Ben Gordon

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Ben Gordon
Ben Gordon signing autographs before a Chicago Bulls game
Ben Gordon signing autographs before a Chicago Bulls game
Position Point guard/Shooting guard
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight 200 lb (91 kg)
Team Chicago Bulls
Jersey #7
Born April 4, 1983 (1983-04-04) (age 25)
London, England, UK
Nationality American/British
College Connecticut
Draft 3rd overall, 2004
Chicago Bulls
Pro career 2004–present
Awards 2004–05 NBA Sixth Man of the Year
2004–05 NBA All-Rookie First Team

Benjamin "Ben" Gordon (born April 4, 1983) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Chicago Bulls. In college he played both shooting guard and point guard for the University of Connecticut.[1]

Contents

[edit] Early life

Ben Gordon was born in London, England, UK to Jamaican parents.[2] He moved to the United States shortly after his birth, and grew up in Mount Vernon, New York.[1] Gordon played high school basketball for the Mount Vernon Knights, where he helped lead them to the 2000 New York State Public and Federation Championships. Gordon was an All-State player at Mount Vernon and a top 40 national recruit.[1] While playing college basketball with Connecticut, Gordon helped lead the Huskies to the 2004 NCAA championship along with second overall pick, Emeka Okafor.[3] Gordon was picked 3rd overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 2004 NBA Draft[4] and in the current 2007-08 season is leading the team in points scored per game.

In Gordon's hometown of Mount Vernon, there is an annual "Ben Gordon Day In The Park", which is sponsored by the city and the Mount Vernon Boys & Girls Club. Gordon hosts a basketball camp run by "Five Star Camp".[5] Throughout his college and NBA career, Gordon has been given nicknames including "Gentle Ben"[6] and "Madison Square Gordon"[6] Gordon also has an energy drink called "BG7", so named after his initials and number on his jersey.[7]

[edit] College career

As a freshman at Connecticut, Gordon ranked second on the team in scoring (12.6 ppg), despite coming off the bench for most of the season. He hit the game winning 3-point field goal against Villanova in the Big East Tournament.[8] As a sophomore Gordon averaged a team-leading 19.5 points (which ranked 50th in the nation) and also led the Huskies with 156 total assists, which earned Gordon Second Team All-Big East honors.[8]

In Gordon's junior and final year at Connecticut, he averaged a team-leading 20.5 points (again ranked 50th in the nation), 4.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He also connected on 104 three-pointers, the second-highest single season total in Connecticut's history.[8] Gordon set a Big East Tournament record with 81 total points, earning the tournaments' Most Outstanding Performer honors. Gordon also earned Most Outstanding Player of the Phoenix Regional honors in the NCAA Tournament. He also led the tournament field with 127 total points, as he helped lead the Huskies to the NCAA Championship.[8] Following his junior year, Gordon declared himself eligible for the 2004 NBA Draft and was selected third overall by the Chicago Bulls.

[edit] Professional career

Before the 2004 NBA Draft, Gordon thought that he would be drafted anywhere from 7th to 12th, but as the draft got closer he claimed to have an inkling that the Bulls might draft him third as they did Michael Jordan 20 years earlier in the 1984 NBA Draft. "I'm a guy who looks at the significance of numbers a lot. Before the draft, I had no idea I'd get drafted third. I thought I was going to go anywhere from 7th to 12th. As we started getting closer and I started to get an inkling that the Bulls could be a team that I could end up playing for, I started to look at the numbers. Michael Jordan was drafted by the Bulls and he was the third pick just like you."[9] Gordon wore the number 4 on his jersey in high school and college, but has to wear the number 7 with the Bulls due to the number 4 being retired. Gordon said, "I wore No. 4 my whole career but, of course, Jerry Sloan already had that number beforehand (it has been since retired by the organization) so there wasn't much I could do about it. So all I did was just [put together] being the third pick with my old No. 4. That's why I wear No. 7."[9]

In the 2004–05 season, Gordon's rookie year, he averaged 15.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while playing 24.2 minutes per game. Gordon finished with the second most double-digit fourth quarter point performances in the NBA with 21 behind LeBron James' 22.[10] Gordon helped lead the Bulls to their first playoff appearance since the Jordan era ended in 1998. After the season, Gordon became the first rookie in NBA history to be awarded the NBA Sixth Man Award.[11] Gordon was also the NBA's Eastern Conference Rookie of The Month 3 times (January, February, and March),[12] and was also voted onto the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Gordon had turnover problems (4.46 per 48 minutes; 6th in the league in 04–05) and a lack of stamina: "More than anything, I just want to come back [in the fall] in better shape". "A lot of this game is about conditioning and how long you can give your best performance."[13] In his second season Gordon alternated between starting and coming off the bench for the bulls starting 47 games while coming off the bench for 35. It should be noted, that it was during the middle, and latter parts of the season that he earned his spot in the starting lineup. Gordon increased his minutes played per game and his scoring and assist averages.[14] Gordon was selected to play for the Sophomore team in the Rookie Challenge held during the NBA All-Star Weekend, in which he scored 17 points.[15]

