| No. 12 Indiana Pacers | |
|---|---|
| Point guard | |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | October 7, 1986 |
| Place of birth | Orange, New Jersey |
| Nationality | American |
| High school | Amityville Memorial |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 181 lb (82 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | UConn |
| NBA Draft | 2009 / Round: 2 / Pick: 52nd overall |
| Pro career | 2009–present |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
Anthony Jordan "A.J." Price (born October 7, 1986), is an American professional basketball player at point guard for the Indiana Pacers of the NBA. He was born in Orange, New Jersey and raised in East Massapequa, New York.[1] He is also the son of former NBA player Tony Price.[2]
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Price attended Amityville Memorial High School, where he led the Warriors to three straight Long Island Championships and state titles in his sophomore and junior seasons. As a junior (2003) he averaged 25.4 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. His numbers continued to increase as a senior; he averaged 28.5 points and eight rebounds. He finished his three-year career with 130 career three-pointers and 1,394 career points. He was a two-time Newsday Suffolk County Player of the Year.[3]
Price chose UConn over Florida State, Kansas and St. John's.[4] He missed his freshman (2004-2005) season after a life-threatening battle with AVM, which caused bleeding in his brain. He underwent radio-surgery treatment in February 2005 and spent more than 14 months recovering from his illness.[5] It was not until May 2006 that he received clearance from his doctors to return to the court.
However, Price was suspended by the university for the 2005-06 academic semester due to violations of the University Student Code of Conduct. He was arrested, along with fellow basketball player Marcus Williams in August 2005 on charges of trying to sell stolen laptops. Price was not permitted to take classes during the Fall 2005 semester, but returned to classes in the Spring 2006 semester.[6]
He returned to the court for the 2006-2007 season as a sophomore. He appeared in all 31 games, starting at point guard in 23 contests. For the season he averaged 9.4 points per game with 113 assists and 37 steals to his credit in 23.9 minutes per game. In the 2007-2008 season, A.J. started all 33 games at point guard and was UConn's second leading scorer. He won many awards and was named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's All-America Team. He was also a unanimous selection to the First Team All-BIG EAST squad and selected as USBWA District Player of the Year and member of All-District First Team, named a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award, and was chosen as one of ten finalists for the USBWA Player of the Year Award, the Oscar Robertson Trophy and named to the NABC All-District 1 First Team. In the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament against San Diego A.J. played nine minutes before tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament. The team would go on to lose the game by one point in overtime.
The next season 2008-2009 was the best season for A.J. Coming off the ACL injury he was the Huskies leading scorer with 14.7 points a game and was critical in their run to the final four. In a game vs. Gonzaga he hit a falling down three-pointer to force the game into overtime.[7] In the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament he was named the most outstanding player in the West Region, but the Huskies fell in the semi-finals to the Michigan State Spartans.[8] He was a liberal arts major at Connecticut.
A.J. was selected in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft at number 52 overall by the Indiana Pacers on June 25, 2009.
Midway through the 2009-2010 season, Price, along with Earl Watson, moved ahead of T.J. Ford on the team's depth chart. In December, Watson became the starter and Price became the primary backup point guard.
| 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 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–10 | Indiana | 56 | 2 | 15.4 | .410 | .345 | .800 | 1.6 | 1.9 | .6 | .0 | 7.3 |
| 2010–11 | Indiana | 50 | 0 | 15.9 | .356 | .275 | .667 | 1.4 | 2.2 | .6 | .0 | 6.5 |
| Career | 106 | 2 | 15.7 | .384 | .313 | .731 | 1.5 | 2.0 | .6 | .0 | 6.9 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | Indiana | 5 | 0 | 16.0 | .371 | .438 | .900 | 1.4 | 1.2 | .6 | .0 | 8.4 |
| Career | 5 | 0 | 16.0 | .371 | .438 | .900 | 1.4 | 1.2 | .6 | .0 | 8.4 |
He is the older of two children born to Tony and Inga Price. His younger sister's name is Raven. His father Tony was a standout basketball performer at the University of Pennsylvania, helping the team advance to the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and eventually into the Final Four. Tony was the top scorer of the tournament with 142 points and earned a spot on the 1979 East Regional All-Tournament Team.[9]
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