Mike Conley, Jr.

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Mike Conley, Jr.
Mike Conley cropped 20131118 Clippers v Grizzles.jpg
Conley with the Grizzlies in November 2013
No. 11 – Memphis Grizzlies
Position Point guard
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1987-10-11) October 11, 1987 (age 28)
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight 175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High school Lawrence North
(Indianapolis, Indiana)
College Ohio State (2006–2007)
NBA draft 2007 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4th overall
Selected by the Memphis Grizzlies
Pro career 2007–present
Career history
2007–present Memphis Grizzlies
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Michael Alex "Mike" Conley, Jr. (born October 11, 1987) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) he plays the point guard position. Conley has played with the Grizzlies since being drafted fourth overall in the 2007 NBA Draft. Conley is the son of Olympic gold and silver medalist triple jumper Mike Conley, Sr., nephew of former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Steve Conley and grandson of Alex Conley.

High school career[edit]

Conley attended Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis, where he helped lead the team to three straight state championships and an overall record of 103-7 in his four years as the starting point guard. His senior year, he dished out a total of 123 assists. Conley finished second in the voting of the Indiana Mr. Basketball award to his teammate Greg Oden, who was the national player of the year. He was selected to the McDonald's All American team. Conley was also named a third-team Parade All-American.

Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Conley was listed as the No. 3 point guard and the No. 18 player in the nation in 2006.[1]

He committed to Ohio State University as a part of the number two recruiting class in the country that year along with fellow AAU teammates Daequan Cook, Greg Oden, and Mark Titus.

College career[edit]

His freshman year, Conley averaged 11.3 points and was the leader in the Big Ten Conference in assists with 6.1 per game. Conley and fellow freshman star Greg Oden led the Ohio State Buckeyes to a Big Ten conference championship and a runner-up finish in the NCAA tournament.[2]

On the road to the championship game, Ohio State defeated Central Connecticut State, Xavier, Tennessee, Memphis and Georgetown, only to lose in the championship game to the repeat national champions Florida. Conley's best performance in the tournament came against Xavier. He recorded 21 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks as Ohio State defeated Xavier in overtime. Greg Oden fouled out in regulation and Conley scored 11 of his 21 points in the extra period to lead the Buckeyes to a victory.[3]

Conley ended his season with totals of 441 points and 238 assists and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team.

Following his freshman season, Conley announced his intention to enter the 2007 NBA draft along with Oden. He initially did not sign with an agent in order to preserve his eligibility to withdraw from the draft but ended up signing with his father several weeks before the draft.[4]

College statistics[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006–07 Ohio State 39 39 31.6 .518 .304 .694 3.4 6.1 2.2 .3 11.3
Career 39 39 31.6 .518 .304 .694 3.4 6.1 2.2 .3 11.3

NBA career[edit]

Memphis Grizzlies (2007–present)[edit]

2007 NBA draft[edit]

Conley joined fellow Buckeye teammates Greg Oden and Daequan Cook in declaring for the 2007 NBA draft. Conley and Oden were represented by Conley's father who became certified as an agent by the NBA just prior in the year. Conley was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies with the fourth overall pick after Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, and Al Horford.

2007–08 season[edit]

Conley made his first major appearances in January 2008. Conley's first five career games, he scored 5, 10, 11, 11, and 15 points respectively. He scored a season-high 20 points with 7 assists in a 134–124 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.[5] Conley finished his rookie year with averages of 9.4 points and 4.2 assists per game.

2008–09 season[edit]

Conley started his sophomore campaign competing with Kyle Lowry for minutes. On January 25, 2009, the Grizzlies named Lionel Hollins head coach after firing previous head coach Mark Iavaroni. On February 19, 2009, Lowry was traded to the Houston Rockets, putting Conley in the starting lineup. He averaged 10.8 points and 4.3 assists per game on the year.

