Jordan Adams

For the women's basketball player, see Jordan Adams (basketball, born 1981).
Jordan Adams

Adams with UCLA against USC in 2013
No. 3 – Memphis Grizzlies
Position Guard
League NBA
Personal information
Born July 8, 1994
Atlanta, Georgia
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school Oak Hill Academy
(Mouth of Wilson, Virginia)
College UCLA (2012–2014)
NBA draft 2014 / Round: 1 / Pick: 22nd overall
Selected by the Memphis Grizzlies
Pro career 2014–present
Career history
2014–present Memphis Grizzlies
2014–2015 →Iowa Energy (D-League)
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Jordan LaVell Adams (born July 8, 1994)[1] is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He was the first UCLA freshman to score 20 or more points in his first four games, and was an all-conference first-team selection in the Pacific-12 Conference in his sophomore year. He was selected by Memphis in the first round of the 2014 NBA draft with the 22nd overall pick.

Early life

Adams was born in Atlanta to John Adams, a high school nutrition manager, and Sabrina Robinson Johnson, a dental hygienist. His parents never married but remained friends. When Adams was in the fourth grade and his life began to revolve around American football and basketball, he moved from his mother's house to his father's. One of Adams' coaches was usually his father from when he was six until he was 16.[2]

Adams attended high school at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, where he was the ninth player in their basketball program's rich history to score 1,000 career points.

Considered a four-star recruit by ESPN.com, Adams was listed as the No. 9 small forward and the No. 41 player in the nation in 2012.[3]

He also played Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) basketball with the Atlanta Celtics. Shortly after Celtics' coach Korey McCray became an assistant coach at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Adams accepted an athletic scholarship to play for the UCLA Bruins.[4]

College career

Adams in 2012 joined fellow incoming freshman Shabazz Muhammad, Kyle Anderson and Tony Parker in a UCLA recruiting class considered the best in the nation. The first of the four recruits to sign, Adams was the only one that was not a McDonald's All-American in high school. Despite the competition, he remained committed to UCLA.[4]

He began the 2012–13 season with 20 or more points in the first four games, becoming the first UCLA freshman to accomplish that feat;[4] he was the first Bruin in any class to start the season with four straight since Don MacLean (6 straight) in 1990–91.[5] Though he did not start until the seventh game of the season, Adams was second on the team in scoring behind Muhammad. He finished the season starting in 27 of 33 games played, ranked eighth in the Pacific-12 Conference in scoring with 15.3 points per game, led the conference with 73 steals, and was fourth with an 84.3 free throw percentage.[1][6][7] UCLA coach Ben Howland and Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller were surprised that Adams did not make the conference's all-freshman team. Miller further believed that Adams should have been named to the All-Pac-12 team as well as the conference's all-defensive team.[6] In the semifinals of the 2013 Pacific-12 Tournament, Adams scored 11 points in the last six minutes in a comeback victory over Arizona. However be broke his right foot on the final play of the game; he had fractured the same foot in high school.[2] Without Adams, the Bruins lost their next two games, including a season-ending loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the opener of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.[2] Two days after the season ended, Howland was fired and replaced by Steve Alford.[2] Adams did not play basketball for four months while his foot healed.[8]

In his sophomore season in 2013–14, Adams said he enjoyed his role under Alford and his "very open" system, more so than he did with Howland.[8] Coaches gave Adams the nickname Spider-Man, after his ability for steals with his "web on the ball."[9] Early in the season, the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin wrote that it could be Adams' last college season given his prospects of playing professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA).[10] Adams shot 50% from the field during the Bruins' non-conference schedule, and began Pac-12 play with 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting against the USC Trojans.[11] However, he shot just 36.2% in the next 10 games, before shooting 10-for-14 against Utah for 24 points, his then-career high against a Pac-12 opponent.[12] On February 27, he and Anderson missed one game after being suspended for a violation of team rules.[13] On March 6, Adams scored a career-high 31 as UCLA clinched a No. 2 seed in the upcoming 2014 Pacific-12 Tournament with a 91–82 win at Washington.[14] The Bruins won the tournament, with Adams hitting a three-point field goal that broke a tie with 45 seconds remaining in a 75–71 upset over No. 4 ranked Arizona in the championship game.[15] For the season, he led the team in both scoring at almost 18 points per game, shot a team-best 83.6 percent of his free throws, led the conference in steals at 2.8 per game,[16][17] and broke the school record for steals in a season previously set by Cameron Dollar (82) in 1997.[7] Adams was voted to the All-Pac-12 first team,[18] and was also named UCLA's most outstanding team player.[17]

