team USA, 2004 Summer Olympic Games

'''Bronze medal with Team USA, 2006 FIBA World Championship

'''Gold medal with Team USA, 2007 FIBA Americas Championship

'''Gold medal with Team USA, 2008 Summer Olympic Games

Controversies

Since entering the NBA, Anthony has been the subject of numerous controversies. In 2004, he was cited for marijuana possession, after inspectors at Denver International Airport found marijuana in his backpack. Charges were later dropped after Anthony’s friend, James Cunningham, of St. Louis, signed an affidavit taking responsibility for the marijuana. That same year, Anthony appeared in a video entitled, Stop Snitchin', which warned that residents of Baltimore who collaborated with the police would face violence. Anthony later distanced himself from this video. In 2006, Anthony’s friend, Tyler Brandon Smith, was pulled over in Anthony’s vehicle and cited for marijuana possession and three traffic violations. He was suspended 15 games as a result. Police spokesperson Detective Sharon Hahn said Anthony, who was alone in the car, failed a series of sobriety tests. He was ticketed and then released at police headquarters to a "sober responsible party."

Personal life

Anthony has two brothers, Robert and Wilford, and a half-sister, Daphne. His mother, Mary, is African American and his father was Puerto Rican. Anthony and La La were married by Michael Eric Dyson on 10 July 2010 at Cipriani's in New York City before 320 guests. The ceremony was filmed by VH1 for use in a reality series on the couple, titled La La's Full Court Wedding.

Charity work

on June 17, 2003]] Off the court, Anthony donates time and money to causes in Denver and Baltimore. In Denver, Anthony is a spokesman for the Family Resource Center and helps organize a Christmas party, entitled "A Very Melo Christmas," for less well-off children. In Baltimore, Anthony hosts an annual 3-on-3 tournament, known as "Melo's H.O.O.D. Movement 3 on 3 Challenge (Holding Our Own Destiny)" and is helping fund the revitalization of a local community center for local youth. Anthony opened "The Carmelo Anthony Youth Development Center" in Baltimore on December 14, 2006. He contributed $1.5 million to the Living Classrooms Foundation, a non-profit organization that "provides innovative hands-on-education, job-training and community service programs for over 35,000 children, youth and young adults in the east Baltimore community."

After the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, Anthony donated $35,000 to relief efforts. He donated $1,000 per point scored against San Antonio and Houston on January 8 and 9, 2005 respectively. The practice facility will be called the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center. For charitable contributions totaling $4,282,000, Anthony was listed as number eight in "The Giving Back 30 List of Largest Charitable Donations by Celebrities in 2006"

Other activities

Anthony was a guest star in the "Lost and Found" episode of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. He also appeared in the music video for Common's song "Be" from the album Be in 2005. Anthony is the only player to appear on the cover of all three EA Sports basketball franchises (NCAA March Madness, NBA Live and NBA Street). In January 2009, Colorado Sports Hall of Fame selected Anthony as its professional athlete of the year for 2008. He and wrestler Henry Cejudo, also a 2008 gold medalist, were chosen to be the special award headliners for the induction banquet held on April 14, 2009. On August 24, 2010, it was announced that Anthony and Dwight Howard will star in a movie together titled Amazing.

See also

List of famous Puerto Ricans

List of famous African-Americans

Kross Over Entertainment

Air Melo Line

References

External links

Official Website

Camelo Anthony's U.S. Olympic Team bio

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Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:American people of Puerto Rican descent Category:Basketball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Denver Nuggets draft picks Category:Denver Nuggets players Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Baltimore, Maryland Category:Puerto Rican basketball players Category:Small forwards Category:Syracuse Orange men's basketball players Category:United States men's national basketball team members

Number	25
Name	Vince Carter
Height ft	6
Height in	6
Weight lb	220
Position	Shooting Guard
Birth date	January 26, 1977
Birth place	Daytona Beach, Florida
Team	Phoenix Suns
College	North Carolina
Nationality	American
Draft round	1
Draft pick	5
Draft team	Golden State Warriors
Draft year	1998
Career start	1998
Teams
Highlights

Vincent Lamar "Vince" Carter (born January 26, 1977) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns. One of the most electrifying performers in NBA history, he is a shooting guard who can also play small forward.

A high school McDonalds All-American, Carter went on to star for three years at the University of North Carolina before being selected as the #5 pick in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors. The NBA Rookie of the Year his first season, he shot to fame as the winner of the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest the next season, competing alongside his third cousin and then-teammate, Tracy McGrady.

An eight-time NBA All-Star, Carter joined NBA icons Julius Erving and Michael Jordan as the only players to lead the NBA All-Star Game fan voting three or more times. He helped lead the Raptors to three consecutive playoff appearances before various injuries and losing seasons caused relations between Carter and the Raptors to begin to deteriorate. In 2004, he was traded to the New Jersey Nets, where he spent five years before being moved to the Orlando Magic on the day of the 2009 NBA Draft. In December 2010 he was traded by the Magic to the Phoenix Suns.

Collegiate career

Born in Daytona Beach, Florida, Carter was a 1995 McDonald's All-American at Mainland High School in there before spending three seasons playing college basketball at North Carolina under Dean Smith and later, Bill Guthridge. During the 1997–1998 season, he was a member of new coach Guthridge's successful rotation of Antawn Jamison, Shammond Williams, Ed Cota, Ademola Okulaja, and Makhtar N'diaye.

Carter also became a pioneer of the Internet during his collegiate career. In 1995 he followed teammate Shammond Williams as the second collegiate athlete to have his own website.

NBA career

Toronto Raptors (1998–2004)

In 1998, Carter was drafted by the NBA's Golden State Warriors with the fifth overall pick, and then traded to the Toronto Raptors for the fourth overall pick, Antawn Jamison, his college teammate and good friend. His first agent was National Football League super agent William "Tank" Black who was later imprisoned in connection with money laundering and other charges. Carter's rookie season was the shortened 50-game 1999 season, after the NBA locked out its players in 1998–99. Carter started almost every game for coach Butch Carter, averaged 18.3 points per game (ppg), and eventually won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. The next year, Carter was selected to an All-Star Team for the first time, averaged 25.7 ppg, made the Third Team All-NBA, and showcased his athleticism and dunking abilities in the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He won the contest by performing an array of dunks including a 360° windmill, a between the legs bounce dunk, and an "elbow in the rim" dunk (also known as a "cookie jar" dunk or the "honey dip").

In Carter's first two seasons, he and his distant cousin Tracy McGrady formed a formidable one-two punch as Raptor teammates. The two led the Raptors to their first playoff berth in the 2000 NBA Playoffs, but they were swept in the first round by the New York Knicks, in 3 games. Upon McGrady's departure to the Orlando Magic the following season, Carter became the Raptors' franchise player.

In 2000–01, his third season, Carter averaged a career-high 27.6 ppg, made the Second Team All-NBA, and was voted in as a starter in the 2001 NBA All-Star Game, while the Raptors finished the regular season with a franchise-record 47 wins. In the playoffs, the Raptors beat the New York Knicks 3–2 in the first round, and advanced to the 2001 Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they took the Philadelphia 76ers to a decisive seventh game. On the morning of the day of Game 7, May 20, 2001, Carter attended his university graduation. In that game, Carter missed a game-winning shot with 2.0 seconds remaining, and afterwards, he was criticized for his decision to attend his graduation by media and fans.

In the summer of 2001, Carter signed a $94 million, six-year extension with the Raptors. In addition, Carter announced that he would be hosting a charity basketball game featuring fellow NBA stars that would be played at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on August 3, 2001. The success of the first game encouraged Carter to make the game an annual summer event.

The next season was an injury-riddled one for Carter. He started in 60 games and he averaged 24.7 ppg. He was voted into the 2002 NBA All-Star Game, but he could not participate due to injury. The Raptors did not fare well without their All-Star player. The team lost 17 of 18 games to drop to 30–38, then won 12 of their last 14 to finish at 42–40. Carter was injured during the 2002 NBA Playoffs, and his team was defeated in the first round by the Detroit Pistons, in 5 games.

During the 2003 NBA All-Star Game, as a sign of respect, Carter gave up his starting All-Star spot to the Washington Wizards' Michael Jordan to allow Jordan to make his final start as an All-Star. During his Raptors tenure, Carter developed jumper's knee in his left knee.

In the 2004 off-season, Carter became frustrated with the Raptors' management for their desire to rebuild. In particular, Carter was unhappy with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), especially president Richard Peddie. In a private meeting, Peddie gave the impression to Carter that MLSE was serious in building a contender in Toronto, would pursue players like Steve Nash and Jamaal Magloire, and consider a G.M. like Julius Erving, who could attract players to Toronto. During the early part of the 2004–05 season, Carter posted a career-low 15.9 ppg on reduced playing time, under new head coach Sam Mitchell. Mitchell often benched Carter in the 4th quarter to emphasize his new coaching philosophy, spurring rumors of fights between Carter and Mitchell. Mitchell would later deny them.

New Jersey Nets (2004–2009)

On December 17, 2004, new Raptors General Manager Rob Babcock traded Carter to the New Jersey Nets for Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams and two future first-round draft picks.

In early January 2005, when asked by TNT's John Thompson if he always pushed himself as hard as he should, Carter replied, "In years past, no. I was fortunate to have the talent. You get spoiled when you're able to do a lot of things. You see that you don't have to work at it." Though Carter's comments were perceived by Raptors fans as his confession to not giving his all as a Raptor, Thompson said the comments were misinterpreted, saying, "That boy never said to me, 'Coach, I just laid down and quit.' ...I was embarrassed and felt awful about it for his sake, because I knew what he was communicating to me. I think he was more expressing a desire of wanting to do better, as we all do." Despite Thompson's defense, the Toronto Star's Dave Feschuk wrote that Carter "cheated on (the Raptors). He quit on the floor.", and Carter is still booed by Raptors fans each time he has returned to play in Toronto. On the eve of the Raptors and Nets' playoff series in 2007, Carter told New York's WFAN radio station, "One day, maybe the fans will understand how it all went down. That's all I can say." Both Carter and Kidd made their eighth All-Star game appearance.

In a 120–114 overtime win over the Washington Wizards, April 7, 2007, Carter and Jason Kidd became the first teammates in over 18 years to record triple-doubles in the same game since the Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen achieved this feat against the Los Angeles Clippers in 1989. Carter finished with 46 points, a career-high 16 rebounds, and 10 assists. Kidd finished with 10 points, tied a career-high with 16 rebounds, and tied a season-high with 18 assists. Carter's triple double is the second highest total for a triple double, second only to Alvan Adams of the Phoenix Suns who tallied 47 points and 18 rebounds and 12 assists over 30 years ago.

in 2009.]] After the Nets eliminated the Raptors, the Nets were eliminated from the playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers (lost series 4–2). In the offseason, rumors of the Nets trading Carter again arose. After the New York Knicks and Nets discussed a trade around February of Carter (which was ended with the trading deadline), the two teams again revisited the subject. Carter, who opted out of his contract on June 30, reportedly wanted a three-year, $60 million deal however, which the Knicks were wary of. On July 1, 2007 Carter signed a 4-year, $61.8 million contract with the Nets.

