Donté Greene

Donté Greene

Greene with the Kings
No. 5 – Dongguan Leopards
Position	Forward
League	CBA
Personal information
Born	(1988-02-21) February 21, 1988 Munich, Bavaria, West Germany
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (211 cm)
Listed weight	226 lb (103 kg)
Career information
High school	Towson Catholic (Towson, Maryland)
College	Syracuse (2007–2008)
NBA draft	2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 28th overall
Selected by the Memphis Grizzlies
Pro playing career	2008–present
Career history
2008–2012	Sacramento Kings
2009	→Reno Bighorns (D-League)
2013	Atléticos de San Germán (Puerto Rico)

Donté Greene

Medal record
Men’s basketball
Competitor for  United States
FIBA U19 World Championship
Silver	2007 Novi Sad	Team competition
FIBA Americas U18 Championship
Gold	2006 San Antonio	Team competition

Donté Dominic Greene (born February 21, 1988) is an American professional basketball forward. A 6-foot-11, 226-pound player from Baltimore, Maryland, Greene played for the Syracuse Orange's basketball team for one year before being selected as the 28th overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2008 NBA draft.^[1]

Early life and high school

Greene was born on the United States Air Force Base in Munich, Germany. His mother worked for the National Security Agency.^[2] In the mid-1990s, Greene's parents divorced. Greene then attended school in Japan before returning to Germany and eventually Hanover, Pennsylvania. In October 2001, Greene's mother died of a heart attack, and Greene moved to Woodlawn, Baltimore County, Maryland with his father and brother.^[3]

Greene graduated in 2007 from Towson Catholic High School, where he averaged 18.4 ppg., 6.8 rpg., 3.0 apg., 2.1 spg. and 4.3 bpg. as a senior in 2006–07 and helped Towson Catholic to a 32–6 record and to its second consecutive Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference and Baltimore Catholic League titles.

He was a 2007 McDonald's All-American, Maryland's 2007 Gatorade Player of the Year,^{[citation needed]} was named to the Nike Brand All-America Team and selected to play in the 2007 Jordan Classic.^[4] In the class of 2007, he ranked as the No. 7 overall recruit and No. 2 power forward by scout.com and as No. 10 overall and the No. 3 small forward by rivals.com.

Team USA

Greene was named as a 2006 USA Men's U18 National Team member on June 26, 2006. He averaged 3.5 ppg. and 1.0 rpg. as the USA captured a 4–0 mark and the gold medal at the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship for Men in San Antonio, Texas.

Greene would once again play on Team USA in the 2007 USA Basketball U19 World Championships. Although he was slowed by a shoulder injury, Greene played in eight-of-nine contests and averaged 4.3 points and 1.5 rebounds. The team took home the silver medal after losing to Serbia in the championship game.^[5]

College career

In his freshman year of college, Greene started all 35 games he appeared in and led Syracuse in scoring with 17.7 points to go along with 7.2 rebounds per game. He became the first Syracuse freshmen since Carmelo Anthony to lead Syracuse in scoring, while setting a new SU freshmen record for 3-pointers in one season, notching 90, surpassing Gerry McNamara, who previously held the record with 85. Greene also led Syracuse with 57 blocks. He was named to the Big East All-Rookie Team.^[6]

Greene had 19 points and 13 rebounds in an 85–73 Syracuse victory over Seton Hall on March 5, 2008.^[7] Greene also scored a season-high 27 points in an 87–81 NIT win over Robert Morris on March 18, 2008.^[8]

Greene struggled in Big East play, where he shot just 28.6 percent (40-for-140) from downtown. While he led Syracuse in scoring, he also took more shots than anyone on the team, and had more turnovers (91) than assists (71). He was also criticized for his poor shot selection and porous defense.^[9] Greene and Jonny Flynn were the country's second-highest scoring freshman duo.^[10] In April, 2008 Greene declared himself eligible for the NBA draft.^[11]

Professional career

In the pick that they received from the Los Angeles Lakers as part of the Pau Gasol trade, the Memphis Grizzlies selected Greene as the 28th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft.^[1] He was later traded by Memphis to the Houston Rockets.^[1] Greene signed with the Rockets on July 15, 2008 and proceeded to score 40 points in his summer league debut at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. He hit 12–20 field goals, including 5-of-10 threes, to go along with 11-of-12 free throws.^[12][13] On August 14, 2008, Greene was traded to the Sacramento Kings.^[14]

On January 10, 2009, Greene was assigned to the Reno Bighorns of the NBA Development League.^[15] He was the first player the Kings had ever sent to the D-League.^[16] In his first game with Reno, he scored 26 points in a 93–91 Bighorns win over the Bakersfield Jam.^[17] After performances of 14,^[18] 18,^[19] and 16 points^[20] in his next three games, he scored 28 points, with 14 scored in the final quarter, in a 117–103 win over the Utah Flash on January 17.^[21] Greene was recalled to the Kings that same day.

In March 2013, Greene signed with the Atléticos de San Germán.^[22]

On April 17, 2013, the Memphis Grizzlies signed Greene for the remainder of the season.^[23] However, he never appeared in a game for the team.

On August 15, 2013, Greene was traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for fellow Syracuse Orange alum Fab Melo.^[24] He was waived by the Celtics on September 17, 2013.^[25]

Following his release by the Celtics, he joined the Dongguan Leopards for their New Zealand tour.^[26] He scored 41 points in their first of three games against the New Zealand Breakers.^[27]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

See also

• National Basketball Association portal

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com, or Basketball-Reference.com