| Watson with the Bulls | |
| No. 7 Chicago Bulls | |
|---|---|
| Guard | |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | April 17, 1984 |
| Place of birth | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Nationality | American |
| High school | Bishop Gorman[1] |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | University of Tennessee (2002–2006) |
| NBA Draft | 2006 / Undrafted |
| Pro career | 2006–present |
| Career history | |
| 2006–2007 | Bipop Carire Reggio Emilia (Italy) |
| 2006–2007 | PAOK Thessaloniki (Greece) |
| 2007–2008 | →Rio Grande Valley Vipers (D-League) |
| 2008–2010 | Golden State Warriors |
| 2010–present | Chicago Bulls |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Charles Akeem Watson, Jr.[1] (born April 17, 1984,[2] in Las Vegas, Nevada[3]) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Chicago Bulls of the NBA. He is 6' 2" (1.88 m) tall and plays the guard position.[1]
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C. J. Watson played for the Tennessee Volunteers for 4 seasons. His best season came during his senior year (2005-06), played under head coach Bruce Pearl, where he averaged 15.3 points, 3.9 assists and 3.1 rebounds. He earned Second Team All-SEC honors from the Associated Press and the league coaches. He finished his collegiate career as Tennessee's second all-time leader in assists (577), second in steals (198), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.396), tied for eighth in three-point field goals (401), and 15th in scoring (1,424 points).[1]
Despite an excellent college career, Watson went undrafted in 2006 NBA Draft. He then played briefly with San Antonio Spurs in 2006 NBA summer league before joining Italian Serie A team Bipop Carire Reggio Emilia. He averaged 8.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 17 games. He then moved on to join Greek A1 Ethniki team PAOK B.C. where he averaged 7.4 points and 2.2 assists in five games.[1]
Watson returned to the states to revive his NBA career, participated in 2007 NBA summer league with the Spurs and later joined Charlotte Bobcats training camp. However, he once again failed to make the roster for the season. On November 1, 2007, he joined NBA D-League and was drafted 5th overall by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.[4] He averaged 26.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.38 steals in 38.1 minutes per game for the Vipers before signed by Golden State Warriors on January 8, 2008. At the time of the call up, Watson was the third leading scorer in the D-League. He also became the 100th player to be called up by a NBA team in D-League history.[5]
On January 8, 2008, Golden State Warriors signed Watson to a 10-day contract to be a backup point guard to All-Star Baron Davis.[5] He impressed Warriors coach Don Nelson and subsequently earned a second 10-day contract.[6] After two 10-day contracts, where he appeared in 8 games, averaging 5.4 points and 1.8 assists in 16.6 minutes, Watson was signed for the remainder of the season.
On February 17, 2010, Watson scored a career-high 40 points against the Sacramento Kings with 16-of-23 shooting.[7][8]
On July 21, 2010, Watson was acquired in a sign and trade deal by the Chicago Bulls.[9] On November 26, 2010, the Bulls' starting point guard Derrick Rose was out with a stiff neck. Watson started against the Nuggets and played very well in a loss, scoring a season high 33 points while also shooting 50% from the field.[10][11] On December 14, 2011, Watson changed his number from 32 to 7 because of Rip Hamilton signing with the Bulls.
C. J. Watson majored in psychology at Tennessee and continues to pursue his degree. He has one brother, Kashif Watson who played college basketball at the University of Idaho,[12] and one sister, Vonyetta Brooks. He is also actively involved in the Hoops For Hope program.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | Golden State | 32 | 0 | 11.5 | .426 | .346 | .793 | 1.0 | 1.1 | .5 | .0 | 3.7 |
| 2008–09 | Golden State | 77 | 18 | 24.5 | .457 | .400 | .870 | 2.5 | 2.7 | 1.2 | .1 | 9.5 |
| 2009–10 | Golden State | 65 | 15 | 27.5 | .468 | .310 | .771 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 1.6 | .1 | 10.3 |
| 2010-11 | Chicago | 82 | 1 | 13.3 | .371 | .393 | .740 | 1.1 | 2.3 | .7 | .1 | 4.9 |
| Career | 256 | 34 | 20.0 | .437 | .362 | .807 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 1.0 | .1 | 7.5 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Chicago | 16 | 0 | 8.5 | .339 | .200 | .909 | .9 | 1.9 | .5 | .0 | 3.2 |
| Career | 16 | 0 | 8.5 | .339 | .200 | .909 | .9 | 1.9 | .5 | .0 | 3.2 |
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