Matt Bonner

Matt Bonner

Bonner with San Antonio in 2010
No. 15 – San Antonio Spurs
Position Power forward / Center
League NBA
Personal information
Born April 5, 1980
Concord, New Hampshire
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight 235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school Concord (Concord, New Hampshire)
College Florida (1999–2003)
NBA draft 2003 / Round: 2 / Pick: 45th overall
Selected by the Chicago Bulls
Pro career 2003–present
Career history
2003–2004 Pallacanestro Messina (Italy)
2004–2006 Toronto Raptors
2006–present San Antonio Spurs
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Matthew Robert "Matt" Bonner, popularly known as The Red Mamba, (born April 5, 1980) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bonner played college basketball for the University of Florida and was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 45th overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft. He is a two-time NBA champion as a member of the San Antonio Spurs.

High school career

Born in Concord, New Hampshire, Bonner attended Concord High School where he helped lead them to three state championships. Bonner also graduated at the top of his class in academics.[1]

College career

Bonner accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida, where he played for coach Billy Donovan's Florida Gators men's basketball team from 1999 to 2003. In his four seasons, he amassed 1,570 points, 778 rebounds and 165 three-point field goals. As a senior in 2003, he was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection and an Associated Press honorable mention All-American.

Bonner graduated with a bachelor's degree, with high honors, in business administration and a 3.96 grade point average (GPA). He won Academic All-American of the Year for the sport of basketball in both 2002 and 2003.[2]

Professional career

Italy (2003–2004)

Bonner was selected with the 45th overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls but was then traded to the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors did not have a roster spot available at the time and asked Bonner to play overseas and hone his skills with a verbal promise to make the team the following season.

Bonner signed with Sicilia Messina of the Italian league in Messina, Sicily. Sicilia filed for bankruptcy in the middle of the season and stopped paying its players. Many players left the team but Bonner continued to play and finished the year averaging 19.2 points and 9.3 rebounds.

Toronto Raptors (2004–2006)

In September 2004, Bonner signed a one-year deal with the Toronto Raptors. In 2004–05, he played in all 82 regular season games and averaged 7.2 points. He remains the only Raptors rookie to play all 82 games in a season.

In August 2005, Bonner re-signed with the Raptors on a two-year deal.

San Antonio Spurs (2006–present)

Bonner with the Spurs

On June 21, 2006, Bonner was traded with Eric Williams and a second round draft pick to the San Antonio Spurs for Rasho Nesterović and cash considerations. In his first season with the Spurs, he averaged 4.9 points in just 11.7 minutes per game. The team went on to win the NBA championship that season.

In July 2007, Bonner re-signed with the Spurs on a three-year deal. On December 11, 2007, Bonner recorded career-highs of 25 points and 17 rebounds in a loss to the Golden State Warriors.[3]

In July 2010, Bonner again re-signed with the Spurs on a multi-year deal. He went on to lead the NBA in three-point field goal percentage for 2010–11 after he shot 45.7%.[4]

Bonner participated in the 2013 NBA Three-Point Shootout during All-Star Weekend. He recorded a score of 19 in the first round to knock out Ryan Anderson (18) and Stephen Curry (17) and advanced to the final round where he lost 20-23 to Kyrie Irving. Bonner and the Spurs would reach the 2013 NBA Finals where they lost the series in seven games to the Miami Heat.

On June 15, 2014, Bonner won his second NBA championship after the Spurs defeated the Miami Heat 4–1 in the 2014 NBA Finals.

