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Markieff Morris

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Markieff Morris
Morris in 2012
No. 5 – Washington Wizards
PositionPower forward
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1989-09-02) September 2, 1989 (age 35)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High schoolPrep Charter
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
APEX Academy
(Pennsauken, New Jersey)
CollegeKansas (2008–2011)
NBA draft2011: 1st round, 13th overall pick
Selected by the Phoenix Suns
Playing career2011–present
Career history
2011–2016Phoenix Suns
2016–presentWashington Wizards
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

Markieff Morris (born September 2, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at the University of Kansas before being drafted 13th overall in the 2011 NBA draft by the Suns.

Early years

Morris was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Thomasine "Angel" Morris. He has four brothers, Donte, Blake, David and twin Marcus, who currently plays for the Detroit Pistons.[1] Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Morris was listed as the No. 17 power forward and the No. 49 player in the nation in 2008.[2]

College career

Morris enrolled at the University of Kansas, where he majored in American studies.[1] Both he and his brother, Marcus, signed with a sports agent from Los Angeles and announced that they would enter the 2011 NBA draft.[3] He was picked to the Fifth Team All-America by Fox Sports after his junior season.[4]

College statistics

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008–09 Kansas 35 7 15.6 .448 .188 .650 4.4 1.0 0.4 0.7 4.6
2009–10 Kansas 36 2 17.6 .566 .526 .622 5.3 1.1 0.4 1.0 6.8
2010–11 Kansas 38 35 24.4 .589 .424 .673 8.3 1.4 0.8 1.1 13.6

Professional career

Phoenix Suns (2011–2016)

2011–12 season

Morris was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 13th pick in the 2011 NBA draft. His twin brother, Marcus Morris was drafted by the Houston Rockets five minutes later.[5] On January 8, 2012, he gained his first professional double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in a blowout 109-93 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.[6] On January 18, Morris had his first professional start in the NBA against the New York Knicks. However, due to a stomach virus, Markieff only played for 5 minutes, scoring 3 points and grabbing 2 steals before Channing Frye took over the power forward position in a 91-88 Phoenix win.[7] On February 8, 2012, Markieff was named to the 2012 Rising Stars challenge, making him the first Suns player since Amar'e Stoudemire to appear in the Rookie Challenge.[8] Morris played for Team Shaq, recording 12 points and six rebounds. On March 25, Morris recorded a then career-high 22 points to tie Marcin Gortat as the game's leading scorer in a 108-83 victory against the Cleveland Cavaliers.[9]

2012–13 season

Due to the 2011 NBA lockout, Morris had his first Summer League stint in 2012, during which he averaged 19.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. After this stint, he amassed 13 pounds of muscle while keeping his weight of 245 pounds. After scoring a then season-high 16 points against the defending champion Miami Heat, Morris made his first start of the season on November 21, 2012. He topped his season high in points by three, and tied Marcin Gortat with 7 rebounds in a victory against the Portland Trail Blazers.[10] Two days later, Morris recorded a then career-high 23 points to lead the Suns to a 111-108 overtime victory over the New Orleans Hornets.[11]

On December 6, 2012, Morris pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds to go with 15 points in a 97-94 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.[12] On February 21, 2013, Morris' brother Marcus was traded to the Phoenix Suns, reuniting them after two years of playing for separate teams.[13] This also marked the second time the Suns had twin brothers playing on the same team, with Dick and Tom Van Arsdale being the first twins to play together during the 1976–77 season.

