Morris Peterson

Morris Peterson, Jr. (born August 26, 1977 in Flint, Michigan) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent.

College career

Peterson played collegiate basketball at Michigan State University, and helped lead them to the 2000 NCAA title. He was selected 21st overall by the Raptors in the 2000 NBA Draft, and was a starter in the majority of their games during his first three seasons.

In his senior year at MSU, Peterson led the team in scoring, field goal percentage, and free throw percentage. He had a team-high 30 double-digit scoring efforts. He was voted Big Ten Player of the Year and First Team All-Big Ten, and he placed as first or second team All-American on five different polls.

On January 17, 2009, MSU retired his number 42 with MSU's other all time greats before their game against the Illinois Fighting Illini.

NBA career

Toronto Raptors

Drafted in the first round by the Raptors in 2000, Peterson was a fan favorite from the moment he stepped on the floor. While enjoying some early success in his professional career, Peterson's production faced a steady decline, before stepping up in the wake of the new era of Raptor youngsters being ushered in, taking on a more expansive leadership role and transforming himself into an elite perimeter defender, a clutch performer and consistent scorer. He is known for his three-point shooting, acrobatic shots, defense, and fearless driving to the basket.

On December 28, 2005, Peterson set a record for career games played as a Raptor, surpassing Alvin Williams with 418 games played. Peterson also leads the NBA in longest consecutive games played, appearing in 371 straight until November 22, 2006, when he missed his first game in over four years.

Peterson posted career highs in points and rebounds averaging 16.8 points and 4.6 rebounds and threw in 2.3 assists per game through 82 games played in the 2005–06 season.

Perhaps the biggest highlight of his career occurred against the Washington Wizards on March 30, 2007 in a game that helped determine the two teams' playoff seeding. The Raptors trailed 109–106 with only 3.8 seconds left and no timeouts remaining. The Wizards' Michael Ruffin intercepted the full-court pass and tried to toss the ball away in a celebration of an apparent win. But the ball slipped from his hands and was not thrown high enough. There was still enough time on the clock as Peterson grabbed the ball out of thin air and launched a "Hail Mary" three-pointer and sank it to send the game into overtime. The Raptors went on to defeat the Wizards, 123–118.^[1]

After signing Bryan Colangelo, it became apparent that the re-building process of the Raptors would not include Peterson. It was only a matter of time before his contract expired in the summer of 2007 that he would be gone.

New Orleans Hornets

On July 13, 2007, the New Orleans Hornets signed Peterson to a four-year contract, worth $23 million.^[2] Although he has seen a smaller role in New Orleans, Peterson remains a fan favorite in Toronto, with his #24 jersey still seen often at the Air Canada Centre.

According to his twitter.com account, Peterson has decided to switch back to wearing #24 for the 09-10 season with the Hornets.

Peterson is represented by professional sports agent Rob Pelinka.^[3]

Oklahoma City Thunder

On July 8, 2010, the Hornets traded Peterson along with #11 overall pick in the 2010 draft, Cole Aldrich to the Oklahoma City Thunder for two 2010 first-round draft picks (#21 and #26).^[4]

Charlotte Bobcats

On February 24, 2011, Peterson was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats along with D.J. White in exchange for Nazr Mohammed.^[5] He was waived four days later when his contract was bought out by the Bobcats.^[6]

Awards and honors

• NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2001

Accolades

• Career-high: March 31, 2006 Peterson scored a career-best 38 points vs. the Phoenix Suns.
• First-round draft choice (21st overall) by Toronto in 2000.
• Recorded his 800th career three-point field goal April 3, 2005 vs. the Detroit Pistons.
• Had a career-high 14 rebounds April 8, 2005.
• Started the Toronto Raptors' active streak for three-point field goals made consecutively as a team.

NBA career statistics

Correct as of 2 March 2011^[7]

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life

• His father, Morris, played basketball and football at Alcorn State while his mother, Valerie, competed on the volleyball, basketball and track teams at Mississippi Valley State. His cousin, Jonathan Bender, played power forward most recently for the New York Knicks. He is currently a free agent.
• Two sisters, Tonda and Trina, played basketball at Alabama State.
• Established Mo's Maniacs, inviting 24 at-risk youth to each of the last eight home games of the 2002–03 season.
• Majored in child development at Michigan State University.
• Morris started the Morris Peterson Foundation as an opportunity to give back to underprivileged youth in his hometown of Flint, Michigan and New Orleans, Louisiana.

Notes

External links

• NBA.com : Morris Peterson Info Page