On January 24, 2008, the Nets played on the road against the Golden State Warriors. The game was broadcast on TNT, and at the half-time show, Magic Johnson claimed that Carter's game was on the decline due to chronic injuries to his knees. This was proven to be unfounded as Carter had hurt his ankle in an October game against the Boston Celtics which would hinder him throughout the 2007–2008 season. Hampered by injuries, Carter was not named as one of the reserves for the 2008 NBA All-Star Game. This marked the first time in his NBA career Carter was not named as an All-Star since his rookie season, when the game was canceled due to the NBA lockout. Despite playing with an ankle injury, Carter finished the season strong with averages of 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists after the All-Star break. He was one of only three NBA players, along with LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, to average at least 21 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists for the year, with averages of 21.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. He led the Nets in freethrow percentage, assists and steals per game (81.6%, 5.1, 1.2). Rod Thorn credited Carter for becoming a leader since the All-Star break, and said he believed that Carter could lead the Nets back to the playoffs the following year. Carter's injury was confirmed after undergoing a successful arthroscopic ankle surgery in the off-season.

For the 2008–09 season, Carter was voted team captain, a title that had been given to Jason Kidd for the previous 6 years.

Orlando Magic (2009–2010)

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On June 25, 2009, the day of the NBA Draft, Carter was traded to his hometown-team, the Orlando Magic with Ryan Anderson for Rafer Alston, Tony Battie and Courtney Lee; the Magic were searching for a go-to scorer who could take pressure off Dwight Howard. The Nets without Carter ended up going 12-70.

Carter made his season debut with the Magic on October 28, 2009 against the Philadelphia 76ers at home, recording 15 points and 2 assists to help the Magic defeat the Sixers. On February 8, 2010, Carter scored a season-high 48 points in a 123-117 win against the New Orleans Hornets, including 34 points in the second half to help rally the Magic back from a 17-point deficit.

Vince Carter helped lead the Magic to the 2010 NBA Playoffs, sweeping the Charlotte Bobcats and the Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds, before falling to the Boston Celtics in Eastern Conference Finals in 6 games. This marked the first time Carter made it to the Conference Finals.

Phoenix Suns (2010-present)

On December 18, 2010, Carter was traded to the Phoenix Suns along with Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus, a 2011 first-round draft pick, and $3 million, for Hedo Türkoğlu, Jason Richardson, and Earl Clark.

2000 Summer Olympics

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During the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Carter performed a memorable dunk when he jumped over 7-foot-2 (2.18 m) French center Frédéric Weis. Carter stole the ball, sprinted, took off—legs spread in midair, and hit Weis's head as he bent over to avoid the collision, before slamming the ball. Teammate Jason Kidd said it was "One of the best plays I've ever seen." The French media later dubbed it "le dunk de la mort" ("the Dunk of Death"). The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal that year.

Awards and achievements

8× NBA All-Star selection: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 (did not play in 2002 due to injury)

2× All-NBA:

*Second Team: 2001

*Third Team: 2000

NBA Slam Dunk Champion: 2000

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 1999

NBA Rookie of the Year Award: 1999

The Sporting News NBA Rookie of the Year: 1999

NBA playoff records

Co-holds NBA playoff record for most three-point field goals made in one game: 9 (May 11, 2001 vs. Philadelphia 76ers, Eastern Conference Semifinals)

Most three-point field goals made in one half: 8 (same game as above)

Most consecutive three-point field goals made in one game: 8 (same game as above)

Most consecutive three-point field goals made in one half: 8 (same game as above)

New Jersey Nets franchise records

Most three-point field goals made in one game: 9 (December 11, 2006 vs. Memphis Grizzlies)

Most points scored in one season: 2,070 (2006–07)

Most consecutive 20 or more point games: 23 (2005–06)

He is the first Net to score at least 2,000 points in a single season. (2006–07)

Career highs

Points: 51 (2 times)

Field goals made: 20 vs. Milwaukee 01/14/00

Field goals attempted: 36 at Philadelphia 01/21/01

Three point field goals made: 9 vs. Memphis 12/11/06

Three point field goals attempted: 20 vs. Memphis 12/11/06

Free throws made: 23 at Miami 12/23/05

Free throws attempted: 27 at Phoenix 12/30/00

Offensive rebounds: 8 vs. Chicago 11/05/05

Defensive rebounds: 13 (2 times)

Total rebounds: 16 vs. Washington 04/07/07

Assists: 14 at Milwaukee 01/09/09

Steals: 6 (3 times)

Blocks: 6 vs. Chicago 03/28/99

Minutes played: 63 vs. Sacramento 02/23/01 Appeared on the cover of NBA Inside Drive 2002.

Appeared in the 2002 film Like Mike, where the fictional Los Angeles Knights had to beat Carter and the Toronto Raptors in order to gain the 8th seed in the playoffs.

Appeared in Fabolous' 2002 music video for "This Is My Party", and Glenn Lewis' 2003 music video for "Back for More".

Personal life

Carter has donated to his high school, Mainland, as well as the foundation he established upon being drafted into the NBA in 1998, The Embassy of Hope. The foundation's slogan, "Believing in Your Dreams", is Carter's personal mantra for success. On February 3, 2007, a statue of Carter was unveiled at the Mainland.

Carter visited with the Duquesne University basketball team in Pittsburgh as a show of support after its shooting incident in September 2006.

He is a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

Carter married Ellen Rucker, a doctor of chiropractic medicine, in July 2004; the couple divorced in 2006. They have one daughter, Kai Michelle Carter. born on June 1, 2005.

In Spring 2010, a restaurant opened in Daytona Beach located on LPGA Boulevard named "Vince Carter's Restaurant".

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1998–99 | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 50 || 49 || 35.2 || .450 || .288 || .761 || 5.7 || 3.0 || 1.1 || 1.5 || 18.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1999–00 | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 82 || 82 || 38.1 || .465 || .403 || .791 || 5.8 || 3.9 || 1.3 || 1.1 || 25.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2000–01 | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 75 || 75 || 39.7 || .460 || .408 || .765 || 5.5 || 3.9 || 1.5 || 1.1 || 27.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2001–02 | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 60 || 60 || 39.8 || .428 || .387 || .798 || 5.2 || 4.0 || 1.6 || .7 || 24.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03 | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 43 || 42 || 34.2 || .467 || .344 || .806 || 4.4 || 3.3 || 1.1 || .9 || 20.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003–04 | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 73 || 73 || 38.2 || .417 || .383 || .806 || 4.8 || 4.8 || 1.2 || .9 || 22.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2004–05 | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 20 || 20 || 30.4 || .411 || .322 || .694 || 3.3 || 3.1 || 1.2 || .8 || 15.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2004–05 | style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey | 57 || 56 || 38.9 || .462 || .425 || .817 || 5.9 || 4.7 || 1.5 || .6 || 27.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005–06 | style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey | 79 || 79 || 36.8 || .430 || .341 || .799 || 5.8 || 4.3 || 1.2 || .7 || 24.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey | 82 || 82 || 38.1 || .454 || .357 || .802 || 6.0 || 4.8 || 1.0 || .4 || 25.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey | 76 || 72 || 38.9 || .456 || .359 || .816 || 6.0 || 5.1 || 1.2 || .4 || 21.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey | 80 || 80 || 36.8 || .437 || .385 || .817 || 5.1 || 4.7 || 1.0 || .5 || 20.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Orlando | 75 || 74 || 30.8 || .428 || .367 || .840 || 3.9 || 3.1 || .7 || .2 || 16.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 852 || 844 || 37.1 || .445 || .375 || .799 || 5.3 || 4.2 || 1.2 || .7 || 22.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| All-Star | style="text-align:left;"| | 7 || 5 || 20.7 || .477 || .375 || .600 || 2.6 || 1.9 || .9 || .1 || 10.1

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1999–00 | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 3 || 3 || 39.7 || .300 || .100 || .871 || 6.0 || 6.3 || 1.0 || 1.3 || 19.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2000–01 | style="text-align:left;"| Toronto | 12 || 12 || 44.9 || .436 || .410 || .784 || 6.5 || 4.7 || 1.7 || 1.7 || 27.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2004–05 | style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey | 4 || 4 || 44.8 || .365 || .316 || .861 || 8.5 || 5.8 || 2.2 || .0 || 26.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005–06 | style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey | 11 || 11 || 40.9 || .463 || .241 || .796 || 7.0 || 5.3 || 1.8 || .6 || 29.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;"| New Jersey | 12 || 12 || 40.6 || .396 || .389 || .693 || 6.8 || 5.3 || .9 || .6 || 22.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Orlando | 14 || 14 || 34.4 || .402 || .235 || .826 || 4.2 || 2.3 || .9 || .2 || 15.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 56 || 56 || 40.3 || .415 || .312 || .788 || 6.2 || 4.5 || 1.3 || .7 || 23.3

See also

List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career 3-point scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association players with 50 or more points in a playoff game

Notes

External links

Official Website

Profile at NBA.com

U.S. Olympic Team bio

Vince Carter Sanctuary

Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:American basketball players Category:American expatriate basketball people in Canada Category:Basketball players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players from Florida Category:Golden State Warriors draft picks Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Male basketball guards Category:NBA Slam Dunk Contest champions Category:New Jersey Nets players Category:North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Orlando Magic players Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:Phoenix Suns players Category:People from Bergen County, New Jersey Category:People from Volusia County, Florida Category:Shooting guards Category:Small forwards Category:Toronto Raptors players Category:United States men's national basketball team members

Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), nicknamed "Shaq" ( ), is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Boston Celtics. Standing tall and weighing , he is one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA. Throughout his 18-year career, O'Neal has used his size and strength to overpower opponents for points and rebounds. After the retirement of Lindsey Hunter on March 5, 2010, O'Neal became the oldest active player in the NBA.

Following a standout career at Louisiana State University, O'Neal was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. He quickly became one of the top centers in the league, winning Rookie of the year in 1992–93 and later leading his team to the 1995 NBA Finals. After four years with the Magic, O'Neal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. He won three consecutive championships, playing alongside Kobe Bryant, in 2000, 2001, and 2002. O'Neal's relationship with Bryant eventually declined into a feud, leading to O'Neal's trade to the Miami Heat in 2004. He won his fourth NBA championship in 2006, but was traded midway through the season a year and a half later to the Phoenix Suns. After a season-and-a-half with the Suns, O'Neal was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he played alongside LeBron James in the 2009–10 season.

O'Neal's individual accolades include the 1999–00 MVP award, the 1992–93 NBA Rookie of the Year award, 15 All-Star game selections, three All-Star Game MVP awards, three Finals MVP awards, two scoring titles, 14 All-NBA team selections, and three NBA All-Defensive Team selections. He is one of only three players to win NBA MVP, All-Star game MVP and Finals MVP awards in the same year (2000); the other players are Willis Reed in 1970 and Michael Jordan in 1996 and 1998. He ranks 5th all-time in points scored, 6th in field goals, 14th in rebounds, and 7th in blocks.

In addition to his basketball career, O'Neal has released four rap albums, with his first, Shaq Diesel, going platinum. He has also appeared in numerous films and has starred in his own reality shows, Shaq's Big Challenge and Shaq Vs.

Early life

O'Neal credits the Boys and Girls Club of America in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey, with giving him a safe place to play and keeping him off the streets. "It gave me something to do," he said. "I'd just go there to shoot. I didn't even play on a team." He led his Robert G. Cole High School team, from San Antonio, Texas, to a 68–1 record during his two years there and helped the team win the state title during his senior year. His 791 rebounds during the 1989 season remain a state record for a player in any classification.

College career

After graduating from high school, O'Neal attended Louisiana State University, where he studied business. He had first met Dale Brown, LSU's men's basketball coach at that time, years before in Europe. With O'Neal's stepfather stationed on a U.S. Army base at Wildflecken, West Germany, and his godfather a First Sergeant at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio,Texas, O'Neal attended Fulda American High School, a DODDS school.

