| No. 32 Miami Heat | |
|---|---|
| Center | |
| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | July 26, 1986 |
| Place of birth | Birmingham, Alabama |
| Nationality | American |
| High school | Sylacauga HS Sylacauga, Alabama |
| Listed height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) |
| Listed weight | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College | Alabama A&M |
| Pro career | 2008–present |
| League | NBA |
| Career history | |
| 2008–2009 | Matrixx Magix Nijmegen (Holland) |
| 2009–2011 | Rio Grande Valley Vipers (D-League) |
| 2011 | Dakota Wizards (D-League) |
| 2011–present | Miami Heat |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Stats at NBA.com | |
Mickell Gladness (born July 26, 1986) is an American basketball center who currently plays for the Miami Heat of the NBA.
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Gladness was born in Birmingham, Alabama and grew up in Sylacauga.[1][2] He attended Sylacauga High School from 2000–01 to 2003–04, then attended Lawson State Community College for one year.[2]
In his first and only season playing basketball for Lawson State Community College, Gladness, who is 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) and weighed 200 pounds (90.72 kg) when he attended,[3] averaged modest numbers with 3.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.[2] Gladness transferred to Alabama A&M for the remaining three years of his college eligibility.
Due to NCAA rules where a player does not have to sit out one full season if he or she transfers up a division (in this case, from a community college up to Division I) Gladness was able to begin playing immediately as a true sophomore in 2005–06. He appeared in 26 games and blocked 77 shots.[4] It was in his junior season, however, that Gladness made a name for himself in college basketball. Playing in 30 games, Gladness rose out of seemingly nowhere to lead the nation in blocked shots per game at 6.3, with an adjusted-per-40 minutes rate of 7.9 bpg.[3][5] He set an NCAA Division I single game record with 16 blocks against Texas Southern on February 24, 2007.[5] No other player in Division I history has even recorded 15 blocks in a single game.[5] Despite showing similar statistics otherwise, Gladness' blocks per game average dropped to 4.5 for his senior year.[4] It is speculated that opposing players now knew of his shot-blocking ability and avoided getting too close for him to block their shots.[3] Although he did not repeat as the NCAA season shots blocked leader, he did graduate having blocked 396 shots in only three seasons of Division I basketball, which was good enough to be in the all-time top 25 when he graduated.[4][5]
Gladness was not selected in the 2008 NBA Draft. Without making a roster in the NBA, he went to Europe to play for Matrixx Magix Nijmegen in the Dutch Basketball League in 2008–09, the highest professional basketball league in the Netherlands.[6][7] Gladness had signed a two-year contract, but after dissatisfaction with the style of play on Matrixx he decided to opt out of his contract's final season.[6][7] He participated in the 2010 NBA Summer League as a member of the Miami Heat. He was then signed by the Heat to a non-guaranteed deal on September 27, 2010,[8] but was waived during the pre-season on October 11.
On December 24, 2011, the Heat announced that Gladness made the roster for the 2011-12 season.[9]
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