On July 21, 2014, Bonner re-signed with the Spurs.[5]

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
Led the league
† NBA Championship seasons

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2004–05 Toronto 82 0 18.9 .533 .424 .789 3.5 .6 .5 .2 7.2
2005–06 Toronto 78 6 21.9 .448 .420 .829 3.6 .7 .6 .4 7.5
2006–07† San Antonio 56 0 11.7 .447 .383 .711 2.8 .4 .3 .2 4.9
2007–08 San Antonio 68 3 12.5 .416 .336 .864 2.8 .5 .2 .3 4.8
2008–09 San Antonio 81 67 23.8 .496 .440 .739 4.8 1.0 .6 .3 8.2
2009–10 San Antonio 65 8 17.9 .446 .390 .729 3.3 1.0 .5 .4 7.0
2010–11 San Antonio 66 1 21.7 .464 .457 .744 3.6 .9 .4 .3 7.3
2011–12 San Antonio 65 2 20.4 .440 .420 .762 3.3 .9 .2 .3 6.6
2012–13 San Antonio 68 4 13.4 .487 .442 .733 1.9 .5 .3 .3 4.2
2013–14† San Antonio 61 0 11.3 .445 .429 .750 2.1 .5 .2 .2 3.2
2014–15 San Antonio 72 19 13.0 .409 .365 .811 1.6 .7 .1 .2 3.7
Career 762 110 17.3 .463 .414 .780 3.1 .7 .4 .3 6.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2007† San Antonio 9 0 2.8 .286 .250 1.000 .3 .0 .2 .0 .8
2008 San Antonio 2 0 4.5 .667 .000 .000 1.0 1.0 .0 .0 2.0
2009 San Antonio 5 5 20.0 .217 .231 1.000 3.2 .0 .6 .4 3.0
2010 San Antonio 10 0 17.3 .432 .370 1.000 3.2 .4 .1 .3 5.0
2011 San Antonio 6 0 20.5 .480 .333 .800 3.2 .3 .2 .2 6.3
2012 San Antonio 13 0 12.7 .313 .348 .600 1.9 .7 .2 .3 2.4
2013 San Antonio 20 1 13.4 .475 .469 .833 2.0 .3 .3 .3 4.1
2014† San Antonio 22 2 6.1 .476 .333 .750 .7 .4 .1 .0 1.3
Career 87 8 13.3 .404 .368 .818 2.1 .4 .2 .2 3.5

Awards and achievements

Personal

Bonner speaking into a microphone

Bonner and his wife Nadia have a daughter, Evangeline-Vesper Lynne Bonner (born June 21, 2009) and a son, August Bonner (born August 27, 2012).

He has a younger brother, Luke, who was also a professional basketball player. Luke served as Matt's best man at his wedding.[6]

Bonner applied for Canadian citizenship in February 2009.[7]

Bonner is a sandwich enthusiast. He has a blog titled "The Sandwich Hunter: The Quest for the Hoagie Grail" in which he documents his search for the "world's best sandwich."[8]

During his tenure with the Toronto Raptors, he received the nickname the "Red Rocket" for his red hair and constant use of the public transit in Toronto, the Toronto Transit Commission, whose slogan is "Ride the Rocket."[9]

Kobe Bryant coined Bonner's other nickname, the "Red Mamba," on Twitter while live-tweeting his 81-point game against Bonner and the Toronto Raptors.[10]

In January 2014, Bonner signed a basketball shoe deal with Adidas.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Matt Bonner". NewHampshire.com. February 14, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Bio – Matt Bonner". GatorZone.com. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Duncan-less Spurs see win streak snapped at five". ESPN.com. December 11, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  4. ↑ "NBA Player 3-Point Shooting Statistics - 2010-11 leaders". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Spurs Re-Sign Matt Bonner". NBA.com. July 21, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Bonner Brothers Reunite Deep In The Heart Of Texas". NBA.com. April 10, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Spurs' Bonner applies for Canadian citizenship". TSN.ca. February 11, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Matt Bonner's Sandwich Hunter Archive". NBA.com. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Mini bio". NBA.com. January 22, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Kobe Bryant". Twitter.com. January 22, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Kicks On Court: Matt Bonner Signs with adidas, Wears Crazy 8". NiceKicks.com. January 23, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matt Bonner.