While playing for Brown at LSU, O'Neal was a two-time All-American, two-time SEC player of the year, and received the Adolph Rupp Trophy as NCAA men's basketball player of the year in 1991.

O'Neal left LSU early to pursue his NBA career, but returned to school in 2000 and received a Bachelor of Arts in General Studies. He was later inducted into the LSU Hall of Fame.

NBA career

Orlando Magic (1992–1996)

The Orlando Magic drafted O'Neal with the 1st overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. During that summer, prior to moving to Orlando, he spent a significant amount of time in Los Angeles under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. During his rookie season, O'Neal averaged 23.4 points on 56.2% shooting, 13.9 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game for the season. He was named the 1993 NBA Rookie of the Year and became the first rookie to be voted an All-Star starter since Michael Jordan in 1985. The Magic finished 41–41, winning 20 more games than the previous season; however, the team ultimately missed the playoffs by virtue of a tie-breaker with the Indiana Pacers. On more than one occasion during the year, Sports Illustrated writer Jack McCallum overheard O'Neal saying, "We've got to get [head coach] Matty [Guokas] out of here and bring in [assistant] Brian [Hill]."

In O'Neal's second season, Hill was the coach and Guokas was reassigned to the front office. O'Neal improved his scoring average to 29.4 points (second in the league to David Robinson) while leading the NBA in field goal percentage at 60%. On November 20, 1993, against the New Jersey Nets, O'Neal registered the first triple-double of his career, recording 24 points to go along with career highs of 28 rebounds and 15 blocks. He was voted into the All-Star game and also made the All-NBA 3rd Team. Teamed with newly-drafted Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, the Magic finished with a record of 50–32 and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. In his first playoff series, O'Neal averaged 20.7 points and 13.3 rebounds in a losing effort as the Magic were swept in the first round by the Indiana Pacers.

In his third season, O'Neal led the NBA in scoring with an average of 29.3 points per game. He finished second in MVP voting to David Robinson and was voted into his third straight All-Star Game along with teammate Penny Hardaway. O'Neal and Hardaway formed one of the top duos in the league and helped Orlando to a 57–25 record and the Atlantic Division crown. The Magic won their first ever playoff series against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the 1995 NBA Playoffs. They then defeated the Chicago Bulls in the conference semi-finals, dealing Michael Jordan one of his few playoff losses of the decade. After beating Reggie Miller's Indiana Pacers, the Magic reached the NBA Finals, where they would face the defending NBA champion Houston Rockets. O'Neal played well in his first Finals appearance, averaging 28 points on 59.5% shooting, 12.5 rebounds, and 6.3 assists. Despite this, the Rockets, led by future Hall-of-Famers Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, swept the series in four games.

O'Neal was injured for a great deal of the 1995–96 season, missing 28 games. He averaged 26.6 points and 11 rebounds per game, made the All-NBA 3rd Team, and played in his 4th All-Star Game. Despite O'Neal's injuries, the Magic finished with a regular season record of 60–22, second in the Eastern conference to the Chicago Bulls, who finished with an NBA record 72 wins. Orlando easily defeated the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds of the 1996 NBA Playoffs; however, they were no match against the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls, who swept them in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Los Angeles Lakers (1996–2004)

O'Neal became a free agent after the 95–96 NBA season. In the summer of 1996, O'Neal was named to the United States Olympic basketball team, and was later part of the gold medal-winning team at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. While the Olympic basketball team was training in Orlando, the Orlando Sentinel published a poll that asked whether the Magic should fire Hill if that were one of O'Neal's conditions for returning. 82% answered "no". He said the team "just didn't respect [Hill]." Another question in the poll asked, "Is Shaq worth $115 million?" in reference to the amount of the Magic's offer. 91.3% of the response was "no". On the team's first full day at the Olympics in Atlanta, it was announced that O'Neal would join the Los Angeles Lakers on a seven-year, $121 million contract. He insisted he did not choose Los Angeles for the money. "I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money," O'Neal said after the signing. "I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok," he added, referring to a couple of his product endorsements. The Lakers won 56 games during the 1996–97 season. O'Neal averaged 26.2 points and 12.5 rebounds in his first season with Los Angeles; however, he again missed over 30 games due to injury. The Lakers made the playoffs, but were eliminated by the Utah Jazz in five games.

The following season, O'Neal averaged 28.3 points and 11.4 rebounds. He also led the league with a 58.4 field goal percentage, which would be the first of five consecutive seasons in which he did so. The Lakers finished the season 61–21, first in the Pacific Division, and were the second seed in the western conference during the 1998 NBA Playoffs. After defeating the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle SuperSonics in the first two rounds, the Lakers again fell to the Jazz, this time in a 4–0 sweep.

With the tandem of O'Neal and teenage superstar Kobe Bryant, expectations for the Lakers increased. However, personnel changes were a source of instability during the 1998–99 season. Long-time Laker point guard Nick Van Exel was traded to the Denver Nuggets; his former backcourt partner Eddie Jones was packaged with back-up center Elden Campbell for Glen Rice to satisfy a demand by O'Neal for a shooter. Coach Del Harris was fired, and former Lakers forward Kurt Rambis finished the season as head coach. The Lakers finished with a 31–19 record during the lockout-shortened season. Although they made the playoffs, they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs, led by Tim Duncan and David Robinson in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs. The Spurs would go on to win their first league title that year.

In 1999, the Lakers hired Phil Jackson as their new head coach, and the team's fortunes soon changed. Using Jackson's triangle offense, O'Neal and Bryant went on to enjoy tremendous success on the court, as they led the Los Angeles Lakers to three consecutive NBA titles (2000, 2001, and 2002). O'Neal was named MVP of the NBA Finals all three times and has the highest scoring average for a center in NBA Finals history.

O'Neal was also voted the 1999–2000 regular season Most Valuable Player, coming just one vote short of becoming the first unanimous MVP in NBA history. Fred Hickman, then of CNN, was the sole voter who did not cast his first-place vote for O'Neal, instead choosing Allen Iverson, then of the Philadelphia 76ers who would go on to win MVP the next season. O'Neal also won the scoring title that year while finishing second in rebounds and third in blocked shots. Jackson's influence resulted in a newfound commitment by O'Neal to defense, resulting in his first All-Defensive Team selection (second-team) in 2000.

In the 2001 NBA Finals against the 76ers, O'Neal fouled out in Game 3 backing over Dikembe Mutombo, the 2000-2001 Defensive Player of the Year. "I didn't think the best defensive player in the game would be flopping like that. It's a shame that the referees buy into that," O'Neal said. "I wish he'd stand up and play me like a man instead of flopping and crying every time I back him down.

In the summer of 2001, holding a basketball camp on the campus of Louisiana State University, O'Neal was challenged to a friendly wrestling match by LSU alumnus and current Boston Celtics player Glen "Big Baby" Davis, then 15 years of age and attending high school. O'Neal, weighing , was impressed by the youngster, who had lifted and body-slammed him to the ground. A month before the training camp, O'Neal had corrective surgery for a claw toe deformity in the smallest toe of his left foot. He was ready for the start of the regular season, but the toe frequently bothered him during the season. In January 2002 he was involved in a spectacular on-court brawl in a game against the Chicago Bulls. He punched center Brad Miller after an intentional foul to prevent a basket, resulting in a melee with Miller, forward Charles Oakley and several other players. O'Neal was suspended for three games without pay and given a $15,000 fine. For the season, O'Neal averaged 27.2 points and 10.7 rebounds, excellent statistics but below his career averages at the time; he was less of a defensive force during the season. After the season, O'Neal told friends that he did not want another season of limping and being in virtually constant pain from his big right toe. His trademark mobility and explosion had been often absent. The corrective options ranged from reconstructive surgery on the toe to rehabilitation exercises with more shoe inserts and anti-inflammatory medication. O'Neal was already wary of the long-term damage his frequent consumption of anti-inflammatory medications might have. He did not want to rush to make a decision with his career potentially at risk. He waited the whole summer until just before training camp for the surgery and explained, "I got hurt on company time, so I’ll heal on company time." The Lakers started the season with a record of 11-19. After the Lakers fell to the fifth seed and failed to reach the Finals in 2003, the team made a concerted off-season effort to improve its roster. They sought the free-agent services of forward Karl Malone and aging guard Gary Payton, but due to salary cap restrictions, could not offer either one nearly as much money as he could have made with some other teams. O'Neal assisted in the recruitment efforts and personally persuaded both men to join the squad. Ultimately, both signed, each forgoing larger salaries in favor of a chance to win an NBA championship, which neither had accomplished in his career (and which neither would achieve with the Lakers). At the beginning of the 2003–04 season, with two years left on his contract at the time, O'Neal informed the team of his desire for a substantially larger extension to his contract. It is widely believed that there was also concern about O'Neal's relationship with Kobe Bryant, as the two had exchanged public barbs during the off-season. With Bryant scheduled to become a free agent at the end of that season, many believed he would not choose to remain with the Lakers as O'Neal's sidekick.

After the Lakers' loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals, O'Neal was angered by comments made by Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak regarding O'Neal's future with the club, as well as by the departure of Lakers coach Phil Jackson at the request of Dr. Buss. O'Neal made comments indicating that he felt the team's decisions were centered on a desire to appease Bryant to the exclusion of all other concerns, and O'Neal promptly demanded a trade. Kupchak wanted the Dallas Mavericks's Dirk Nowitzki in return but Cuban refused to let go of Nowitzki and the Lakers ended trade talks with Dallas. However, Miami showed interest and gradually a trade agreement was made.

Miami Heat (2004–2008)

On July 14, 2004, O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat for Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and a future first-round draft choice. O'Neal reverted from (his Lakers jersey) number 34 to number 32, which he wore while playing for the Orlando Magic. Upon signing with the Heat, O'Neal promised the fans that he would bring a championship to Miami. He claimed that one of the main reasons for wanting to be traded to Miami was because of their up-and-coming star, Dwyane Wade. With O'Neal on board, the new-look Heat surpassed expectations, claiming the best record in the Eastern Conference. He averaged 22.9 ppg and 10.4 rpg, made his 12th consecutive All-Star Team, and made the All-NBA 1st Team. Despite being hobbled by a deep thigh bruise, O'Neal led the Heat to the Eastern Conference Finals and a Game 7 against the defending champion Detroit Pistons, losing by a narrow margin. Afterwards, O'Neal and others criticized Heat head coach Stan Van Gundy for not calling enough plays for O'Neal. O'Neal also narrowly lost the 2004–05 MVP Award to Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash in one of the closest votes in NBA history.

In August 2005, O'Neal signed a 5-year-extension with the Heat for $100 million. Supporters applauded O'Neal's willingness to take what amounted to a pay cut and the Heat's decision to secure O'Neal's services for the long term. They contended that O'Neal was worth more than $20 million per year, particularly given that considerably less valuable players earn almost the same amount.

In the second game of the 2005–06 season, O'Neal injured his right ankle and subsequently missed the following 18 games. Upon O'Neal's return, Van Gundy resigned, citing family reasons, and Pat Riley assumed head coach responsibilities. After one of those missed games, a Christmas Day match-up against the Lakers, he ripped Jackson, who O'Neal once called a second father, referring to his former coach as Benedict Arnold. Jackson had previously said, "The only person I've ever [coached] that hasn't been a worker ... is probably Shaq." The Heat struggled during O'Neal's absence but with his return won seven of their next eight games. Bad luck still haunted the squad, however, as Wade dislocated his left shoulder, leaving O'Neal as the focus of the team. Critics were doubting if O'Neal, now in his mid-thirties, was able to put the team on his shoulders and if he could carry them into the playoffs. The Heat went on a much needed winning streak to keep them in the race for a playoff spot, which they finally secured against the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 5.

