Antawn Jamison

Antawn Jamison
Jamison with the Cleveland Cavaliers
No. 4   Cleveland Cavaliers
Power forward
Personal information
Date of birth June 12, 1976 (1976-06-12) (age 35)
Place of birth Shreveport, Louisiana
Nationality American
High school Providence (North Carolina)
Listed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight 235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
College North Carolina (1995–1998)
NBA Draft 1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4th overall
Selected by the Toronto Raptors
Pro career 1998–present
Career history
19982003 Golden State Warriors
2003–2004 Dallas Mavericks
20042010 Washington Wizards
2010–present Cleveland Cavaliers
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Antawn Cortez Jamison ( /ˈæntwɑːn/; born June 12, 1976) is an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He currently plays power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers and was a member of the USA National Team for the 2006 FIBA World Championships

Contents

Early years

Jamison was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. His name was accidentally printed as "Antawn" instead of "Antwan" on his birth certificate. However, his family decided to keep the misspelling as they felt it would be more distinctive.[1] His first name is still pronounced as though it were spelled "Antwan" or "Antoine".[2] Jamison played middle school basketball and was a quarterback in football at Quail Hollow Middle School in Charlotte, North Carolina.[3] Jamison played high school basketball at Providence High School in Charlotte, North Carolina and was named a McDonald's All-American after his senior season.[4]

College career

Jamison played college basketball at University of North Carolina for three seasons, averaging 19.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.[5] In his junior year, he was awarded both the Naismith and Wooden Awards as the most outstanding men's college basketball player for the 1997–98 season. Jamison decided to forgo his senior year of eligibility and enter the NBA draft in 1998 thus ending his college career. On March 1, 2000 Jamison's #33 was retired at the Dean E. Smith Center. He became only the seventh North Carolina basketball player to have his number retired.

NBA career

From Golden State to Dallas

Jamison was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the fourth pick of the 1998 NBA Draft, who then dealt his rights to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for former North Carolina teammate and best friend Vince Carter. Jamison spent the first five years of his NBA career with the Warriors, and despite a disappointing rookie season, was often the only bright spot on a low-performing team. He scored a career-high 51 points on 2 occasions, back to back against Seattle and the Lakers (the Warriors won that game). He averaged a career-high 24.9 points per game in 2000–01, his third season in the league. In 2003, he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in an eight-player deal, and experienced his first winning season in 2003–04 as the Mavericks finished 52–30 and made the playoffs, which marked the first time in his career that Jamison has experience post-season play. Jamison was also named as the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year for his efforts. Unfortunately for the Mavericks, they suffered a setback in the first round, falling in five games to the Sacramento Kings.

Washington Wizards

At season's end Jamison was traded again, this time to the Wizards, in exchange for former Tar Heel Jerry Stackhouse, Christian Laettner, and a first round draft pick (which turned out to be University of Wisconsin–Madison point guard, Devin Harris).

In the 2004–05 season with the Wizards, he was named to the NBA All-Star team for the first time in his career and the Wizards enjoyed a solid 45–37 win–loss season, their finest effort in 26 years. They also made the playoffs for the first time since 1997 and advanced to the second round for the first time since 1982. In 2005, Jamison played for the US national team in the 2006 FIBA World Championship, winning a bronze medal.[6]

Jamison led the Wizards against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the 2007 playoffs. Jamison averaged 32 points and 10 rebounds per game during the series.

During the 2007–08 season, Jamison was named to his second NBA Eastern All-Star team.

