Jerome Keith James (born November 17, 1975) is an American professional basketball player. James played at Florida A&M University, and was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the second round of the 1998 NBA Draft. Over the course of his career, he has played for the Kings, Seattle SuperSonics and New York Knicks. He has also played for the Harlem Globetrotters.
[edit] NBA career
|
|
An editor has expressed a concern that this article lends undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, controversies or matters relative to the article subject as a whole. Please help to create a more balanced presentation. Discuss and resolve this issue before removing this message. (March 2009) |
James has averaged 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in 358 career games (180 games started). James played well for the Seattle SuperSonics during the 2005 NBA playoffs, averaging 12.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in 11 games against the Kings and San Antonio Spurs.
After the 2004–05 season, James signed a 5-year, $30 million free-agent contract with the Knicks on the strength of an outstanding performance in the 2 playoff series in which he tripled his regular-season statistics.[1] He arrived at his first training camp out of shape and in his first season he only averaged 3.1 points and 2.1 rebounds in 9 minutes per game. James missed much of the season due to injury and when he was not injured, he frequently played insignificant minutes. James was suspended on January 2, 2006 for not being prepared to practice.[2]
James is often cited as one of many questionable signings done by Knicks general manager Isiah Thomas.[3] Tommy Beer of HoopsWorld wrote "James was universally panned as the worst free-agent signing of the summer (and in the pantheon of all-time worst.)"[4] He is also sometimes cited as an example of the "contract year phenomenon", where an athlete with impending free agency plays at a higher level than he ever has before, only to return to his normal level of play once he signs a new long-term contract.[5] Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated wrote "James was a chronic underachiever who cashed in on a brief moment of excellence". He also wrote that the Knicks signing James "was a mistake before he ever took the court at Madison Square Garden. The day the Knicks announced his signing, they were universally panned by executives, experts, journalists -- really anyone with a voice box."[6]
In the 2007–08 NBA season he played in only two games (January 18 and January 21) for a total of five minutes, while earning a salary of $5.8 million.[7] James made his only field goal shot and two free throws of the season at Washington. He played another 2 games the following season, scoring 6 points, but suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon injury.
On February 19, 2009, James was traded by the Knicks along with Tim Thomas and Anthony Roberson to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Larry Hughes. James never played any minutes for the Chicago Bulls because of injury. He was waived by the Bulls shortly before the 2009-2010 playoffs.
[edit] NBA career statistics
[edit] Regular season
| Year |
Team |
GP |
GS |
MPG |
FG% |
3P% |
FT% |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
BPG |
PPG |
| 1998–99 |
Sacramento |
16 |
0 |
2.6 |
.375 |
.000 |
.500 |
1.1 |
.1 |
.1 |
.4 |
1.5 |
| 2001–02 |
Seattle |
56 |
40 |
16.9 |
.491 |
.000 |
.500 |
4.1 |
.4 |
.4 |
1.5 |
5.3 |
| 2002–03 |
Seattle |
51 |
16 |
15.0 |
.478 |
.000 |
.587 |
4.2 |
.5 |
.2 |
1.6 |
5.4 |
| 2003–04 |
Seattle |
65 |
24 |
15.2 |
.498 |
.000 |
.660 |
3.5 |
.5 |
.3 |
.9 |
5.0 |
| 2004–05 |
Seattle |
80 |
80 |
16.6 |
.509 |
.000 |
.723 |
3.0 |
.2 |
.3 |
1.4 |
4.9 |
| 2005–06 |
New York |
45 |
9 |
9.0 |
.463 |
.000 |
.625 |
2.0 |
.3 |
.1 |
.5 |
3.0 |
| 2006–07 |
New York |
41 |
11 |
6.7 |
.418 |
.000 |
.556 |
1.6 |
.1 |
.2 |
.4 |
1.9 |
| 2007–08 |
New York |
2 |
0 |
2.5 |
1.000 |
.000 |
1.000 |
1.5 |
.0 |
.0 |
.0 |
2.0 |
| 2008–09 |
New York |
2 |
0 |
5.0 |
.375 |
.000 |
.000 |
1.5 |
.0 |
.5 |
.5 |
3.0 |
| Career |
|
358 |
180 |
13.3 |
.485 |
.000 |
.617 |
3.1 |
.3 |
.3 |
1.0 |
4.3 |
[edit] Playoffs
| Year |
Team |
GP |
GS |
MPG |
FG% |
3P% |
FT% |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
BPG |
PPG |
| 1998–99 |
Sacramento |
1 |
0 |
4.0 |
.500 |
.000 |
.750 |
2.0 |
.0 |
.0 |
.0 |
5.0 |
| 2001–02 |
Seattle |
5 |
1 |
14.0 |
.391 |
.000 |
.000 |
2.4 |
.8 |
.0 |
1.0 |
3.6 |
| 2004–05 |
Seattle |
11 |
11 |
26.8 |
.514 |
.000 |
.767 |
6.8 |
.5 |
.6 |
1.8 |
12.5 |
| Career |
|
17 |
12 |
21.7 |
.493 |
.000 |
.722 |
5.2 |
.5 |
.3 |
1.5 |
9.4 |
[edit] Notes and references
[edit] External links
| Persondata |
| Name |
James, Jerome |
| Alternative names |
|
| Short description |
|
| Date of birth |
November 17, 1975 |
| Place of birth |
Tampa, Florida, USA |
| Date of death |
|
| Place of death |
|