In a rematch of the year before, the Heat faced the Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. The Heat struggled against the Bulls and although O'Neal put up reasonable numbers, he was not able to dominate the series. The Bulls outplayed the Heat, resulting in a sweep. It was for the first time in ten years that O'Neal did not advance into the second round. In the 2006–07 season O'Neal reached 25,000 career points, becoming the 14th player in NBA history to accomplish that milestone. Despite this milestone, the 2006–07 season was the first in his career in which O'Neal's scoring average dropped below 20 points per game.

O'Neal experienced a rough start for the 2007–08 season, averaging career lows in points, rebounds and blocks. His role in the Heat offense diminished, as he attempted only 10 field goals per game, in comparison with his career average of 17. In addition, O'Neal was plagued by fouls, and during one stretch fouled out five consecutive games. As a result of his poor performance and lengthy court absences, O'Neal's 14 straight All-Star appearances ended that season, as he was neither selected as a starter nor as a reserve in the game at New Orleans.

Phoenix Suns (2008–2009)

The Phoenix Suns acquired O'Neal from the Miami Heat, who were a league worst 9–37, in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. O'Neal made his Suns debut on February 20, 2008 against his former Lakers team, scoring 15 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in the process. The Lakers won, 130–124. O'Neal was upbeat in a post-game press conference, stating: "I will take the blame for this loss because I wasn't in tune with the guys [...] But give me four or five days to really get in tune and I'll get it."

However, in 28 regular-season games, O'Neal averaged 12.9 points and 10.6 rebounds in his first year with the Suns, reaching the playoffs. One of the alleged reasons for the trade was to limit Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs in case of a series during the postseason, especially after the Suns' six-game elimination in the 2007 NBA Playoffs. O'Neal and the Phoenix Suns did face the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs, yet they were once again eliminated, this time in five games. In the series, O'Neal averaged 15.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.

The 2008–09 season differed very much for O'Neal, averaging 18 pts, 9 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks through the first half (41 games) of the season, leading the Suns to a 23–18 record and 2nd place in their division. He returned to the All-Star Game in 2009 and emerged as co-MVP along with ex-teammate Kobe Bryant.

On February 27, 2009, O'Neal scored 45 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, his 49th career 40-point game in a win against the Toronto Raptors. He and the Suns defeated the Raptors 133–113.

In a matchup against Orlando on March 3, 2009, O'Neal was outscored by Magic center Dwight Howard, 21-19. "I'm really too old to be trying to outscore 18-year-olds," O'Neal said, referring to the then 23-year-old Howard. "It's not really my role anymore." O'Neal was double-teamed most of the night. "I like to play people one-on-one. My whole career I had to play people one-on-one. Never once had to double or ask for a double. But it's cool," said O'Neal. During the game, O'Neal flopped against Howard. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who coached O'Neal previously with the Heat, was "very disappointed cause [O'Neal] knows what it's like. Let's stand up and play like men, and I think our guy did that tonight." O'Neal responded, "Flopping is playing like that your whole career. I was trying to take the charge, trying to get a call. It probably was a flop, but flopping is the wrong use of words. Flopping would describe his coaching." Mark Madsen, a former Lakers teammate of O'Neal's for three years, found it amusing since "everyone in the league tries to flop on Shaq and Shaq never flops back." In a 2006 interview in Time, O'Neal said if he were NBA commissioner, he would "Make a guy have to beat a guy--not flop and get calls and be nice to the referees and kiss ass."

On March 6, O'Neal talked about the upcoming game against the Rockets and Yao Ming. “It’s not going to be man-on-man, so don’t even try that,” says O’Neal with an incredulous laugh. “They’re going to double and triple me like everybody else ... I rarely get to play [Yao] one-on-one ... But when I play him (on defense), it’s just going to be me down there. So don’t try to make it a Yao versus Shaq thing, when it’s Shaq versus four other guys."

The 2009 NBA Playoffs was also the first time since O'Neal's rookie season in 1992–93 that he did not participate in the playoffs.

He was named as a member of the All-NBA Third Team.

Cleveland Cavaliers (2009–2010)

On June 25, 2009, O'Neal was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Sasha Pavlovic, Ben Wallace, $500,000 and a 2010 second round draft pick. Upon arriving in Cleveland, O'Neal said, "My motto is very simple: Win a Ring for the King," referring to LeBron James.

On Friday, February 25, 2010 O'Neal suffered a severe right thumb injury while attempting to go up for a shot against Glen Davis of the Boston Celtics. He had surgery on the thumb on March 1 and returned to play on April 17 in the first round playoff game against the Chicago Bulls.

O'Neal averaged career lows in almost every major statistical category, taking on a much less significant role than in previous years. His presence in the post was not as significant as in years past. O'Neal returned to the starting line-up in time for the 2010 NBA Playoffs. The Cavaliers swiftly defeated the Chicago Bulls in the first round, yet Cleveland became the first team in NBA history to miss the NBA Finals after laying claim to the NBA's top playoff seed for two consecutive seasons. On May 13, the Cavaliers were eliminated from the playoffs, losing to the Boston Celtics 4–2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Boston Celtics (2010–present)

Upon hearing Bryant comment that he had more rings than O'Neal, Wyc Grousbeck, principal owner of the Celtics, wanted to acquire O'Neal. On August 4, 2010, the Boston Celtics announced that they had signed O'Neal. The contract was for two years at the veteran minimum salary for a total contract value of $2.8 million. The Atlanta Hawks and the Dallas Mavericks also expressed interest but had stalled on O'Neal's salary demands. He was introduced by the Celtics on August 10, 2010, and chose to wear the number 36.

O'Neal said he didn't "compete with little guys who run around dominating the ball, throwing up 30 shots a night -- like D-Wade, Kobe." O'Neal added that he is only competing against Duncan: "If Tim Duncan gets five rings, then that gives some writer the chance to say 'Duncan is the best,' and I can't have that." He insisted he did not care whether he starts or comes off the bench for the Celtics but expected to be part of the second unit. and U.S. shoe size 23, he is famous for his physical stature. His physical frame gives him a power advantage over most opponents.

O'Neal's "drop step", (called the "Black Tornado" by O'Neal) in which he posts up a defender, turns around and, using his elbows for leverage, powers past him for a very high-percentage slam dunk, has proven an extremely effective offensive weapon, though it has been limited in recent years. In addition, O'Neal frequently uses a right-handed jump hook shot to score near the basket. The ability to dunk frequently contributes to his career field goal accuracy of .581, the second highest field goal percentage of all time.

Opposing teams often use up many fouls on O'Neal, limiting the playing time of their own big men. O'Neal's imposing physical presence inside the paint has caused dramatic changes in many teams' offensive and defensive strategies that can be seen over the course of his career.

O'Neal's primary weakness is his free-throw shooting. His career average is 52.7%. He once missed all 11 free throws in a game against the Seattle SuperSonics on December 8, 2000, a record. In hope of exploiting O'Neal's poor foul shooting, opponents often commit intentional fouls against him, a tactic known as "Hack-a-Shaq". O'Neal is the fourth-ranked player all-time in free throws taken, having attempted 11,121 free-throws in 1,170 games through the 09–10 season. On December 25, 2008, O'Neal missed his 5,000th free throw, becoming the second player in NBA history to do so along with Wilt Chamberlain.

On his own half of the hardwood, O'Neal is considered to be a capable defender, and he was named three times to the All-NBA Second Defensive Team. His presence serves to intimidate opposing players shooting near the basket, and he has averaged 2.3 blocked shots per game over the course of his career.

Media personality

O'Neal is generally liked by the media for his playful tone in interviews. He has been called "The Big Aristotle and Hobo Master", a name that was self-given, for his composure and insights during these interviews. O'Neal has several nicknames, many of which have been given by the media. Some of these nicknames are "Shaq", "The Diesel", "Shaq Fu", "The Big Aristotle", "The Big Daddy", "Superman", "The Big Agave", "The Big Cactus", "The Big Shaqtus", "The Big Galactus", "Wilt Chamberneezy", "The Big Baryshnikov", "The Real Deal", "Dr. Shaq" (after earning his MBA), "The Big Shamrock", "The Big Leprechaun", "Shaqovic." and more recently "The Big Conductor".

During the 2000 Screen Actors Guild strike, O'Neal performed in a commercial for Disney. O'Neal was fined by the union for crossing the picket line.

O'Neal's humorous and sometimes incendiary comments fueled the Los Angeles Lakers' long standing rivalry with the Sacramento Kings; O'Neal frequently referred to the Sacramento team as the "Queens." During the 2002 victory parade, O'Neal declared that Sacramento will never be the capital of California, after the Lakers beat the Kings in a tough seven game series enroute to completing a three-peat of championship titles.

He also received media flak for mocking Chinese people when interviewed about newcomer center Yao Ming. O'Neal told a reporter, "you tell Yao Ming, ching chong yang, wah, ah so." O'Neal later said it was locker-room humor and he meant no offense. Yao believed that O'Neal was joking, but he said a lot of Asians wouldn't see the humor. Yao joked, "Chinese is hard to learn. I had trouble with it when I was little."

During the 2005 NBA playoffs, O'Neal lamented of his poor play due to injury as being comparable to Erick Dampier, a Dallas Mavericks center who had failed to score a single point in one of their recent games. The quip inspired countless citations and references by announcers during those playoffs, though Dampier himself offered little response to the insult. The two would meet in the 2006 NBA Finals.

O'Neal is very vocal with the media, and often jabs at former Laker teammate Kobe Bryant. In the summer of 2005, when asked about Kobe, he responded, "I'm sorry, who?" and continued to pretend that he did not know who Kobe was until well into the 2005–2006 season.

O'Neal has also appeared in many other shows such as Saturday Night Live and in 2007 hosted Shaq's Big Challenge, a reality show on ABC where he challenged Florida kids to lose weight and stay in shape.

When the Lakers faced the Miami Heat on January 16, 2006, O'Neal and Kobe Bryant made headlines by engaging in handshakes and hugs before the game, an event that was believed to signify the end of the so-called "Shaq–Kobe feud" that had festered since the center left Los Angeles. O'Neal was quoted as saying that he accepted the advice of NBA legend Bill Russell to make peace with Bryant. However, on June 22, 2008, O'Neal freestyled a diss rap about Bryant in a New York club. While rapping, O'Neal blamed Kobe for his divorce from his wife Shaunie and claims to have received a vasectomy, as part of a rhyme. He also taunted Bryant for not being able to win a championship without him. O'Neal led the audience to mockingly chant several times "Kobe, tell me how my ass tastes." O'Neal justified his act by saying "I was freestyling. That's all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever. That is what MCs do. They freestyle when called upon. I'm totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all." Although even other exponents of hip hop, such as Snoop Dogg, Nas and Cory Gunz, agreed with O'Neal, Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio expressed his intention to relieve O'Neal of his Maricopa County sheriff posse badge, due to "use of a racially derogatory word and other foul language". The quote from his song was "it's like a white boy trying to be more nigga than me."