On June 30, 2008, Jamison signed a four-year, 50-million dollar contract with the Wizards. Jamison stated his desire to end his career with the Wizards.[7]

Cleveland Cavaliers

On February 17, 2010, Jamison was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a three-team, six-player trade that sent Al Thornton from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Washington Wizards, Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, a 2010 first round pick and the rights to Emir Preldžič from Cleveland to Washington, Drew Gooden from Washington to Los Angeles and Sebastian Telfair from Los Angeles to Cleveland. In his first game with the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Charlotte Bobcats, Jamison scored only two points from free throws as he went 0 for 12 from the field.[8] In his second game with the Cavaliers, Jamison scored 19 points against the Orlando Magic. The Cleveland Cavaliers made the NBA playoffs as the team with the best record. The Cavaliers defeated Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls in five games, but fell to the Boston Celtics in 6 games. Weeks after the series, Jamison's teammate LeBron James left the Cavaliers, to join the Miami Heat alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Antawn Jamison and the Cleveland Cavaliers would have very little success in the 2010-11 NBA season. They would set NBA history with a 26 game losing streak (previously set by themselves in 1983). That streak was finally snapped with a 126-119 overtime win against the Los Angeles Clippers. In January 2011, Jamison said that he was considering retirement, and that his 2011-2012 season could be his last.[9] On February 27, in a loss to the 76ers, Jamison was fouled and broke his left pinky. He underwent a surgery, and would be out the rest of the season.[10]

Philanthropy

Jamison awarded his first Antawn C. Jamison Scholarship at his high school alma mater in 2003.[11] Jamison has also launched a campaign which he calls "A Better Tomorrow" which he hopes to use to provide the underprivileged with a chance at a better future. He says of the project: "As a professional athlete, I have an obligation to help those less fortunate. I really enjoy being in a position to aid my community - both in the Bay Area and back home in Charlotte - and put a smile on somebody's face. That is what it is all about. I think it is especially important to give back during the holidays, when people tend to feel a little down if things are not going too well."[12]

NBA career statistics

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

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1998–99 Golden State 47 24 22.5 .452 .300 .588 6.4 .7 .8 .3 9.6
1999–00 Golden State 43 41 36.2 .471 .286 .611 8.3 2.1 .7 .3 19.6
2000–01 Golden State 82 82 41.4 .442 .302 .715 8.7 2.0 1.4 .3 24.9
2001–02 Golden State 82 82 37.0 .447 .324 .734 6.8 2.0 .9 .6 19.7
2002–03 Golden State 82 82 39.3 .470 .311 .789 7.0 1.9 .9 .6 22.2
2003–04 Dallas 82 2 29.0 .535 .400 .748 6.3 .9 1.0 .4 14.8
2004–05 Washington 68 68 38.3 .437 .341 .760 7.6 2.3 .8 .2 19.6
2005–06 Washington 82 80 40.1 .442 .394 .731 9.3 1.9 1.1 .2 20.5
2006–07 Washington 70 70 38.0 .450 .364 .736 8.0 1.9 1.1 .5 19.8
2007–08 Washington 79 79 38.7 .436 .339 .760 10.2 1.5 1.3 .4 21.4
2008–09 Washington 81 81 38.2 .468 .351 .754 8.9 1.9 1.2 .3 22.2
2009–10 Washington 41 41 38.9 .420 .345 .700 8.8 1.3 1.0 .2 20.5
2009–10 Cleveland 25 23 32.4 .485 .342 .506 7.7 1.3 1.1 .5 15.8
2010–11 Cleveland 56 38 32.9 .427 .346 .731 6.7 1.7 0.9 .5 18.0
Career 920 793 36.5 .455 .347 .728 8.0 1.7 1.0 .4 19.7
All-Star 2 0 12.5 .375 .333 .000 2.5 .5 .0 .5 3.5

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003–04 Dallas 5 0 21.8 .456 .250 .733 5.0 .4 1.0 .4 13.0
2004–05 Washington 10 10 38.0 .451 .500 .688 6.3 1.2 .7 .4 18.5
2005–06 Washington 6 6 42.2 .424 .313 .778 7.2 3.0 1.0 .3 19.2
2006–07 Washington 4 4 43.3 .476 .346 .750 9.8 1.3 .5 1.0 32.0
2007–08 Washington 6 6 39.5 .406 .280 .571 12.0 1.0 1.3 1.3 16.8
2009–10 Cleveland 11 11 34.1 .467 .256 .732 7.4 1.3 .6 1.0 15.3
Career 42 37 36.3 .448 .335 .708 7.7 1.4 .8 .7 18.1

Career highs

References

External links