José Calderón (basketball)

José Calderón

No. 8    Toronto Raptors
Point guard
Personal information
Date of birth	September 28, 1981 (1981-09-28) (age 29)
Place of birth	Villanueva de la Serena, Badajoz, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
Pro career	1998–present
Career history
Diputación Foral Alava (Spain) (1998–1999) CB Lucentum Alicante (Spain) (1999–2001) Baloncesto Fuenlabrada (Spain) (2001–2002) Tau Cerámica (Spain) (2002–2005) Toronto Raptors
José Calderón at NBA.com

José Manuel Calderón Borrallo (born September 28, 1981, in Villanueva de la Serena, Badajoz) is a Spanish professional basketball player who plays for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Toronto Raptors and the Spanish national team.

European career

The 6'3" (1.91 m), 210 lb (95 kg) Calderón spent his first six seasons playing in Europe. He made his Spanish league debut playing for CB Lucentum Alicante.^[1] He switched teams to Baloncesto Fuenlabrada in the 2001–02 season, but seeing his playing time curtailed, he moved again the next season to TAU Cerámica.^[1] There, Calderón played behind former NBA guard Elmer Bennett at point for most of the season, and in the 2003–04 season, he won the King's Cup with TAU Cerámica.^[1] In 2005, he led TAU Cerámica to the Euroleague Final Four, where they finished second.^[1]

NBA career

Calderón played mostly off the bench in his rookie season (2005–06) with the Raptors

Rookie season

Calderón entered the NBA when former Raptors GM Rob Babcock persuaded the Spanish guard to sign with the Toronto Raptors on 3 August 2005.^[2] Known as a talented playmaker, Calderón struggled with his shooting in his first year in the NBA. By the end of the 2005–06 season, he was ranked third among all rookies in assists with 4.5 per game.^[1] He finished the season with 64 played games, having started in 11 of them.^[1] He averaged 5.5 points, 4.5 assists, 2.2 rebounds and an assists-per-turnover ratio of 2.85.^[1]

2006–07 season

Throughout the 2006–07 season, Calderón played primarily as backup to T. J. Ford, turning in solid numbers from the bench.^[3] As acknowledged by coach Sam Mitchell as well as his teammates, Calderón's form was instrumental to the Raptors' push for a playoff spot, and later, the Atlantic Division title.^[4] He ended his regular season with improved averages of 8.8 points and 5.1 assists per game and .525 in field goal percentage, even though he had less playing time compared to his rookie season.^[5] In the 2007 NBA Playoffs, Calderón played in all of Toronto's games in the series against the New Jersey Nets, but the Raptors were defeated 4–2.^[6] Calderón averaged 13.0 points and 5.3 assists per game in his first ever NBA playoff season.^[5]

Calderón taking a jump shot in a 2006–07 game against the Washington Wizards

2007–08 season

Toronto continued to deploy Ford and Calderón in tandem for the point guard position to good effect. Ford was injured for several games in November and December and the Spaniard stepped in with impressive performances.^[7] In three games against the Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls, Calderón provided 37 assists while committing only three turnovers.^[8] 14 games into the season, he was also leading the league in assist-to-turnover ratio with 5.67 to 1,^[9] but even so, he said: "But how I feel about the team right now is that we need T.J. Ford [for the next game]."^[10] 35 games into the season, the Spaniard increased the turnover ratio to 6.15 to 1, setting him on course to break an NBA record (he went to end the season as the league-leader with 5.38 to 1).^[11][12] He shot at least 50% on field goals, 40% on three-pointers, and 90% on free-throws, and is sometimes listed as the sixth member of the NBA's 50-40-90 Club even though he was sixteen free-throws shy of attaining the NBA league minimum number of makes in this category. By mid-season, he was touted as a possibility for making the All-Star reserve team.^[13] Even after Ford returned from injury for the final third of the campaign, Calderón was able to keep his place in the starting lineup. Ford had initially agreed to playing backup, but reportedly became frustrated at not being able to start.^[14] Calderón eventually asked the coaching staff to play Ford as starter instead, leading to widespread praise from the coaching staff, his team mates, and fans. Given that he was going to become a free agent by the end of the campaign, there were even calls for Ford to be traded so that the team could be built around Calderón as point guard.^[14] By the end of the regular season, Calderón was fifth in the league for assists per game,^[12] and in the 2008 NBA Playoffs, Ford split the playing time with him about equally, with the two players combining for averages of 23.4 points and 13.6 assists per game.^[5][15] However, the Raptors were eliminated by the Orlando Magic in the first round four games to one.^[16]