Off court

Education

O'Neal left LSU for the NBA after three years. However, he promised his mother he would eventually return to his studies and complete his bachelor's degree. He fulfilled that promise in 2000, earning his bachelor of arts in general studies. Coach Phil Jackson let O'Neal miss a home game so he could attend graduation. At the ceremony, he told the crowd "now I can go and get a real job". Subsequently, O'Neal earned an MBA online through the University of Phoenix in 2005. In reference to his completion of his MBA degree, he stated: }}

He is currently undertaking a PhD in Leadership and Education with a specialization in Human Resource Development at Barry University. His dissertation topic is "The Duality of Humor and Aggression in Leadership Styles".

Law enforcement

O'Neal has maintained a high level of interest in the workings of the police department and has become personally involved in law enforcement. O'Neal went through the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Reserve Academy and became a reserve officer with the L.A. Port Police. He is seen in a commercial for ESPN in Miami Police garb climbing up a tree to rescue LSU's costumed mascot Mike the Tiger.

On March 2, 2005, O'Neal was given an honorary U.S. Deputy Marshal title and named the spokesman for the Safe Surfin' Foundation; he served an honorary role on the task force of the same name, which tracks down sexual predators who target children on the Internet.

Upon his trade to Miami, O'Neal began training to become a Miami Beach reserve officer. On December 8, 2005, he was sworn in as a reserve officer, electing for a private ceremony so not to distract from the special moment of the other officers. He assumed a $1 per year salary in this capacity. Shortly thereafter, in Miami, O'Neal was a witness to a hate crime (assaulting a man while calling out homophobic slurs) and called Miami-Dade police, giving them a description of the suspect and helping police, over his cell phone, track the offender.

Music career

Name	Shaquille O'Neal
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal
Born	March 06, 1972
Origin	Newark, New Jersey
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	1993–present
Label	Jive, Interscope, A&M;, Trauma
Associated acts	Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz, DJ Kayslay

From 1993 onward, O'Neal has pursued a rapping career. He has released five studio albums and 1 compilation album. Although his rapping abilities were often criticized earlier in his career, it has been noted that he has continuously been "progressing as a rapper in small steps, not leaps and bounds" and has also been praised for his skills. His 1993 debut album, Shaq Diesel, received platinum certification from the RIAA. O'Neal was featured alongside Michael Jackson as a guest rapper on "2 Bad," a song from Jackson's 1995 album .

Acting

Starting with Blue Chips and Kazaam, O'Neal has appeared in a number of movies that have been largely panned by critics along with his acting.

O'Neal has appeared as himself on an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, bedridden after Larry David's character accidentally tripped him while stretching, and in two episodes each of My Wife and Kids and The Parkers. O'Neal appeared in the 311 music video for the hit single "You Wouldn't Believe" in 2001, in P. Diddy's video for "Bad Boys 4 Life", the video for Aaron Carter's "That's How I Beat Shaq, and the video for Owl City's Vanilla Twilight. O'Neal appeared in the movie CB4 in a small "interviewing" scene. O'Neal played John Henry Irons/Steel in a movie based on the popular superhero Steel. O'Neal appeared in a SportsCenter commercial dressed in his Miami police uniform, rescuing Mike the Tiger from a tree. O'Neal was also a support character in the movie Blue Chips with Nick Nolte. O'Neal also reportedly wanted a role in the film X2 (the second in the X-Men film series), but was ignored by the filmmakers.

He has voiced animated versions of himself on several occasions, including on the animated series "Static Shaq" episode of Static Shock; in the Johnny Bravo episode "Back on Shaq", in which O'Neal discovers that Johnny Bravo is a good luck charm and uses him to help his team win games until it came to a face-off against Seth Green and his good-luck charm Huckleberry Hound; and in the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, in which he is seen fighting Godzilla and survives a collision with the Batmobile. Because he is a fan of The Man of Steel, Static Shock creators had hoped to have O'Neal and Superman meet in a Season 3 episode, but O'Neal was not located in time to do the episode.

Video games

O'Neal is featured on the covers of video games NBA Live 96, NBA 2K6, NBA 2K7, , NBA Hoopz, and NBA Inside Drive 2004. O'Neal appeared in the arcade version of NBA Jam, NBA Jam (2003) and NBA Live 2004 as a current player and as a 90's All-Star. O'Neal starred in Shaq Fu, a fighting game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Genesis. O'Neal has also appeared in Backyard Basketball 2004, as a playable boxer, and as an unlockable character in . Shaq is also unlockable in UFC 2010 Undisputed.

Reality television

O'Neal and his mother Lucille Harrison were featured in the documentary film Apple Pie, which aired on ESPN. O'Neal had a 2005 reality series on ESPN, Shaquille, and hosted a television Television called Shaq's Big Challenge on ABC appearing with Tyler Florence and long time trainer and personal physician Carlon Colker among others.

O'Neal appeared on NBA Ballers and , in the 2002 Discovery Channel special Motorcycle Mania 2 requesting an exceptionally large bike to fit his large size from famed custom motorcycle builder Jesse James, in the first Idol Gives Back in 2007, on an episode of Fear Factor, and on an episode of MTV's Jackass, where he was lifted off the ground on Wee Man's back. O'Neal is a fan of wrestling and has made appearances at many WWE events.

O'Neal was pranked on the MTV show Punk'd when a crew member accused him of stealing his parking space. After O'Neal and his wife went into the restaurant, Ashton Kutcher's crew members let the air out of O'Neal's car tires. O'Neal and the crew member then got into an altercation and after Kutcher told O'Neal he was Punk'd, O'Neal flipped the bird at the camera.

O'Neal is starring in a reality show called Shaq Vs. which premiered on August 18, 2009, on ABC. The show features O'Neal competing against other athletes at their own sports. On the July 27 episode of WWE Raw, O'Neal was the special guest host and put himself as the special ringside enforcer in a match involving Cryme Tyme and the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and The Big Show. After the match O'Neal and Big Show had a confrontation which lead to O'Neal shoulder blocking The Big Show. He even became a nominee for the Raw Guest Host of the Year during the 2009 Slammy Awards; the award was won by Bob Barker.

The Washington Post has pointed out similarities to Shaq Vs. and Todd Gallagher's book "Andy Roddick Beat Me With a Frying Pan" saying the book and the show have "precisely the same premise" and that a TV show based on the book Gallagher was trying to sell was "the exact same show." TMZ later reported that Gallagher received a half-million dollar settlement. Gallagher's name appears in the credits of season 2 as a producer.

Other projects

O'Neal is looking to expand his business ventures with real-estate-development projects aimed at assisting Orlando homeowners facing foreclosure. His plans involve buying the mortgages of those who have fallen into foreclosure and then selling the homes back to them under more affordable terms. He would make a small profit in return, but overall, O'Neal is looking to make an investment in Orlando and help out the homeowners of the city.

Mixed martial arts

O'Neal has been training in mixed martial arts (MMA) since 2000. At Jonathan Burke's Gracie Gym, he has trained in boxing, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai and wrestling. At the gym, he goes by the nickname Diesel.

O'Neal challenged kickboxer and mixed martial artist Choi Hong-man to a mixed martial arts rules bout in a YouTube video posted on June 17, 2009. Hong-man replied to an email asking him if he would like to fight O'Neal saying "Yes, if there is a chance." Hong-man also responded to a question asking if O'Neal had a chance of winning with a simple "No." On August 28, 2010 at UFC 118 in Boston, O'Neal reiterated his desire to fight Choi in an interview with Ariel Helwani.

Personal life

O'Neal was born in Newark, New Jersey. He remains estranged from his biological father, Joseph Toney of Newark. Toney, who was once an All-State guard in high school who was offered a basketball scholarship to play at Seton Hall, struggled with drug addiction and was, by 1973, imprisoned for drug possession when O'Neal was an infant. Upon his release, Toney did not resume a place in O'Neal's life and instead, agreed to relinquish his parental visitation rights to O'Neal's stepfather, Phillip A. Harrison, a career Army Reserve sergeant. Ironically, Harrison had faced Toney as a player on his high school varsity basketball team. O'Neal and Toney have never spoken, and O'Neal has expressed no interest in establishing a relationship. On his 1994 rap album, Shaq Fu: The Return, O'Neal voiced his feelings of disdain for Toney in the song "Biological Didn't Bother", referring to Harrison with the verse, "Phil is my father."

In his mansion in Orlando, Florida, O'Neal has a homemade movie theater with two rows of five retractable chairs, Superman lights, another Superman symbol on the floor, a big screen, another Superman symbol on his blanket, and 5.1 surround sound. O'Neal also has an indoor basketball court.

O'Neal is a Muslim; the Los Angeles Times quoted him as saying, "It's a Muslim thing", with regard to the greetings he exchanged with opposing player Hedo Türkoğlu before the Western Conference Finals series in 2002.

O'Neal married Shaunie Nelson on December 26, 2002. The couple have four children (Shareef, Amirah, Shaqir, and Me'arah), and Nelson has one child from a previous relationship (Myles). O'Neal also has a daughter from a previous relationship (Taahirah), making him the biological father of five, and the former stepfather of one.

On September 4, 2007, O'Neal filed for divorce from his wife Shaunie in a Miami-Dade Circuit court. Shaunie later said that the couple had gotten back together and that the divorce was withdrawn. However, on November 10, 2009, Shaunie filed an intent to divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.

O'Neal is a 2009 inductee of the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

NBA career statistics

A list of O'Neal's career statistics:

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1992–93 | style="text-align:left;"| Orlando | 81 || 81 || 37.9 || .562 || .000 || .592 || 13.9 || 1.9 || .7 || 3.5 || 23.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1993–94 | style="text-align:left;"| Orlando | 81 || 81 || 39.8 || .599 || .000 || .554 || 13.2 || 2.4 || .9 || 2.8 || 29.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1994–95 | style="text-align:left;"| Orlando | 79 || 79 || 37.0 || .583 || .000 || .533 || 11.4 || 2.7 || .9 || 2.4 || 29.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1995–96 | style="text-align:left;"| Orlando | 54 || 52 || 36.0 || .573 || .500 || .487 || 11.0 || 2.9 || .6 || 2.1 || 26.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1996–97 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 51 || 51 || 38.1 || .557 || .000 || .484 || 12.5 || 3.1 || .9 || 2.9 || 26.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1997–98 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 60 || 57 || 36.3 || .584 || .000 || .527 || 11.4 || 2.4 || .6 || 2.4 || 28.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1998–99 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 49 || 49 || 34.8 || .576 || .000 || .540 || 10.7 || 2.3 || .7 || 1.7 || 26.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1999–00 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 79 || 79 || 40.0 || .574 || .000 || .524 || 13.6 || 3.8 || .5 || 3.0 || 29.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2000–01 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 74 || 74 || 39.5 || .572 || .000 || .513 || 12.7 || 3.7 || .6 || 2.8 || 28.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2001–02 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 67 || 66 || 36.1 || .579 || .000 || .555 || 10.7 || 3.0 || .6 || 2.0 || 27.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 67 || 66 || 37.8 || .574 || .000 || .622 || 11.1 || 3.1 || .6 || 2.4 || 27.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003–04 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 67 || 67 || 36.8 || .584 || .000 || .490 || 11.5 || 2.9 || .5 || 2.5 || 21.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2004–05 | style="text-align:left;"| Miami | 73 || 73 || 34.1 || .601 || .000 || .461 || 10.4 || 2.7 || .5 || 2.3 || 22.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005–06 | style="text-align:left;"| Miami | 59 || 58 || 30.6 || .600 || .000 || .469 || 9.2 || 1.9 || .4 || 1.8 || 20.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;"| Miami | 40 || 39 || 28.4 || .591 || .000 || .422 || 7.4 || 2.0 || .2 || 1.4 || 17.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;"| Miami | 33 || 33 || 28.6 || .581 || .000 || .494 || 7.8 || 1.4 || .6 || 1.6 || 14.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 28 || 28 || 28.7 || .611 || .000 || .513 || 10.6 || 1.7 || .5 || 1.2 || 12.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 75 || 75 || 30.0 || .609 || .000 || .595 || 8.4 || 1.7 || .6 || 1.4 || 17.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 53 || 53 || 23.4 || .566 || .000 || .496 || 6.7 || 1.5 || .3 || 1.2 || 12.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 1,170 || 1,161 || 35.2 || .581 || .045 || .527 || 11.0 || 2.6 || .6 || 2.3 || 24.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| All-Star | style="text-align:left;"| | 12 || 9 || 22.8 || .551 || .000 || .452 || 8.1 || 1.4 || 1.1 || 1.6 || 16.8