2009–10 season[edit]

Conley became the permanent starter for the Grizzlies in 2009. He scored a season high 25 points on March 31, 2010 in the Grizzlies' 102-106 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.[6] He averaged 12.0 points and 5.3 assists on the season.

2010–11 season[edit]

On November 30, Conley had a season-high 28 points in a 98–96 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Conley averaged 13.7 and 6.5 assists on the year to help the Grizzlies make the playoffs for the first time in five years. They entered with the eighth seed in the western conference and were matched up with the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round. Conley and the Grizzlies would go on to beat the Spurs in six games and became only the second eight seed to defeat a one seed in a seven-game series in NBA history. They would then lose to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the semi-finals in seven games.

2011–12 season[edit]

In the lockout shortened season, Conley played 62 of the 66 games and averaged 12.7 points and 6.5 assists. Conley and the Grizzlies would make the playoffs but were eliminated by the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games in the first round.

2012–13 season[edit]

On the year, Conley averaged 14.6 points, 6.1 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game as the Grizzlies made the playoffs once again. They eliminated the Los Angeles Clippers and the Oklahoma City Thunder on the way to reaching the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. They then lost to the San Antonio Spurs in four games. Conley was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team for the first time.

2013–14 season[edit]

Conley averaged a career-high 17.2 points, 6.0 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game on the year as the Grizzles made the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. They were then eliminated in the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games. Conley was the recipient of the NBA Sportsmanship Award.

2014–15 season[edit]

On December 13, 2014, Conley scored a career-high 36 points to help the Grizzlies defeat the Philadelphia 76ers 120-115 in overtime.[7] The Grizzlies would finish with the 5th seed in Western Conference and made the playoffs once again. They faced the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round and defeated them in 5 games. At the end of game 3 in the series, Conley suffered a facial fracture and missed the rest of the first round. He would also miss game 1 of the semi-finals against the Golden State Warriors. Conley returned in game 2, while donning a protective mask, and scored 21 points to lead Memphis to a victory. However, they eventually lost the series in 6 games.

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 Memphis 53 46 26.1 .428 .330 .732 2.6 4.2 .8 .0 9.4
2008–09 Memphis 82 61 30.6 .442 .406 .817 3.4 4.3 1.1 .1 10.9
2009–10 Memphis 80 80 32.1 .445 .387 .743 2.4 5.3 1.4 .2 12.0
2010–11 Memphis 81 81 35.5 .444 .369 .733 3.0 6.5 1.8 .2 13.7
2011–12 Memphis 62 61 35.1 .433 .377 .861 2.5 6.5 2.2 .2 12.7
2012–13 Memphis 80 80 34.5 .440 .362 .830 2.8 6.1 2.2 .3 14.6
2013–14 Memphis 73 73 33.5 .450 .361 .815 2.9 6.0 1.5 .2 17.2
2014–15 Memphis 70 70 31.8 .446 .386 .859 3.0 5.4 1.3 .2 15.8
Career 581 552 32.6 .442 .375 .803 2.9 5.6 1.5 .2 13.4

Playoffs[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011 Memphis 13 13 39.0 .388 .297 .830 3.8 6.4 1.1 .2 15.2
2012 Memphis 7 7 39.6 .421 .500 .750 3.3 7.1 .9 .0 14.1
2013 Memphis 15 15 38.3 .384 .281 .763 4.7 7.1 1.7 .3 17.0
2014 Memphis 7 7 38.1 .431 .111 .769 4.6 7.9 2.0 .1 15.9
2015 Memphis 8 8 30.4 .427 .303 .821 1.1 5.0 1.4 0.0 14.4
Career 50 50 37.4 .403 .290 .784 3.7 6.7 1.4 .2 15.5

Personal life[edit]

Conley is a Christian. Conley has spoken about his faith saying, "Jesus means the world. Jesus means everything."[8]

Footwear and endorsements[edit]

Conley is an endorser of the Adidas brand of footwear and apparel and has worn various Adidas basketball shoe models during NBA games, including the Adidas Crazylight Boost.[9]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]