2008–09 season

On 9 July 2008, Calderón re-signed with the Raptors to a multi-year deal, reported to be worth $7.5 million to $8.5 million a season.^[17][18] With the departure of Ford to the Indiana Pacers, the Spaniard was slated to start the point guard position for the Raptors. At the same time, new acquisition Jermaine O'Neal formed the frontcourt with Bosh. However, 17 games into the season, Toronto fired head coach Sam Mitchell and the line-ups were constantly shuffled. By the end of 2008, the Raptors were 12–20, but with Calderón out for almost a month thereafter, the team slipped to 16–28. When Calderón returned to the Raptors lineup, he helped snap a seven-game losing streak with a 114–94 victory over Chicago, recording 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting and 10 assists. Not long after, he set the second-longest streak in NBA history for consecutive free throws made (87).^[19] On 13 March 2009, Calderón surpassed Alvin Williams' franchise record for career assists with 1795.^[20] On 29 March 2009, in a game against Chicago, he tied the franchise record for most assists in game with 19,^[21] and not long after, set an NBA record for highest free-throw percentage in a season. These records, however, were overshadowed by the Raptors rapidly falling out of the playoffs picture soon after the All-Star break, and the criticism Calderón faced for being unable to defend and play an up-tempo game. Toronto eventually finished with a 33–49 record,^[22] with the Spaniard leading the Eastern Conference in assists per game and the league in free throw percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio.^[23][24]

2009–10 season

Going for a layup against the Orlando Magic, 22 November 2009

The Raptors underwent a significant roster overhaul in the preseason, such as bringing Jarrett Jack from Indiana to play as Calderón's back-up and point forward Hedo Türkoğlu to share in ball-handling duties. With a third of the season gone, the Spaniard picked up an injury that put him out for 12 games, resulting in Jack holding on to the starting spot even upon the former's return, paralleling the Ford-Calderón scenario in 2007–08. Still, the pair combined well and helped bring the Raptors to a 21–20 record at the mid-season mark.

Spanish national team

Medal record
Men's Basketball
Competitor for  Spain
Summer Olympics
Silver	2008 Beijing	National Team
FIBA World Championship
Gold	2006 Japan	National Team
FIBA European Championship
Silver	2003 Sweden	National Team
Silver	2007 Spain	National Team

Calderón has enjoyed a successful international career. When he played for Spain's national youth team, he won the gold medal at the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, as well as the bronze medal at the 2000 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship.^[1] As his career advanced, the point guard began appearing for the Spanish national senior team. Calderón was part of the Spanish national team which finished fifth at the 2002 World Championships and second at the 2003 European Championships. ^[1] He was later named the team captain during the 2004 Summer Olympics,^[1] and on 3 September 2006, Calderón and his Spanish squad defeated Greece, and won the 2006 FIBA World Championship along with future Raptors teammate, Jorge Garbajosa.^[1] In EuroBasket 2007, Calderón and Garbajosa again featured for the Spanish team. In the knockout stages, Calderón recorded a game-high 17 points as Spain defeated Germany 83–55 in the quarter-finals.^[25] In the semi-finals, Calderón scored 18 points in Spain's defeat of Greece.^[26] The Spaniard led his team in points again in the final, but Spain lost 60–59 to Russia.^[27] In the 2008 Olympics, Calderón was part of the squad that won the silver medal, but was injured and therefore could not play in the semifinal and the final game. He averaged 7.3 points per game in the tournament.^[28]

Player profile

A pure point guard, Calderón is known for being a pass-first, low-turnover playmaker. Offensively, he is a capable shooter, with consistent range up to the 3-point line. He is also one of the best free throw shooters in the NBA, having set an NBA record for free throw shooting (98.1%) in 2008–09.

NBA career statistics

Correct as of 15 April 2010^[5]

Regular season

Playoffs

Off the court

On 2 March 2007, the Raptors announced that Calderón was named as a Right To Play Athlete Ambassador.^[29] Right To Play is an athlete-driven international humanitarian organization that uses sport and play as a tool for the development of children and youth in the most disadvantaged areas of the world.^[29] As part of the program, Calderón pledged $1000 for every assist he recorded in a home game against the Chicago Bulls on 26 November 2007. He ended the game with 14 assists.^[30]

See also

• Toronto Raptors accomplishments and records

References

External links

• Official Site
• NBA.com Profile
• Euroleague.net Profile
• 2010 FIBA World Championship Profile
• Spanish League Profile (Spanish)
• TSN.ca Profile
• ESPN.com Profile
• SI.com Profile
• Yahoo Sports Profile