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 1993–94 | style="text-align:left;"| Orlando | 3 || 3 || 42.0 || .511 || .000 || .471 || 13.3 || 2.3 || .7 || 3.0 || 20.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1994–95 | style="text-align:left;"| Orlando | 21 || 21 || 38.3 || .577 || .000 || .571 || 11.9 || 3.3 || .9 || 1.9 || 25.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1995–96 | style="text-align:left;"| Orlando | 12 || 12 || 38.3 || .606 || .000 || .393 || 10.0 || 4.6 || .8 || 1.2 || 25.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1996–97 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 9 || 9 || 36.2 || .514 || .000 || .610 || 10.6 || 3.2 || .6 || 1.9 || 26.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1997–98 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 13 || 13 || 38.5 || .612 || .000 || .503 || 10.2 || 2.9 || .5 || 2.6 || 30.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1998–99 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 8 || 8 || 39.4 || .510 || .000 || .466 || 11.6 || 2.3 || .9 || 2.9 || 26.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1999–00 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 23 || 23 || 43.5 || .566 || .000 || .456 || 15.4 || 3.1 || .6 || 2.4 || 30.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2000–01 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 16 || 16 || 42.3 || .555 || .000 || .525 || 15.4 || 3.2 || .4 || 2.4 || 30.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2001–02 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 19 || 19 || 40.8 || .529 || .000 || .649 || 12.6 || 2.8 || .5 || 2.5 || 28.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2002–03 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 12 || 12 || 40.1 || .535 || .000 || .621 || 14.8 || 3.7 || .6 || 2.8 || 27.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003–04 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 22 || 22 || 41.7 || .593 || .000 || .429 || 13.2 || 2.5 || .3 || 2.8 || 21.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2004–05 | style="text-align:left;"| Miami | 13 || 13 || 33.2 || .558 || .000 || .472 || 7.8 || 1.9 || .4 || 1.5 || 19.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005–06 | style="text-align:left;"| Miami | 23 || 23 || 33.0 || .612 || .000 || .374 || 9.8 || 1.7 || .5 || 1.5 || 18.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006–07 | style="text-align:left;"| Miami | 4 || 4 || 30.3 || .559 || .000 || .333 || 8.5 || 1.3 || .2 || 1.5 || 18.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007–08 | style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix | 5 || 5 || 30.0 || .440 || .000 || .500 || 9.2 || 1.0 || 1.0 || 2.6 || 15.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Cleveland | 11 || 11 || 22.1 || .516 || .000 || .660 || 5.5 || 1.4 || 0.2 || 1.2 || 11.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 214 || 214 || 37.8 || .563 || .000 || .505 || 11.7 || 2.7 || .5 || 2.1 || 24.5

Discography

Shaq Diesel (1993)

(1994)

You Can't Stop the Reign (1996)

Respect (1998)

Shaquille O'Neal Presents His Superfriends, Vol. 1 (Unreleased)

Filmography

Blue Chips (1994)

Kazaam (1996)

Good Burger (1997)

Steel (1997) (nominated for Razzie Award for Worst Actor)

He Got Game (1998)

A Great Day in Hip Hop (1998)

The Wash (2001)

Freddy Got Fingered (2001)

After the Sunset (2004)

Scary Movie 4 (2006)

The House Bunny (2008)

See also

List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career free throw scoring leaders

List of National Basketball Association career rebounding leaders

List of National Basketball Association career blocks leaders

List of National Basketball Association career turnovers leaders

List of individual National Basketball Association scoring leaders by season

List of National Basketball Association players with 60 or more points in a game

List of National Basketball Association players with 10 or more blocks in a game

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career blocks leaders

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season blocks leaders

List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season rebounding leaders

List of oldest active NBA players

References

Further reading

A Good Reason to Look Up (1998)

Shaq and the Beanstalk and Other Very Tall Tales (1999) Hardcover

External links

Profile at NBA.com

Hoopedia bio

Basketball-Reference Career statistics

ESPN Profile

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:A&M; Records artists Category:African American film actors Category:African American basketball players Category:African American rappers Category:African American Muslims Category:African American television personalities Category:American municipal police officers Category:Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:Basketball players from New Jersey Category:Basketball players from Texas Category:Boston Celtics players Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Cleveland Cavaliers players Category:Interscope Records artists Category:Los Angeles Lakers players Category:LSU Tigers basketball players Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Miami Heat players Category:Military brats Category:NBA Finals MVP Award winners Category:Olympic basketball players of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Orlando Magic draft picks Category:Orlando Magic players Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:People from Newark, New Jersey Category:People from San Antonio, Texas Category:Phoenix Suns players Category:United States men's national basketball team members Category:University of Phoenix alumni

Caption	Rondo with the Celtics in Game 3 of the 2008 NBA Playoffs against the Hawks
Name	Rajon Rondo
Position	Point guard
Height ft	6
Height in	1
Weight lb	171
Team	Boston Celtics
Number	9
Nationality	American
Birth date	February 22, 1986
Birth place	Louisville, Kentucky
College	Kentucky
High school	Eastern HS (Middletown, Kentucky),Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia)
Draft round	1
Draft pick	21
Draft year	2006
Draft team	Phoenix Suns
Career start	2006
Highlights

Rajon Pierre Rondo (born February 22, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who plays point guard for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Rondo attended Eastern High School and Oak Hill Academy for his high-school basketball career, before receiving a scholarship from the University of Kentucky. He played for two years at Kentucky before declaring for the 2006 NBA Draft, represented by agent Bill Duffy.

During the draft, Rondo was selected 21st overall by the Phoenix Suns, and was subsequently traded to the Boston Celtics, where he made his NBA debut as a rookie during the 2006–07 season. He played a supporting role before he established himself as the starting point guard for the Celtics during the 2007–08 season. That season, Rondo earned his first NBA Championship, playing alongside All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. His breakout performance came during the 2009 NBA Playoffs, where he nearly averaged a triple-double, and helped his team take the eventual Eastern-conference champion Orlando Magic a full seven games in the East semi-finals.

Early life

Rondo was born on February 22, 1986 in Louisville, Kentucky to Amber Rondo. He has three siblings: Dymon, William and Anton. He had little contact with his father, who left his family when he was seven years old. In his senior year at Oak Hill Academy, Rondo broke Jeff McInnis's single-season school record of 303 assists, while averaging a double-double. There, he included two efforts of 27 assists and a single-game school record of 31, merely four away from the all-time national record. Rondo was named to the McDonald's All-American Team in 2004 and scored a total of 14 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds in the all-star game. He also participated in the 2004 Jordan Capital Classic game, logging 12 points, 5 assists and 4 steals. He ended his career as Oak Hill Academy's all-time assists leader in a single season with 494 assists, surpassing Jeff McInnis.

College career

Rondo committed to University of Kentucky over hometown University of Louisville. Rondo, along with All-Americans Joe Crawford and Randolph Morris, gave Kentucky the top-rated recruiting class for 2004 according to Rivals.com. Rondo led Kentucky to several wins including clutch-shot victories against the University of Louisville, South Carolina and Central Florida, but Kentucky failed to advance to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in either Rondo's freshman or sophomore seasons. He was named to the SEC All-Freshmen Team. He set a Kentucky Wildcats record for most steals in single-season, with a total of 87 steals in his freshman year and made at least one steal in every game. He finished his freshman year at Kentucky averaging 8.1 points, 2.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.6 steals.

In his sophomore year he had a career high 12 assists against Ole Miss, despite playing just 23 minutes, and 25 points against Louisville. Rondo also set another Kentucky Wildcats record for most rebounds in a game by a guard, with 19 rebounds in an early season loss to Iowa. He was not known for being a shooter, however, going 18-66 from three with a 57.1% FT average. He averaged 11.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game in his sophomore year. He averaged 11.0 ppg and 4.5 apg in the eight-game tournament, garnering much attention from NBA scouts. The USA U-21 team won a gold medal at the Global Games held in Texas in late July.

NBA career

2006 NBA Draft

Following the 2005–06 NCAA season, Rondo announced he would forgo his final two seasons at Kentucky and enter the NBA draft. Rondo was drafted 21st overall by the Phoenix Suns in the 2006 NBA Draft. Phoenix then traded him to the Boston Celtics along with Brian Grant for the Cleveland Cavaliers' first-round draft pick in the 2007 NBA Draft and cash considerations. He was the first point guard to be chosen in the draft. In another draft-day deal, the Celtics acquired Sebastian Telfair from the Portland Trail Blazers, finally uniting the backcourt Pitino had envisioned at Louisville. He was signed by the Boston Celtics on July 4, 2006.

Rookie season

During his rookie season in the NBA, Rondo played a supporting role and would split time with Sebastian Telfair and Delonte West. Rondo only started in 25 games that season due to his initial backup role to Telfair. He made his NBA regular season debut on November 1, 2006, in a home loss against the New Orleans Hornets. In his rookie season, he lacked on his jump shot which resulted in him slashing to the basket for a teardrop or layup. While coming off the bench, he managed to score a career-high 23 points against the Toronto Raptors, In his first career start, he matched his career-high against the Los Angeles Clippers, though the line-ups were constantly being shuffled between Telfair and Rondo at the point guard. and a career-high seven steals against the Indiana Pacers). which earned him an All-Rookie Second Team selection. He finished the season with an average of 6.4 ppg and 3.8 apg, ranking in the top ten in the NBA in steals (128) and also ranking in the top ten among rookies in several other categories, including first in steals, second in assists and sixth in minutes. In his 77 games played, he averaged 10.6 points per game (ppg), 5.1 assists per game (apg) and 4.2 rebounds per game (rpg). He made his successful return from injury and to the starting lineup in a road win against the New York Knicks. A week later, he matched his career-high against the Miami Heat, and then scored a career-high 24 points in a home game against the Los Angeles Clippers the following month. During the All-Star break, he was selected to play on the Sophomore Team in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam. Following the All-Star weekend, Rondo recorded a career-high 16 assists in a home victory against the Charlotte Bobcats. Despite his solid rookie year, there was much speculation about Boston needing a veteran point guard. In March, they signed veteran point guard Sam Cassell as a free agent to serve as a backup. Rondo made his playoff debut on April 20, 2008 against the Atlanta Hawks and finished the game with 15 points, 9 assists and 2 steals. The Celtics closed out the series in seven games, went on to defeat Cleveland in the next round, and then defeated the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. In the NBA Finals, facing the Los Angeles Lakers, Rondo recorded two strong performances, including a career-high 16 assists in Game 2. In Game 3, however, Rondo left the court in the third quarter after rolling his ankle. The ankle injury was considered a "non-factor", and Rondo eventually made his return in Game 4. In Game 6, the point guard posted a playoffs career-high 6 steals as the Celtics defeated the Lakers 4–2, giving Rondo his first NBA championship ring. After the game Lakers head coach Phil Jackson called Rondo the "star" of Game 6. Rondo's numbers increased from his previous season performance; however, he was criticized for his shooting. He recorded his first career triple-double along with a career-high in assists (16 points, 13 rebounds and 17 assists), against the Indiana Pacers. In a home win against the New York Knicks, Rondo led the team to tie a franchise record with eighteen straight wins. However, after the winning streak was snapped the team struggled, losing seven out of nine games after ending the streak. Rondo—matched up with one of the league's quicker guards, Tony Parker—recorded 16 assists in a losing effort against the Spurs, one short of his season-high. Less than a week later against the Mavericks, he recorded his second career triple-double (19 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists), and then recorded a career-high 32 points against the Phoenix Suns on his 23rd birthday. He became the first NBA athlete to sign an endorsement contract with Red Bull on April 17, 2009. He finished the season ranking fifth in the NBA in assists (8.2) and steals (1.9). The team finished the season as the second seed in the Eastern Conference, although they entered the playoffs without their injured All-Star power forward Kevin Garnett.

