C. J. Watson
![]() Watson with the Bulls | |
No. 32 – Orlando Magic | |
---|---|
Position | Guard |
League | NBA |
Personal information | |
Born | Las Vegas, Nevada | April 17, 1984
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) |
College | Tennessee (2002–2006) |
NBA draft | 2006: undrafted |
Playing career | 2006–present |
Career history | |
2006–2007 | Bipop Carire Reggio Emilia (Italy) |
2007 | PAOK Thessaloniki (Greece) |
2007–2008 | Rio Grande Valley Vipers (D-League) |
2008–2010 | Golden State Warriors |
2010–2012 | Chicago Bulls |
2012–2013 | Brooklyn Nets |
2013–2015 | Indiana Pacers |
2015–present | Orlando Magic |
Stats at NBA.com | |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Charles Akeem Watson, Jr. (born April 17, 1984)[1] is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA).Watson played college basketball for the University of Tennessee
College career
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
European career
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
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.[2] 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.[3]
Golden State Warriors
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.[3] He impressed Warriors coach Don Nelson and subsequently earned a second 10-day contract.[4] 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.[5]
Chicago Bulls
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/C.J._Watson.jpg/138px-C.J._Watson.jpg)
On July 21, 2010, Watson was acquired in a sign and trade deal by the Chicago Bulls.[6] 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.[7][8] On December 14, 2011, Watson changed his number from 32 to 7 because of Richard "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.[9] The Bulls lost in the first round to the Philadelphia 76ers. Watson averaged 7.3 points on 24% shooting in the series.
Brooklyn Nets
On July 23, 2012, Watson signed with the Brooklyn Nets.[10] On February 13, 2013, he scored a season-high 25 points in the 119-108 win over the Denver Nuggets. His 25 points were the most he'd scored since November 2010, and his five three-pointers also set a career-high.[11] Watson averaged 6.8 points in 80 regular season games for the Nets as a backup point guard to Deron Williams. In the Nets' seven playoff games, he averaged 8.6 points per game.
Indiana Pacers
On July 10, 2013, Watson signed with the Indiana Pacers.[12] On April 13, 2014, he scored a season-high 20 points in the 102-97 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.[13] In his first season with Indiana, Watson averaged 6.6 points in 63 regular season games as a backup point guard to George Hill. In 18 playoff games, Watson averaged 5.8 points per game.
Orlando Magic
On July 9, 2015, Watson signed with the Orlando Magic.[14]
Personal
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.[15] He has one brother, Kashif, who played college basketball for the University of Idaho, and one sister, Vonyetta.[16]
NBA career statistics
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
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 |
2013–14 | Indiana | 63 | 5 | 18.9 | .437 | .366 | .784 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.0 | .1 | 6.6 |
2014–15 | Indiana | 57 | 21 | 24.9 | .434 | .400 | .826 | 2.9 | 3.6 | 1.0 | .2 | 10.0 |
Career | 505 | 93 | 20.6 | .425 | .383 | .806 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 1.0 | .1 | 7.8 |
Playoffs
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 |
2014 | Indiana | 18 | 0 | 17.9 | .409 | .400 | .607 | 2.2 | .9 | .9 | .1 | 5.8 |
Career | 47 | 5 | 16.7 | .362 | .314 | .701 | 1.8 | 2.0 | .7 | .0 | 5.5 |
References
- ^ a b c C.J. Watson
- ^ 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.
- ^ Brooklyn Nets sign guard C.J. Watson
- ^ Notebook: Nets 119, Nuggets 108
- ^ "Pacers Sign Free Agent C.J. Watson". NBA.com. July 10, 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
- ^ Notebook: Pacers 102, Thunder 97
- ^ "Magic Sign C.J. Watson". NBA.com. 12 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
- ^ C.J. Watson earns diploma from Tennessee
- ^ "#32 Kashif Watson". GoVandals.com. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
- 1984 births
- Living people
- African-American basketball players
- American expatriate basketball people in Greece
- American expatriate basketball people in Italy
- American men's basketball players
- Basketball players from Nevada
- Bishop Gorman High School alumni
- Brooklyn Nets players
- Chicago Bulls players
- Golden State Warriors players
- Indiana Pacers players
- Pallacanestro Reggiana players
- PAOK B.C. players
- Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
- Point guards
- Rio Grande Valley Vipers players
- Sportspeople from Las Vegas, Nevada
- Tennessee Volunteers basketball players
- Undrafted National Basketball Association players