On April 14, 2006 in a Bulls win over the Washington Wizards, Gordon tied the record for the most consecutive three-pointers made in a game without a miss with 9.[16] Near the end of his second season in the NBA, Gordon revealed that he is in the process of making an energy drink called "BG7", named after his initials and jersey number. Gordon unveiled the drink at One Sixty Blue, a restaurant co-owned by Michael Jordan. The drink is made with white tea,[7] which has a very high amount of antioxidants, and the most polyphenols of any tea.[17]

Over the span of two weeks, Gordon scored at least 40 points in a game on two occasions.[18] Later on March 4, 2007, he established a career high 48 points, leading a miraculous comeback effort to win 126-121 in overtime against the Milwaukee Bucks.[19]

Career season averages

Year    Team    G       GS      MPG     FG%     3P%     FT%     RPG     APG     SPG     PPG
04–05   CHI     82      3       24.4    .411    .405    .863    2.6     2.0     0.6     15.1
05–06   CHI     80      47      31.0    .422    .435    .787    2.7     3.0     0.9     16.9
06–07   CHI     82      51      33.0    .455    .413    .864    3.1     3.6     0.8     21.4
Career          244     101     29.5    .431    .418    .843    2.8     2.9     0.8     17.8


[edit] International career

On April 1, 2008, Ben Gordon was named to the shortlist for the British national basketball team, which is hoping to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Gordon was eligible for the team by virtue of his British birth. He joined Bulls teammate Luol Deng, who is a British citizen.[20]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c UCONN player profile URL last accessed July 31, 2006
  2. ^ ESPN Player Profile URL last accessed August 1, 2006
  3. ^ Gordon scores 21 as UCONN beats Georgia Tech to become national champs URL last accessed July 31, 2006
  4. ^ Bulls take Gordon third overall URL last accessed July 31, 2006
  5. ^ Ben Gordon Day Chat URL last accessed August 26, 2006
  6. ^ a b Bulls.com discusses Ben Gordon's nickname "Madison Square Gordon" and "Gentle Ben" URL last accessed on July 31, 2006
  7. ^ a b Gordon still sippin' pretty: He has his own drink URL last accessed December 10, 2006
  8. ^ a b c d Ben Gordon prospect profile and college stats URL last accessed July 31, 2006
  9. ^ a b Q&A: Ben Gordon URL last accessed November 17, 2006
  10. ^ Ben Gordon, Chris Duhon, Andres Nocioni and Luol Deng Bulls Fource URL last accessed August 1, 2006
  11. ^ Gordon named NBA's 6th man URL last accessed July 31, 2006
  12. ^ Gordon named rookie of the month for January, February, and March URL last accessed July 31, 2006
  13. ^ Bulls.com interview with Ben Gordon URL last accessed on July 31, 2006
  14. ^ Stats and Bio URL last accessed August 1, 2006
  15. ^ Recap for 2006 Rookie Challenge game URL last accessed July 31, 2006
  16. ^ Gordon ties record for most 3-point FGs made without a miss URL last accessed December 24, 2006
  17. ^ White Tea : Health Effects URL last accessed December 10, 2006
  18. ^ Elias Says... A daily glance inside the numbers from the world of sports URL last accessed January 3, 2006
  19. ^ Yahoo! Sports, Chicago 126, Milwaukee 121, OT URL last accessed March 27, 2006
  20. ^ Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon called up to British basketball squad. AP Sports. April 1, 2008. Retrieved on April 5, 2008.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Antawn Jamison		 NBA Sixth Man of the Year
2005		 Succeeded by
Mike Miller
v • d • e
Chicago Bulls current roster

2 Sefolosha | 5 Nocioni | 6 Brown | 7 Gordon | 9 Deng | 12 Hinrich | 13 Noah | 15 Simmons | 20 Curry | 21 Duhon | 24 Thomas | 32 Hughes | 34 Gray | 35 Nichols | 90 Gooden | Coach Del Negro
v • d • e
Connecticut Huskies Basketball 2003-2004 NCAA Champions
3 Charlie Villanueva | 4 Ben Gordon | 5 Marcus Williams | 11 Hilton Armstrong | 12 Taliek Brown | 21 Josh Boone | 30 Shamon Tooles | 31 Rashad Anderson | 33 Denham Brown | 50 Emeka Okafor
Coach Jim Calhoun
v • d • e
2004 NBA Draft
Draft Templates
83 • 84 • 85 • 86 • 87 • 88 • 89 • 90 • 91 • 92 • 93 • 94 • 95 • 96 • 97 • 98 • 99 • 00 • 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 07 • 08
v • d • e
NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award
1983: Jones | 1984: McHale | 1985: McHale | 1986: Walton | 1987: Pierce | 1988: Tarpley | 1989: Johnson | 1990: Pierce | 1991: Schrempf | 1992: Schrempf | 1993: Robinson | 1994: Curry | 1995: Mason | 1996: Kukoč | 1997: Starks | 1998: Manning | 1999: Armstrong | 2000: Rogers | 2001: McKie | 2002: Williamson | 2003: Jackson | 2004: Jamison | 2005: Gordon | 2006: Miller | 2007: Barbosa | 2008: Ginóbili