In the playoffs match-up against the Chicago Bulls, despite putting up a playoff career-high 29 points in Game 1, the Celtics lost in overtime. Boston won the next two games and in Games 2 and 4, Rondo recorded triple-doubles and became the first Celtic player with two triple-doubles in the same series since Larry Bird in 1986. He also became the first player with multiple triple-doubles in the same playoff series since Jason Kidd had three triple-doubles in the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals. In Game 6, he recorded a career-high 19 assists without a turnover, tying an NBA playoffs record. In the next round against the Orlando Magic, the Celtics lost the first game before Rondo's triple-double performance in Game 2 helped secure a home win. His third triple-double of the postseason tied Larry Bird's franchise record and also became the first to do that since Jason Kidd had four. However, the Celtics were defeated in seven games in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. During the postseason, Rondo nearly averaged a triple double with 16.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.8 assists.

2009–10 season

During the 2009–10 season, Rondo averaged career highs in points (13.7), assists (9.8) and steals (2.3) and became the first Celtic to lead the league in steals. On November 2, 2009, Rondo signed a five-year extension with the Celtics worth a guaranteed $55 million. In a road victory against the Orlando Magic on Christmas day, Rondo recorded 17 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists, two assists shy of a triple double. Three days later, Rondo scored 30 points along to go with 15 assists in a road loss to the Golden State Warriors. On January 10, 2010, Rondo recorded his third regular-season career triple-double, with 22 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds against the Toronto Raptors. On January 28, 2010, he received his first NBA All-Star selection as a reserve on the Eastern Conference squad for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game. He also competed in the 2010 H-O-R-S-E contest but lost In the finals to Kevin Durant. Rondo recorded his fourth regular-season career triple-double against the Denver Nuggets on March 24, 2010, with 11 points, 15 assists and 11 rebounds. Two days later against the Sacramento Kings, Rondo entered the game tied with Rick Fox for a franchise record of most steals in a single-season (167), eventually establishing the record with a second-quarter steal from Sean May. In a game against the Houston Rockets on April 2, 2010, he broke Bob Cousy's franchise record for most assists in a single-season.

In the 2010 NBA Playoffs, the Celtics defeated the Miami Heat in five games and faced the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. In Game 2, Rondo dished out 19 assists tying his career-high and also tying a franchise record for most assists in a playoff game. In Game 4, he recorded his fourth postseason triple-double along with a playoff career-high 29 points and 18 rebounds. He joined Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson as the only other player in NBA history to have 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists in a playoff game. The Celtics eventually defeated the Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games. In the Finals, the Celtics once again faced the Los Angeles Lakers, a team they previously beat in 2008. In Game 2, Rondo recorded his second triple-double of the postseason (19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists), however, despite Rondo's performance, the Celtics succumbed to the Lakers in seven games.

2010–11 season

In the first game of the 2010–11 season, Rondo put up 17 assists, which tied with Oscar Robertson for the third-most assists in a season opener. In the third game of the season, he dished out a career-high 24 assists along with a triple-double (10 points and 10 rebounds) against the New York Knicks. It tied him with Isiah Thomas as the only players in NBA history to have at least 24 assists in a triple-double. His total of 50 assists through the first three games of the season tied John Stockton's NBA record for most assists in the first 3 games of the season. With a 15 assists effort the following day, Rondo again set a record for most assists through the first five games.

Rondo's season also began with injuries. He has played through plantar fasciitis in his feet. He missed three games in November due to a strained left hamstring. He sprained his left ankle in a win against the New York Knicks on December 15, 2010, and missed the next seven games.

NBA career statistics

:Correct as of June 18, 2010

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2006–07 | align="left" | Boston | 78 || 25 || 23.5 || .418 || .207 || .647 || 3.7 || 3.8 || 1.6 || .1 || 6.4 |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Boston | 77 || 77 || 29.9 || .492 || .263 || .611 || 4.2 || 5.1 || 1.7 || .2 || 10.6 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Boston | 80 || 80 || 33.0 || .505 || .313 || .642 || 5.2 || 8.2 || 1.9 || .1 || 11.9 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" | Boston | 81 || 81 || 36.6 || .508 || .213 || .621 || 4.4 || 9.8 || 2.3 || .1 || 13.7 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 316 || 263 || 30.8 || .489 || .244 || .630 || 4.4 || 6.8 || 1.9 || .1 || 10.7 |- | align="left" | All-Star | align="left" | | 1 || 0 || 19.0 || .667 || .000 || .000 || 1.0 || 5.0 || 1.0 || .0 || 4.0

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Boston | 26 || 26 || 32.0 || .407 || .250 || .691 || 4.1 || 6.6 || 1.7 || .3 || 10.2 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Boston | 14 || 14 || 41.2 || .417 || .250 || .657 || 9.7 || 9.8 || 2.5 || .2 || 16.9 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" | Boston | 24 || 24 || 40.6 || .463 || .375 || .596 || 5.6 || 9.3 || 1.9 || .1 || 15.8 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 64 || 64 || 37.2 || .432 || .294 || .639 || 5.9 || 8.3 || 2.0 || .2 || 13.8

Awards and honors

NBA Champions Boston Celtics.]]

1× NBA Champion: 2008

1× NBA All-Star: 2010

2× NBA All-Defensive:

:* First Team: 2010 :* Second Team: 2009

NBA All-Rookie selection:

:*Second team: 2007

NBA regular season leader:

:*steals: 2010 (189) :*steals per game: 2010 (2.3)

Boston Celtics franchise records:

:*Most assists in a single season: 794 (2009–10) :*Most steals in a single season: 189 (2009–10)

See also

List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game

References

External links

The Official Site of Rajon Rondo

YardBarker – Rajon Rondo's Blog

NBA.com Draft Profile

Profile at UKAthletics.com

ESPN.com Player Card

Rajon Rondo Career Stats

ESPN.com 2010 NBA Playoffs Feature: "9 Stories on No. 9: The Legend of Rondo"; 06/08/10

Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:African American basketball players Category:American basketball players Category:Basketball players from Kentucky Category:Boston Celtics players Category:Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Category:Male basketball guards Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:People from Louisville, Kentucky Category:Phoenix Suns draft picks Category:Point guards

Position	Point guard
Height ft	6
Height in	3
Weight lb	190
Team	Chicago Bulls
Number	1
Nationality	American
Birth date	October 04, 1988
Birth place	Chicago, Illinois
High school	Simeon Career Academy (Chicago, Illinois)
College	Memphis
Draft round	1
Draft pick	1
Draft year	2008
Draft team	Chicago Bulls
Career start	2008
Teams
Highlights

Derrick Martell Rose (born October 4, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who is currently playing for the Chicago Bulls of the NBA.

Born in Chicago, Rose learned the game of basketball from his three older brothers. In high school, he won two state championships and was rated by scouts as the top point guard prospect in the country after graduation. He played for the University of Memphis Tigers and reached the NCAA national championship game in 2008. Shortly after, Rose declared for the 2008 NBA Draft and was selected first overall by his hometown Chicago Bulls. In his first year of professional basketball, Rose was voted the Rookie of the Year and was selected to the All-Rookie Team. In only his second season, Rose was selected as an All-Star for the first time for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game; he was also named a starter for the U.S. Team at the 2010 FIBA World Championships.

In 2009, an NCAA investigation revealed that Rose's SAT scores had been invalidated, making him retroactively ineligible to play for Memphis. As a result, the NCAA vacated Memphis's entire 2007–08 season.

Early life

Derrick Rose was born and raised in Chicago's South Side to Brenda Rose and was the youngest of four brothers. He grew up an avid fan of basketball, rooting for the Michael Jordan-led Bulls, and spending long hours on nearby courts with his brothers Dwayne, Reggie and Allan. With their influence, he dribbled at an early age and became ambidextrous. As his special talent for basketball grew and the number of city championships won increased, his brothers began to restrict outside contact to him, fearing his road to the NBA would be exploited and derailed by outside parties, such as with the case with former Chicago prospect Ronnie Fields. Rose played AAU ball with the Mean Street Express, where he was coached by brother Reggie and starred alongside Indiana prep star Eric Gordon.

High school

In 2003, Rose enrolled at Simeon Career Academy. He played freshmen and JV basketball for the Wolverines and wore #25 in honor of Ben "Benji" Wilson, a former promising player who was murdered by a gang member in 1984. Rose wasn't allowed on varsity due to a long-standing tradition that head coach Bob Hambric, who had been with the school since 1980 had; no freshman on the varsity team. That rule didn't lessen Rose's play and he went on to put up 18.5 points, 6.6 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game and led both the freshmen and sophomores to city championships with a 24–1 record. Hambric softened his stance and allowed the freshman a chance to play on varsity in the state tournament, but Rose declined, wanting the players to get due credit. The next year Hambric retired and Robert Smith was hired, opening the path to varsity. In Rose's much-publicized debut, he had 22 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals over Thornwood High School in a sold-out game filled with college scouts and coaches. He led the Wolverines to a 30–5 mark while averaging 19.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 2.4 steals but the season ended after a loss in state regionals. Rose's play garnered him his first national award: a Parade Third Team All-American spot.

During his junior year in 2006, the Simeon Wolverines broke through and won the Chicago Public League championship held at the United Center where Rose starred with 25 points and crowd pleasing dunks. The team advanced through the playoffs and earned a berth in the Class AA state championship against Richwoods High School, where a fourth quarter buzzer beater by Richwood forced overtime. The score was knotted at 29 late in the extra period when Rose stole the ball and buried the game winning jumper with 1.5 seconds remaining. The title was the Simeon's first since the Wilson-led Wolverines won in 1984. The team finished 33–4, nationally ranked and Rose was awarded with an All-State Illinois mention, EA Sports All-American Second Team pick and another Parade All-American selection.

Entering his senior year, Rose was ranked the fifth best prospect in the nation by Sports Illustrated. In January 2007, Simeon traveled to Madison Square Garden in New York City in January 2007 to play Rice High School and star guard Kemba Walker. The Wolverines, however, lost 53–51. The season highlight was a nationally televised contest on ESPN against Virginia perennial power Oak Hill Academy two weeks later. Matched up with hyped junior guard Brandon Jennings, Rose had 28 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds and held Jennings to zero points in the first three quarters, 17 overall in a 78–75 win. For his performance, USA Today named him their high school player of the week. Simeon went on to repeat as Public League champions and defended their state championship, defeating O'Fallon High School 77–54. In doing so, Simeon became the first Chicago Public League school to win two straight state championships. In his final high school game, Rose scored 2 points, but pulled down 7 rebounds and totaled 8 assists. The Wolverines ended the season 33–2 and ranked 1st in the nation by Sports Illustrated and 6th on USA Today's Super 25. Rose averaged 25.2 points, 9.1 assists, 8.8 rebounds and 3.4 steals.