In April 2014, Adams declared early for the NBA draft, foregoing his final two years of college eligibility.[19][20] Many analysts believed he had a chance to be a first-round pick.[21][22] He finished his career at UCLA having played 69 games while averaging 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. He made 46.7 percent of his field goals and had a school-record 2.43 steals per game.[23]

NBA career

On June 26, 2014, Adams was selected in the first round with the 22nd overall pick of the 2014 NBA draft by the Memphis Grizzlies.[24] General Manager Chris Wallace said Adams graded high in basketball analytics, and Vice President of Basketball Operations John Hollinger praised his ability to "find ways to score and score without needing the ball [in his hands first]".[23] After two Summer League games,[25] Adams signed with the Grizzlies on July 7.[26] He began the 2014–15 season with minimal playing time with the Grizzlies, and received multiple assignments to the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League.[27][28]

Adams made his NBA career on November 3, 2014. He subbed in for the closing seconds of the second home game of the year. On November 17, Adams scored his first career point at the free throw line.

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
2014–15 Memphis 30 0 8.3 .407 .400 .609 .9 .5 .5 .2 3.1
Career 30 0 8.3 .407 .400 .609 .9 .5 .5 .2 3.1

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Jordan Adams Bio". UCLABruins.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Dave, Paresh (December 6, 2013). "UCLA guard Jordan Adams' family goes the extra mile". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 13, 2014.
  3. ↑ Jordan Adams Recruiting Profile
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Holmes, Baxter (December 8, 2012). "Unassuming Bruins guard Jordan Adams is first among equals". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 13, 2014.
  5. ↑ "UCLA BASKETBALL – 2012-13 SEASON NOTES" (PDF). UCLA Sports Information. Archived from the original on February 13, 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Yoon, Peter (March 12, 2013). "Howland 'miffed' at Adams all-conference snub". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "No. 4-seed UCLA (26-8) vs. No. 13-seed Tulsa (21-12)" (PDF) (Press release). UCLA Sports Information. Archived from the original on March 20, 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Carp, Steve (November 28, 2013). "Adams, UCLA thrive in relaxed atmosphere". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on February 13, 2014.
  9. ↑ Hamilton, Brian (January 24, 2014). "The art of the steal: college basketball’s top defenders explain their methods". SI.com. Archived from the original on February 13, 2014.
  10. ↑ Fowler, Clay (November 18, 2013). "Jordan Adams, UCLA cruise past Sacramento State in basketball". Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Archived from the original on February 13, 2014.
  11. ↑ Foster, Chris (January 23, 2014). "UCLA basketball: Jordan Adams can turn around Bruins' offense". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 20, 2014.
  12. ↑ Wang, Jack (February 15, 2014). "Jordan Adams’ big game moves UCLA basketball to within one of first place". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on February 20, 2014.
  13. ↑ "UCLA suspends key duo 1 game". ESPN.com. Associated Press. February 27, 2014. Archived from the original on February 28, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Adams leads UCLA past Washington 91-82". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 6, 2014. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Adams' 3-pointer leads UCLA to 75-71 upset of No. 4 Arizona". reuters.com. March 15, 2014. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014.
  16. ↑ Kartje, Ryan (March 10, 2014). "Anderson, Adams named to All-Pac-12 first team". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "UCLA Basketball Announces Year-End Honors at Team Banquet". UCLA Athletics. May 5, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  18. ↑ "2013-14 Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball Honors" (Press release). Pac-12 Conference. March 10, 2014. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014.
  19. ↑ Broussard, Chris (April 27, 2014). "Jordan Adams changes mind on draft". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014.
  20. ↑ Goodman, Jeff (April 17, 2014). "Jordan Adams to return to UCLA". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on April 18, 2014.
  21. ↑ Kartje, Ryan (April 17, 2014). "UCLA's Adams spurns NBA, will return for junior season". Orange County Register. Archived from the original on April 20, 2014.
  22. ↑ Wojnarowski, Adrian (April 27, 2014). "Source: UCLA guard Jordan Adams to enter NBA draft". yahoo.com. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Wade, Don (July 1, 2014). "Grizzlies Cite Analytics in Adams Pick". The Daily News (Memphis). Archived from the original on November 14, 2014.
  24. ↑ UCLA's Jordan Adams Selected 22nd Overall By The Memphis Grizzlies
  25. ↑ 2014 Summer League Player Profile – Jordan Adams
  26. ↑ Grizzlies sign Jordan Adams
  27. ↑ Helfand, Zach (December 19, 2014). "Tracking UCLA's first-round NBA picks in 2014". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014.
  28. ↑ "2014-15 NBA Assignments". NBA.com. Retrieved December 12, 2014.

External links

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