Ben Gordon

For other people named Ben Gordon, see Ben Gordon (disambiguation).
Ben Gordon

Gordon with the Bobcats
No. 7 – Orlando Magic
Position Shooting guard
League NBA
Personal information
Born April 4, 1983
London, England
Nationality British / American
Listed height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight 205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school Mount Vernon
(Mount Vernon, New York)
College Connecticut (2001–2004)
NBA draft 2004 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall
Selected by the Chicago Bulls
Pro career 2004–present
Career history
2004–2009 Chicago Bulls
2009–2012 Detroit Pistons
2012–2014 Charlotte Bobcats
2014–present Orlando Magic
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Benjamin Ashenafi "Ben" Gordon (born April 4, 1983)[1] is a British-American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Gordon played college basketball for the University of Connecticut and won a national championship with them in 2004.[2]

He is the only player to have ever won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award as a rookie. Gordon is second in career three point field goals for the Chicago Bulls, behind Kirk Hinrich.[3]

Early life

Ben Gordon was born in London, England to Jamaican parents.[4] He moved to the United States shortly after his birth, and grew up in Mount Vernon, New York.[2] Gordon played high school basketball for the Mount Vernon Knights, and helped lead the team to the 2000 New York State Public and Federation Championships. Gordon was an All-State player at Mount Vernon and a top 40 national recruit.[2] He was heavily recruited by Seton Hall, but decided to attend UConn.

College career

As a freshman at Connecticut, Gordon ranked second on the team in scoring (12.6 ppg), despite coming off the bench for most of the season. He hit the game winning 3-point field goal against Villanova in the Big East Tournament.[5] As a sophomore Gordon averaged a team-leading 19.5 points (which ranked 50th in the nation) and also led the Huskies with 156 total assists, which earned Gordon Second Team All-Big East honors.[5]

In Gordon's junior and final year at Connecticut, he averaged a team-leading 20.5 points (again ranked 50th in the nation), 4.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He also connected on 104 three-pointers, the second-highest single season total in Connecticut's history.[5] Gordon set a Big East Tournament record with 81 total points, earning the tournaments' Most Outstanding Performer honors. Gordon also earned the Most Outstanding Player award of the Phoenix Regional honors in the NCAA Tournament. He also led the tournament field with 127 total points, as he helped lead the Huskies to the NCAA Championship.[5] Following his junior year, Gordon declared himself eligible for the 2004 NBA Draft and was selected third overall by the Chicago Bulls, one pick after the Charlotte Bobcats drafted his teammate at Connecticut, Emeka Okafor.

NBA career

Chicago Bulls

Ben Gordon signing autographs before a Chicago Bulls game.

Before the 2004 NBA Draft, Gordon thought that he would be drafted anywhere from 7th to 12th, but as the draft got closer he claimed to have an inkling that the Bulls might draft him third as they did with Michael Jordan 20 years earlier in the 1984 NBA Draft. "I'm a guy who looks at the significance of numbers a lot. Before the draft, I had no idea I'd get drafted third. I thought I was going to go anywhere from 7th to 12th. As we started getting closer and I started to get an inkling that the Bulls could be a team that I could end up playing for, I started to look at the numbers. Michael Jordan was drafted by the Bulls and he was the third pick just like you."[6] Gordon wore the number 4 on his jersey in high school and college, but had to wear the number 7 with the Bulls due to the number 4 being retired. Gordon said, "I wore No. 4 my whole career but, of course, Jerry Sloan already had that number beforehand so there wasn't much I could do about it. So all I did was just [put together] being the third pick with my old No. 4. That's why I wear No. 7."[6]

In the 2004–05 season, his rookie year, Gordon averaged 15.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while playing 24.2 minutes per game. Gordon also finished with 21 double-digit fourth quarter point performances, second to only LeBron James' 22 in the NBA.[7] Gordon helped lead the Bulls to their first playoff appearance since the Jordan era ended in 1998. After the season, Gordon became the first rookie in NBA history to be awarded the NBA Sixth Man Award.[8] Gordon was also the NBA's Eastern Conference Rookie of The Month 3 times (January, February, and March),[9] and was also voted onto the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Gordon during a 2008–09 regular season game with the Bulls