Overall Simeon's record while Rose played was 120–12. and was named to the McDonald's All-American team. He was also awarded with First Team honors by Parade selection and USA Today and USA Today First Team All-American. Rose was selected to play in the Jordan Brand All-Star Game and Nike Hoop Summit. In 2009, Rose was named the decade's third greatest high school point guard by ESPN RISE magazine behind Chris Paul and T.J. Ford.

High school statistics

{| class="wikitable sortable" ! H.S. !! Year ! GP !! GS !! SPG !! RPG !! APG !! PPG !! FG% |- | Simeon || 2003–04* | 25 || 25 || 2.1 || 4.7 || 6.6 || 18.5 || — |- | Simeon || 2004–05 | 35 || 35 || 2.4 || 5.1 || 8.3 || 19.8 || .500 |- | Simeon || 2005–06 | 37 || 37 || 2.6 || 5.4 || 8.7 || 20.1 || .570 |- | Simeon || 2006–07 | 35 || 35 || 3.4 || 9.1 || 8.8 || 25.2 || .590 |-class=sortbottom | colspan=2| Career | 132 || 132 || 2.7 || 6.2 || 8.2 || 21.1 || — |}

(*) – Non–varsity season

College

.]] Rose accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Memphis Tigers under John Calipari, who recruited him after seeing the high schooler play in an AAU game. Strong efforts were made by Indiana University and in-state University of Illinois to sign Rose to their own programs. Illinois in particular planned to pair their five-star recruit Eric Gordon and Rose together. Gordon however retracted his verbal commitment from the Fighting Illini, opting to play for Indiana, and Rose subsequently gave his verbal commitment before the start of his senior season. Rose chose Memphis because of the school's history of putting players in the NBA and the prospect of Rod Strickland, a 17 year veteran of the league, mentoring him. Rose switched to #23, unable to wear his customary #25, retired by the school in honor of Penny Hardaway.

With the addition of Rose and veteran teammates Joey Dorsey and Chris Douglas-Roberts, the Tigers started out the season ranked third in the nation. Memphis sprinted to a 26–0 start and claimed the number one ranking in the country for the first time in over 25 years before falling to the University of Tennessee Volunteers 66–62 in February. Memphis was able to bounce back and capture the Conference USA Tournament to qualify for the "Big Dance" with a 33–1 record. Rose averaged 14.9 points per game, 4.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game during the regular season and earned All-American Third Team honors among others. He finished as a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award as well as the John R. Wooden Award.

Memphis was seeded No. 1 in the South Region and blew out most of its competition on its way to the Final Four. Rose earned high praise for his increased focus on defense, hounding Texas Longhorn guard D.J. Augustin into a low-percentage game in the Elite Eight. In a match-up against the UCLA in the Final Four, Rose finished with 25 points and 9 rebounds while putting tight pressure on Bruins' point Darren Collison to lead the Tigers to the NCAA championship game against the University of Kansas Jayhawks with a 85–67 victory. The win set a NCAA mark for most wins in a season (38). Against Kansas, Rose scored 17 points on 7–17 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and dished seven assists, but missed a critical free throw at the end of the second half, and Memphis fell in overtime, 75–68. Memphis concluded the season 38–2. Rose was named to the All-Final Four team after averaging 20.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6 assists during the tourney.

On April 15, Rose declared for the 2008 NBA Draft.

Grading controversy

According to the University of Memphis' legal counsel Sheri Lipman, a month after the loss to the Kansas Jayhawks, the NCAA sent a letter to the school stating that Rose had "an invalidated standardized test score the previous year at Chicago's Simeon High School". The next January, the NCAA sent another letter, charging Memphis with knowing that Rose had someone else take his SAT for him. Memphis started its own investigation and sent its response back on April 24.

On May 28, the Memphis Commercial Appeal obtained the letter through the Freedom of Information Act and released it. Although the player's name was redacted due to privacy laws, process of elimination and sources revealed the player as Derrick Rose. The next day in a separate investigation, James Sullivan, Inspector General of the Chicago Public Schools district's Board of Education, released a report of his investigation stating that four student-athletes of a CPS school had one-month grade boosts to alter their college transcripts. The Chicago Sun-Times revealed the school as Simeon Career Academy and that three of the four were Rose and his former teammates Kevin Johnson and Tim Flowers, prominent members of the back-to-back championship teams. Sullivan started the investigation because "none of the grade changes were supported by any documentation”. He also failed to find a suspect as "at least seven people at Simeon had the ability to access student grades and records".

Memphis contended that it had learned of the allegations about Rose's SAT score shortly after he enrolled at the school. It conducted its own investigation, in which Rose was questioned by four school officials. Ultimately, Memphis was unable to find any evidence that Rose had cheated based on what was available at the time, and cleared him to play.

Rose released a statement through his lawyer Daniel E. Reidy: “Mr. Rose is aware of the allegations reported in the press. Mr. Rose cooperated fully with the University of Memphis' athletic and legal departments’ investigation of this issue when he was a student, and that investigation uncovered no wrongdoing on his part."

On August 20, the NCAA vacated Memphis' 2007–08 season. It took the line that even though Rose's score hadn't been thrown out until after the season, strict liability required that he be declared ineligible.

College statistics

NBA career

Chicago Bulls (2008-present)

2008–09 season: Rookie of the Year

Rose was selected first overall in the draft by the Chicago Bulls, He was selected to the U.S. Select Team to scrimmage against and prepare the National Team for the Olympics in Beijing. In mid-July, he played two games in the Orlando Pro Summer League until forced out by tendonitis in his right knee, ending his summer, but returned in October to play all eight preseason games.

Rose started his rookie year strong, becoming the first Bulls draftee to score 10 points or more in his first 10 games since Michael Jordan, and earned Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honors for November and December. During the All-Star Weekend, Rose played in the Rookie Challenge, and won the Skills Challenge, where he beat out several All-Stars to become the first rookie to claim the trophy. Overcoming a January and February slump, Rose returned to form and won monthly rookie honors in March. Meanwhile, the Bulls, re-energized by the trade deadline acquisitions of John Salmons and Brad Miller, finished the regular season on a 12–4 spurt to qualify for the 7th seed in the Eastern Conference. Chicago's late push contributed to Rose's winning Rookie of the Year, joining Michael Jordan (1985) and Elton Brand (2000) as the only Bulls to do so. Rose became the second player in NBA history to record 35 points and 10 assists in his playoff debut, after Chris Paul. Rose averaged 19.7 points on 47.5% shooting, 6.3 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game in his playoff debut, as the Bulls were defeated by the Celtics in 7 games.

2009–10 season: All Star bid

}} Rose's sophomore season started off on a bad note when he injured his ankle in his first preseason game. Rose would go on to miss the rest of the preseason. Rose did start the Bulls season opener against the San Antonio Spurs but played limited minutes in a win. Rose's ankle bothered him for most of November, but as his ankle healed, his game improved greatly. On January 28, 2010, Derrick Rose was elected to his first career All Star Game as a reserve for the Eastern Conference, making him the first Bulls player to make the All-Star game since Michael Jordan in 1998. Rose had eight points, four assists and three steals in his first game as an All-Star. The Bulls once again made the playoffs in the 2009–10 season finishing with a 41–41 record. In the playoffs Rose averaged 26.8 points and 7.2 assists, but the Bulls still lost in five games to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On April 13, 2010, Rose set a new career-high 39 points against the Celtics, making 15–22 FGs, and 9–10 free throws.

According to a January 2010 report by ESPN, Rose had the 4th best selling jersey in the league.

2010–11 season

On October 30, 2010, in only the Bulls' second game of the season, Rose tied his career high 39 points in a 101–91 win against the Detroit Pistons. Two days after, Rose contributed 13 assists, helping Luol Deng score his career high 40 points in a win against the Portland Trail Blazers.

On December 10, 2010, Rose grabbed 29 points and 9 assists, leading the Bulls to their first victory over the the Los Angeles Lakers since December 19, 2006.

NBA statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | | align="left" | Chicago | 81 || 80 || 37.0 || .475 || .222 || .788 || 3.9 || 6.3 || .8 || .2 || 16.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Chicago | 78 || 78 || 36.8 || .489 || .267 || .766 || 3.8 || 6.0 || .7 || .4 || 20.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Chicago | 34 || 34 || 37.6 || .458 || .385|| .789 || 4.4 || 8.3 || 1.1 || .5 || 23.9 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 193 || 192 || 37.0 || .477 || .318 || .779 || 3.9 || 6.5 || .8 || .3 || 19.6 |- | align="left" | All-Star | align="left" | | 1 || 0 || 15.4 || .500 || .000 || .000 || .0 || 4.0 || 3.0 || .0 || 8.0

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2009 | align="left" | Chicago | 7 || 7 || 44.7 || .492 || .000 || .800 || 6.3 || 6.4 || .6 || .7 || 19.7 |- | align="left" | 2010 | align="left" | Chicago | 5 || 5 || 42.4 || .456 || .333 || .818 || 3.4 || 7.2 || .8 || .0 || 26.8 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 12 || 12 || 43.8 || .473 || .200 || .809 || 5.1 || 6.8 || .7 || .4 || 22.7

Career highs

Regular season

Playoffs

Game-winning shots

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center" ! Shot ! Time (sec) ! Score ! Opponent ! Date |- |Two free throws |10.8 |101—98 |vs. Atlanta Hawks | |- |11-foot jump shot |5.4 |121—119 (2 OT) |vs. Washington Wizards | |}

Accomplishments and awards

NBA

NBA Rookie of the Year: 2009

Skills Challenge Champion: 2009

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2009

NABC 3rd Team All-American

Conference USA Freshman of the Year

Conference USA Player of the Week for games between December 17 through the 23rd

2K Sports College Hoops Classic MVP

*2K Sports College Hoops Classic All-Tournament Team

High school

Senior year (2006–2007)

*Class AA State Championship

*Class AA Tournament MVP

Illinois Mr. Basketball 2007

Parade 2007 All-America First Team

All State Illinois 2007

*MaxPreps.com All-America First Team

*Slam Magazine 2007 First Team

MidStateHoops.com 2007 Class AA Player of the Year

Junior year (2005–2006)

*Class AA State Championship

*Class AA Tournament MVP

Parade 2006 All-American Fourth Team

Off the court

Rose's family includes his mother, Brenda, and three older brothers, Dwayne, Reggie, and Allen.

Rose has signed a shoe deal with Adidas for an undisclosed amount of money. He has also signed with Wilson Sporting Goods. His agent is former Bulls guard B. J. Armstrong.

Rose was announced as the cover athlete for the 2K Sports Downloadable Content game, NBA 2K10 Draft Combine, which was released on Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3.

See also

2006 high school boys basketball All-Americans

Notes

External links

Official Website

Statistics

College statistics at StatSheet.com

Profiles

NBA.com Player Profile

Scout.com Profile

Rivals.com Profile

NBADraft.net Profile

DraftExpress Profile

USA Basketball Bio

CollegeHoops.net Bio

}}

Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:American basketball players Category:Chicago Bulls draft picks Category:Chicago Bulls players Category:McDonald's High School All-Americans Category:Memphis Tigers men's basketball players Category:Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Category:Point guards Category:Basketball players from Illinois Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:United States men's national basketball team members