James White (basketball)
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James William White IV (born October 21, 1982 in Washington, D.C.) is an American professional basketball player in the NBA for the San Antonio Spurs. He is 6' 7" and weighs 200 lb.
He was selected 31st overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2006 NBA Draft, and his rights were immediately traded to the Indiana Pacers for the rights to Alexander Johnson (the Pacers' pick at #45 overall), and second-round draft choices in 2007 and 2008. White was cut by the Indiana Pacers on October 30th, 2006, with coach Rick Carlisle saying his release was the most difficult cut he's been involved with in his coaching career. He averaged 3.8 points and 2.0 rebounds in eight pre-season games. White signed a two-year contract with the San Antonio Spurs on November 3rd, 2006.[1]
In December 2006 the Spurs assigned White to play in their NBA Development League affiliated team the Austin Toros. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich stated that the reason for the move was that the in-season schedule does not allow much time to practice and the veteran-heavy team does not allow any spare minutes for White. He will continue to receive his salary from the Spurs while playing for the Toros and he can be recalled from the Toros at any time. Toros coach Dennis Johnson has stated that White will receive regular playing time.[2]
White played his freshman year at the University of Florida in 2001-02, averaging 6.2 points per game. He transferred to the University of Cincinnati, and after sitting out in 2002-03, he became a starter for the Bearcats in his three years with them, including his senior year when he averaged 16.3 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.8 blocks.
He is well-known for his athleticism and his ability to dunk. Since high school, his most famous dunk has been the through-the-legs dunk, with many variations. He is also known for his ability to jump from the free throw line and dunk a basketball with both hands. "Flight" White was a runner-up in two notable dunk contests: behind future Florida and New York Knicks power forward David Lee in the 2001 McDonalds High School Slam Dunk Contest, and behind North Carolina's David Noel in the NCAA College Slam Dunk Contest during the 2006 Final Four weekend.
On March 26th, 2007, White made his NBA debut with the Spurs against the Golden State Warriors, scoring 9 points and grabbing 3 rebounds in 14 minutes during his first game.
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| 2006 NBA Draft | ||
|---|---|---|
| First Round Andrea Bargnani | LaMarcus Aldridge | Adam Morrison | Tyrus Thomas | Shelden Williams | Brandon Roy | Randy Foye | Rudy Gay | Patrick O'Bryant | Mouhamed Sene | J.J. Redick | Hilton Armstrong | Thabo Sefolosha | Ronnie Brewer | Cedric Simmons | Rodney Carney | Shawne Williams | Oleksiy Pecherov | Quincy Douby | Renaldo Balkman | Rajon Rondo | Marcus Williams | Josh Boone | Kyle Lowry | Shannon Brown | Jordan Farmar | Sergio Rodríguez | Maurice Ager | Mardy Collins | Joel Freeland |
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| Second Round James White | Steve Novak | Solomon Jones | Paul Davis | P.J. Tucker | Craig Smith | Bobby Jones | Kosta Perovic | David Noel | Denham Brown | James Augustine | Daniel Gibson | Marcus Vinicius | Lior Eliyahu | Alexander Johnson | Dee Brown | Paul Millsap | Vladimir Veremeenko | Leon Powe | Ryan Hollins | Cheick Samb | Guillermo Diaz | Yotam Halperin | Hassan Adams | Ejike Ugboaja | Edin Bavcic | Loukas Mavrokefalidis | J.R. Pinnock | Damir Markota | Will Blalock |
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