However, Gordon also had problems with turnovers (4.46 per 48 minutes; 6th in the league in 04–05) and an overall lack of stamina in his rookie season. He remarked, "More than anything, I just want to come back [in the fall] in better shape". "A lot of this game is about conditioning and how long you can give your best performance."[10] In his sophomore campaign (2005–06), Gordon alternated between the starting lineup and bench for the Bulls, starting 47 games (mostly in the later half of the season) while coming off of the bench for 35. The minutes Gordon played per game rose, as did his scoring and assist averages.[11] Gordon was selected to play for the Sophomores in the Rookie Challenge held during the NBA All-Star Weekend, in which he scored 17 points.[12]

On April 14, 2006, in a Bulls win over the Washington Wizards, Gordon tied the record for the most consecutive three-pointers made in a game with 9.[13] In 2006, Gordon also revealed that he was in the process of designing an energy drink called BG7, an allusion to his initials and jersey number. Gordon unveiled the drink at One Sixty Blue, a restaurant co-owned by Michael Jordan. The drink was made with white tea,[14] which has a very high amount of antioxidants, and the most polyphenols of any tea.

On March 4, 2007, Gordon established a career high 48 points, leading a miraculous comeback effort to win 126–121 in overtime against the Milwaukee Bucks.[15] In 2008, Gordon accepted the Bulls' one-year qualifying offer of $6.4 million after being unable to secure the contract that he was hoping for. On December 27, 2008, Gordon passed Scottie Pippen as the Chicago Bulls' career leader in three-pointers made. He became an unrestricted free agent after the 2008–09 season.

Detroit Pistons

Gordon signed a five-year deal for $55 million with the Detroit Pistons starting with the 2009–10 season.[16] With the Pistons, Gordon continued his role as a sixth-man off the bench. On January 9, 2010, Gordon scored the 10 millionth point in NBA history.[17] On March 21, 2012, Gordon scored 45 points, making 9 out of 9 3-point field goal attempts, which tied an NBA record.

Charlotte Bobcats

On June 26, 2012, Gordon and a future first round pick were traded to the Charlotte Bobcats in a deal that sent Corey Maggette to the Pistons.[18]

On November 28, 2012, Gordon scored 20 points in the fourth quarter of an eventual 91-94 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. The 20 points were the most in one quarter for any player in Bobcats history. He finished with 26 points on 7 of 11 shooting, making 7 of 10 from beyond the arc, to go with 5 free throw attempts and makes.

On March 2, 2014, he was waived by the Bobcats.[19]

Orlando Magic

On July 11, 2014, Gordon signed with the Orlando Magic[20] to a reported two-year, $9 million contract.[21]

International career

On April 1, 2008, Gordon was named to the shortlist for the British national basketball team. Gordon is eligible for the team by virtue of his British birth and dual citizenship.[22] In 2010, he said he hoped to represent Great Britain in the 2012 Olympics.[23] However, Gordon missed the beginning of Great Britain's June 2012 pre-Olympic training camp in Houston, Texas.[24] He later said he could not commit to the team after being traded from Detroit to Charlotte.[25]

Gordon had represented the United States at the 2003 Pan American Games.[26]

