Ty Lawson

Ty Lawson (born November 3, 1987 in Clinton, Maryland) is an American basketball player who is currently playing for the Denver Nuggets of the NBA. Lawson was drafted as the 18th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, and was immediately traded to the Denver Nuggets for a future 1st round pick. Lawson played college basketball for the University of North Carolina from 2006 to 2009.

Lawson was named the ACC Player of the Year, the first time a point guard had won the ACC's highest honor since fellow Tar Heel Phil Ford won the award in 1978.

Middle school and high school

Lawson attended sixth and seventh grade at Gwynn Park Middle School in Prince George's County, Maryland.^[1] In the eighth grade, he was recruited to the Newport School in Kensington, MD.^[2]

Lawson attended Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland from 2003–2004. He later transferred to and graduated from Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, where he was a first team USA Today All-American. He participated in the McDonald's All-American Game, Jordan Classic and the Nike Hoop Summit. During Ty Lawson's senior year at Oak Hill Academy he averaged 23.8 points, 9.1 assists and five steals. His highest scoring game in high school was 55 points.

College

Lawson began playing for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2006–07 season. In 38 games, he led the Tar Heels with 5.6 assists per game and was fourth with 10.2 points per game, during which time he helped the Tar Heels win a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title, as well as the ACC Tournament. During his sophomore year he had 12.7 ppg and 5.3 assists per game, although he saw much less playing time due to an ankle sprain that kept him out much of the season. In spite of this nagging injury, he eventually returned to help Carolina repeat as both ACC regular season and tournament champions and ultimately earn a berth to the Final Four.^[3]

He was charged with driving after drinking on June 6, 2008 by a police officer who felt that Lawson's music was too loud. He was not charged with a DWI because he was below the legal limit of .08 BAC, but still received misdemeanors due to state law prohibiting anyone under the age of 21 from driving after drinking any amount of alcohol.^[4] He was also charged for driving with a suspended license.^[5]

On the day of the deadline to withdraw from the June 16 2008 NBA Draft, Lawson decided to return to North Carolina for his junior season, along with Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and All-American Tyler Hansbrough, who all spurned the NBA draft to return to UNC, leaving the starters for the 2007–2008 season intact for the 2008–2009 season.^[6]

Lawson was voted to the All-ACC First Team his junior year and was named the ACC Player of the Year, the first time a point guard had won the ACC's highest honor since fellow Tar Heel Phil Ford won the award in 1978.^[7] Lawson was also a consensus second team all American as a junior, which makes him eligible to have his jersey honored in the rafters of the Smith Center at the conclusion of his college career. In 2009, Lawson also won the Bob Cousy Award that honors the best collegiate point guard. During the 2009 NCAA championship game, he also set a record with 8 steals against Michigan State, giving him the most steals of any player in an NCAA championship game and helping lead the Tar Heels to a national title.

On April 23, 2009 Lawson announced that he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2009 NBA Draft.

College statistics

Professional career

NBA

Due to concerns of his height and his often-sprained ankle, Lawson slipped to 18th in the 2009 NBA Draft, where he was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves. However, they had already drafted 2 point guards, making Lawson expendable. This gave the Nuggets an opportunity to get a quality player as they traded their future draft pick to Minnesota in exchange for Lawson.^[8][9] Lawson got a better opportunity in Denver, serving as a backup to then-Nugget Chauncey Billups. In a 105–79 victory against the Los Angeles Lakers on November 13, 2009, Lawson made his Denver teammates and the Pepsi Center crowd jump up out of their seats when he dunked on then-Laker center D.J. Mbenga (7'0") and Josh Powell (6'9").

After Billups was traded to the Knicks on February 22, 2011 as part of the Carmelo Anthony trade, Lawson became the Nuggets' starting point guard. On April 9, 2011, Lawson became the first player in NBA history to make his first 10 3-point attempts to start a game. He went 10–11 from behind the arc and finished the game with 37 points (a new career-high), 7 rebounds and 6 assists.^[10]

Europe

On August 15, 2011 he signed a one-year contract with BC Žalgiris. The deal included an out-clause that allowed him to return to the Denver Nuggets when the 2011 NBA lockout ended.^[11][12]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

• 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
• 2006 high school boys basketball All-Americans

References

External links

• ESPN.com
• NBA Draft.net
• Draft Express
• [1]