2013–14 season

On November 6, 2013, Morris tied his career-high 23 points and added 12 rebounds in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs.[14] He went on to post a new career-high two days later, scoring 28 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in a 114-103 home victory over the Denver Nuggets.[15] After scoring 23 points in a 101-94 win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Morris became the third player since 1989 to shoot over 75% from the field in three consecutive games with at least 12 attempts each game; Dwight Howard and Charles Barkley were the first two players to accomplish this.[16] Morris was named the Western Conference Player of the Week for the November 4 to November 11, 2013 period after averaging 22.8 points, 8.0 assists, 2.0 steals and leading the league for field goal percentage (.698).[17] Morris had 27 points and grab 15 rebounds in a 99-90 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, making Morris the first player since Yao Ming in 2002 to score at least 27 points and grab 15 rebounds off the bench.[18] Because of his improvements throughout the 2013–14 NBA season as a sixth man, he ended up being a candidate for both the NBA Most Improved Player Award and the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award.

2014–15 season

On September 29, 2014, Morris signed a multi-year contract extension with the Phoenix Suns.[19] On November 17, 2014, he recorded a then career-high 30 points in the 118-114 win over the Boston Celtics.[20] On January 13, 2015, he scored a career-high 35 points on 15-of-21 shooting in a 107-100 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.[21] In a game against the Dallas Mavericks on March 22, the Morris twins both had double-doubles in the same game for the first time in their careers.[22]

2015–16 season

On September 8, 2015, Morris was fined $10,000 for conduct detrimental to the league by publicly demanding a trade a month earlier.[23] Morris later trained with long-time friend Rasheed Wallace prior to re-joining the Suns for training camp.[24] On November 23, he scored a season-high 28 points in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs.[25][26] Morris started in 16 games to start the season before being benched by coach Jeff Hornacek from December 4 onwards.[26] During the fourth quarter of the Suns' December 23 game against the Denver Nuggets, Morris threw a towel in the direction of Hornacek as he was heading to the bench.[27] The following day, Morris was suspended for two games for conduct detrimental to the team,[28] and was later labelled one of Arizona's biggest sports villains.[29] Following an injury to teammate Alex Len in early January, Morris was reinserted back in the rotation to help fortify the frontcourt.[30] On February 2, 2016, he had a season-best game with 30 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal in a 104–97 loss to the Toronto Raptors.[31] Four days later, he recorded 17 points and a career-high eight assists in a loss to the Utah Jazz.[32]

Washington Wizards (2016–present)

On February 18, 2016, Morris was traded to the Washington Wizards in exchange for DeJuan Blair, Kris Humphries and a 2016 protected first round draft pick.[33] The next day, he made his debut for the Wizards in a 98–86 win over his twin brother's team, the Detroit Pistons, recording six points and two rebounds in 22 minutes.[34]

NBA career statistics

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

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 Phoenix 63 7 19.5 .399 .347 .717 4.4 1.0 .7 .7 7.4
2012–13 Phoenix 82 32 22.4 .407 .336 .732 4.8 1.3 .9 .8 8.2
2013–14 Phoenix 81 0 26.6 .486 .315 .792 6.0 1.8 .8 .6 13.8
2014–15 Phoenix 82 82 31.5 .465 .318 .763 6.2 2.3 1.2 .5 15.3
2015–16 Phoenix 37 24 24.8 .397 .289 .717 5.2 2.4 .9 .5 11.6
Career 345 145 25.3 .443 .324 .759 5.4 1.7 .9 .6 11.4

Personal life

Morris' twin brother Marcus was selected 14th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2011 NBA draft. He is seven minutes older than Marcus. His nickname is "Keef".[35]

He and Marcus, alongside teammates Goran and Zoran Dragić, all briefly played together for the Suns during the fourth quarter of their 112–96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on January 2, 2015. It marked the first time in the NBA's history that two different pairs of brothers played together for the same team at the same time.[36]