NBA career statistics

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

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2004–05 Chicago 82 3 24.4 .411 .405 .863 2.6 2.0 .6 .1 15.1
2005–06 Chicago 80 47 31.0 .422 .435 .787 2.7 3.0 .9 .1 16.9
2006–07 Chicago 82 51 33.0 .455 .413 .864 3.1 3.6 .8 .2 21.4
2007–08 Chicago 72 27 31.8 .434 .410 .908 3.1 3.0 .8 .1 18.6
2008–09 Chicago 82 76 36.6 .455 .410 .864 3.5 3.4 .9 .3 20.7
2009–10 Detroit 62 17 27.9 .416 .321 .861 1.9 2.7 .8 .1 13.8
2010–11 Detroit 82 27 26.0 .440 .402 .850 2.4 2.1 .6 .2 11.2
2011–12 Detroit 52 21 26.9 .442 .429 .860 2.3 2.4 .7 .2 12.5
2012–13 Charlotte 75 0 20.8 .408 .387 .843 1.7 1.9 .5 .2 11.2
2013–14 Charlotte 19 0 14.7 .343 .276 .810 1.4 1.1 .5 .1 5.2
2014–15 Orlando 56 0 14.1 .437 .361 .836 1.1 0.9 .3 .0 6.2
Career 688 269 28.5 .432 .402 .857 2.6 2.6 .7 .2 15.6

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2005 Chicago 6 1 25.5 .405 .318 .800 2.7 2.5 .8 .3 14.5
2006 Chicago 6 6 40.8 .406 .366 .676 3.3 3.0 1.0 .0 21.0
2007 Chicago 10 10 39.5 .415 .436 .921 3.8 3.8 .9 .1 20.4
2009 Chicago 7 7 43.4 .388 .370 .875 2.9 3.0 .4 .1 24.3
Career 29 24 37.9 .403 .384 .840 3.2 3.1 .8 .1 20.2

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ben Gordon NBA Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 UCONN player profile URL last accessed July 31, 2006
  3. ↑ Chicago Bulls Career Leaders URL last accessed April 27, 2009
  4. ↑ ESPN Player Profile URL last accessed August 1, 2006
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Ben Gordon prospect profile and college stats URL last accessed July 31, 2006
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Q&A: Ben Gordon URL last accessed November 17, 2006
  7. ↑ Ben Gordon, Chris Duhon, Andres Nocioni and Luol Deng Bulls Fource URL last accessed August 1, 2006
  8. ↑ Gordon named NBA's 6th man URL last accessed July 31, 2006
  9. ↑ Gordon named rookie of the month for January, February, and March URL last accessed July 31, 2006
  10. ↑ Bulls.com interview with Ben Gordon URL last accessed on July 31, 2006
  11. ↑ Stats and Bio URL last accessed August 1, 2006
  12. ↑ Recap for 2006 Rookie Challenge game URL last accessed July 31, 2006
  13. ↑ Gordon Ties Record; Bulls Get Key Win URL last accessed December 24, 2006
  14. ↑ Gordon still sippin' pretty: He has his own drink URL last accessed December 10, 2006
  15. ↑ Yahoo! Sports, Chicago 126, Milwaukee 121, OT URL last accessed March 27, 2006
  16. ↑ "Sources: Gordon, Villanueva to Pistons". ESPN. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
  17. ↑ "Pistons' Gordon scores 10 thousandth point in NBA history". NBA. Retrieved 2011-06-23.
  18. ↑ "Bobcats Acquire Ben Gordon, Future First-Round Pick From Pistons". NBA.com. June 26, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  19. ↑ Cats Request Waivers on Ben Gordon
  20. ↑ Magic Sign Ben Gordon
  21. ↑ Ben Gordon Agrees To Two-Year, $9M Contract With Magic
  22. ↑ Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon called up to British basketball squad. AP Sports. April 1, 2008. Retrieved on April 5, 2008.
  23. ↑ Ben Gordon Looking to Suit Up for GB Next Summer. hoopsfix.com. August 28, 2010. Retrieved on September 1, 2010.
  24. ↑ Gordon a no-show
  25. ↑ Ben Gordon decommits for Britain. ESPN. July 1, 2012. Retrieved on July 2, 2012.
  26. ↑ USA Men Lose Bronze Medal Game. insidehoops.com. August 7, 2003. Retrieved on June 18, 2008.

External links