C. J. Watson
 Watson with the Bulls |
|
| No. 1 – Brooklyn Nets | |
|---|---|
| Position | Guard |
| League | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | April 17, 1984 Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nevada)[1] |
| College | Tennessee (2002–2006) |
| NBA Draft | 2006 / Undrafted |
| Pro playing career | 2006–present |
| Career history | |
| 2006–2007 | Bipop Carire Reggio Emilia (Italy) |
| 2006–2007 | PAOK Thessaloniki (Greece) |
| 2007–2008 | Rio Grande Valley Vipers (D-League) |
| 2008–2010 | Golden State Warriors |
| 2010–2012 | Chicago Bulls |
| 2012–present | Brooklyn Nets |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Charles Akeem Watson, Jr.[1] (born April 17, 1984,[2] in Las Vegas, Nevada) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA.
Contents |
College career[edit]
C. J. Watson played for the Tennessee Volunteers for 4 seasons. His best season came during his senior year (2005-06), played under head coach Bruce Pearl, where he averaged 15.3 points, 3.9 assists and 3.1 rebounds. He earned Second Team All-SEC honors from the Associated Press and the league coaches. He finished his collegiate career as Tennessee's second all-time leader in assists (577), second in steals (198), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.396), tied for eighth in three-point field goals (401), and 15th in scoring (1,424 points).[1]
Professional career[edit]
European career[edit]
Despite an excellent college career, Watson went undrafted in 2006 NBA Draft. He then played briefly with San Antonio Spurs in 2006 NBA summer league before joining Italian Serie A team Bipop Carire Reggio Emilia. He averaged 8.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 17 games. He then moved on to join Greek A1 Ethniki team PAOK B.C. where he averaged 7.4 points and 2.2 assists in five games.[1]
D-League career[edit]
Watson returned to the states to revive his NBA career, participated in 2007 NBA summer league with the Spurs and later joined Charlotte Bobcats training camp. However, he once again failed to make the roster for the season. On November 1, 2007, he joined NBA D-League and was drafted 5th overall by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.[3] He averaged 26.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.38 steals in 38.1 minutes per game for the Vipers before signed by Golden State Warriors on January 8, 2008. At the time of the call up, Watson was the third leading scorer in the D-League. He also became the 100th player to be called up by a NBA team in D-League history.[4]
Golden State Warriors[edit]
On January 8, 2008, Golden State Warriors signed Watson to a 10-day contract to be a backup point guard to All-Star Baron Davis.[4] He impressed Warriors coach Don Nelson and subsequently earned a second 10-day contract.[5] After two 10-day contracts, where he appeared in 8 games, averaging 5.4 points and 1.8 assists in 16.6 minutes, Watson was signed for the remainder of the season. On February 17, 2010, Watson scored a career-high 40 points against the Sacramento Kings with 16-of-23 shooting.[6]
Chicago Bulls[edit]
On July 21, 2010, Watson was acquired in a sign and trade deal by the Chicago Bulls.[7] On November 26, 2010, the Bulls' starting point guard Derrick Rose was out with a stiff neck. Watson started against the Nuggets and scored a season high in a loss, with 33 points while also shooting 50% from the field.[8][9] On December 14, 2011, Watson changed his number from 32 to 7 because of Rip Hamilton signing with the Bulls. On April 28, 2012, in the Bulls' first game of that year's playoffs, guard Derrick Rose suffered a torn ACL in his left knee. In his absence, Watson started the rest of the Bulls' playoff games. [10] The Bulls lost in the first round to the Philadelphia 76ers. Watson averaged 7.3 points on 24% shooting in the series.
Brooklyn Nets[edit]
After passing through waivers, Watson signed with the Brooklyn Nets for a veteran minimum contract. The contract is for two years with a player option after one year.[11]
Personal[edit]
C. J. Watson majored in psychology at Tennessee, and continued working toward his degree every summer after starting his professional basketball career. He completed his coursework in 2012.[12] He has one brother, Kashif Watson who played college basketball at the University of Idaho,[13] and one sister, Vonyetta Brooks.[citation needed] He is also actively involved in the Hoops For Hope program.[citation needed] C.J. is an active tweeter; his username is @quietstorm_32.
NBA career statistics[edit]
| Legend | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season[edit]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | Golden State | 32 | 0 | 11.5 | .426 | .346 | .793 | 1.0 | 1.1 | .5 | .0 | 3.7 |
| 2008–09 | Golden State | 77 | 18 | 24.5 | .457 | .400 | .870 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 1.2 | .1 | 9.5 |
| 2009–10 | Golden State | 65 | 15 | 27.5 | .468 | .310 | .771 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 1.6 | .1 | 10.3 |
| 2010–11 | Chicago | 82 | 1 | 13.3 | .371 | .393 | .740 | 1.1 | 2.3 | .7 | .1 | 4.9 |
| 2011–12 | Chicago | 49 | 25 | 23.7 | .368 | .393 | .808 | 1.0 | 4.1 | .9 | .2 | 9.7 |
| 2012–13 | Brooklyn | 80 | 8 | 19.0 | .418 | .411 | .780 | 1.8 | 2.0 | .8 | .2 | 6.8 |
| Career | 385 | 67 | 20.3 | .422 | .382 | .803 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 1.0 | .1 | 7.6 |
Playoffs[edit]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Chicago | 16 | 0 | 8.5 | .339 | .200 | .909 | .9 | 1.9 | .5 | .0 | 3.2 |
| 2012 | Chicago | 6 | 5 | 27.3 | .241 | .250 | .750 | 2.2 | 5.5 | .8 | .0 | 7.3 |
| 2013 | Brooklyn | 7 | 0 | 23.0 | .436 | .267 | .667 | 2.4 | 1.9 | .7 | .1 | 8.6 |
| Career | 29 | 5 | 15.9 | .337 | .239 | .769 | 1.5 | 2.7 | .6 | .0 | 5.3 |
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d NBA D-League draft profile
- ^ NBA.com : C.J. Watson Info Page
- ^ NBA Development League: 2007 D-League Draft Board
- ^ a b WARRIORS: Warriors Sign Guard CJ Watson To 10-Day Contract
- ^ WARRIORS: Warriors Sign C.J. Watson To Second 10-Day Contract
- ^ WARRIORS: Warriors Sign C.J. Watson For Remainder Of Season
- ^ Bulls acquire Watson via sign-and-trade
- ^ "Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose out Friday".
- ^ "C.J. Watson Game Log".
- ^ Powers, Scott. "Bulls' Derrick Rose tears ACL". espn.com. ESPN.
- ^ "Report: C.J. Watson agrees to terms with Brooklyn Nets".
- ^ C.J. Watson earns diploma from Tennessee
- ^ "Kashif Watson Bio". Database. University of Idaho. Retrieved 2011-10-19.
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: C.J. Watson |
- Career statistics and player information from Basketball-Reference.com
- NBA.com: C.J. Watson Info Page
- NBA Development League: C.J. Watson Playerfile
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- 1984 births
- African-American basketball players
- American expatriate basketball people in Greece
- American expatriate basketball people in Italy
- Basketball players from Nevada
- Brooklyn Nets players
- Chicago Bulls players
- Golden State Warriors players
- Living people
- PAOK B.C. players
- Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
- Point guards
- Rio Grande Valley Vipers players
- Sportspeople from the Las Vegas Valley
- Tennessee Volunteers basketball players
- Undrafted National Basketball Association players