References

  1. ^ a b University of Kansas. "Player Bio Markieff Morris". Kansas Athletics. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
  2. ^ "Markieff Morris at Rivals". Yahoo.com. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  3. ^ "Morris twins sign with agent, will declare for draft". Lawrence Journal-World. April 7, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
  4. ^ Goodman, Jeff (Mar 7, 2011). "Goodman's 2010–11 All-America teams". Fox Sports. Fox Sports Interactive Media. Retrieved June 21, 2011.
  5. ^ Devine, Dan (June 23, 2011). "Twins Markieff and Marcus Morris go back-to-back in NBA draft". Sports.Yahoo.com. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  6. ^ "Steve Nash hands out 17 assists in 27 minutes as Suns rout Bucks". ESPN.com. January 9, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  7. ^ "Steve Nash, Suns stop 5-game skid as Knicks fall short again". ESPN.com. January 19, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  8. ^ Pollack, Seth (February 8, 2012). "Rookie Markieff Morris Gets The All-Star Nod, Will Represent Suns In Rising Stars Game". BrightSideOfTheSun.com. SBNation. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  9. ^ "Streaking Suns put away Cavs early to continue playoff push". ESPN.com. March 25, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  10. ^ "Notebook: Suns 114, Blazers 87". NBA.com. November 22, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  11. ^ "Suns rally from 19-point deficit in third quarter, win in overtime". ESPN.com. November 24, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  12. ^ "O.J. Mayo helps Mavericks send Suns to fifth straight loss". ESPN.com. December 7, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  13. ^ "Suns Acquire Marcus Morris". NBA.com. February 21, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  14. ^ "Notebook: Spurs 99, Suns 96". NBA.com. November 7, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  15. ^ "Morris brothers help Suns rally past Nuggets". ESPN.com. November 9, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  16. ^ "Surprising Suns upend Pelicans behind Eric Bledsoe". ESPN.com. November 11, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  17. ^ "Pacers' George, Suns' Markieff Morris named Players of the Week". NBA.com. November 11, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  18. ^ Coro, Paul (January 29, 2014). "Phoenix Suns' Miles Plumlee feels he's 'getting back' to form". AZCentral.com. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  19. ^ "Suns Sign Marcus and Markieff Morris to Extensions". NBA.com. September 29, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  20. ^ "Morris, Suns pull out 118-114 win over Celtics". NBA.com. November 17, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  21. ^ "James' 33 in return not enough, Cavs lose sixth straight". NBA.com. January 14, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  22. ^ "Phoenix Suns Game Notes" (PDF). NBA.com. p. 5. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  23. ^ Stein, Marc (September 8, 2015). "Sources: Markieff Morris tweet clinched NBA's decision on $10K fine". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  24. ^ Buchanan, Zach (October 27, 2015). "Phoenix Suns' Markieff Morris had Rasheed Wallace help". AZCentral.com. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  25. ^ "Leonard has 24, Spurs defense shines in 98-84 win over Suns". NBA.com. November 24, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  26. ^ a b "Markieff Morris 2015-16 Game Log". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  27. ^ Polacek, Scott (December 24, 2015). "Markieff Morris Reportedly Threw Towel in Direction of Suns Coach Jeff Hornacek". BleacherReport.com. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  28. ^ "Suns Suspend Morris". NBA.com. December 24, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  29. ^ Joseph, Andrew (February 12, 2016). "The 10 biggest villains in Arizona sports". AZCentral.com. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  30. ^ Coro, Paul (January 12, 2016). "Markieff Morris 'excited' to return to Suns action". AZCentral.com. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  31. ^ "Lowry, Raptors hold off Suns, spoil Watson's coaching debut". NBA.com. February 3, 2016. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  32. ^ "Hood, Jazz best reeling Suns 98-89 for 6th straight win". NBA.com. February 7, 2016. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  33. ^ "WIZARDS ACQUIRE MARKIEFF MORRIS". MonumentalNetwork.com. February 18, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  34. ^ "Wall scores 22 points to help Wizards beat Pistons 98-86". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. February 19, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  35. ^ Petersen, Matt (September 16, 2014). "Morris Twins Get Fan-Decided Tattoos". NBA.com. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
  36. ^ "Green helps Suns pull away from 76ers, 112-96". NBA.com. January 3, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
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