Stephen Graham (basketball)

Stephen Graham

Graham in January 2011.
Fort Wayne Mad Ants
Position Assistant coach
League NBA Development League
Personal information
Born (1982-06-11) June 11, 1982
Wilmington, Delaware
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight 215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school Brandon (Brandon, Florida)
College
NBA draft 2005 / Undrafted
Playing career 2005–2013
Position Small forward / Shooting guard
Coaching career 2015–present
Career history
As player:
2005–2006 Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA)
2005 Houston Rockets
2006 Chicago Bulls
2006 Cleveland Cavaliers
2006–2007 Portland Trail Blazers
2007–2009 Indiana Pacers
2009–2010 Charlotte Bobcats
2010–2011 New Jersey Nets
2011 Fort Wayne Mad Ants (D-League)
2012 Capitanes de Arecibo (Puerto Rico)
2013 Guaros de Lara (Venezuela)
As coach:
2015–present Fort Wayne Mad Ants (assistant)

Stephen Graham (born June 11, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player currently working as an assistant coach for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League. Graham's twin brother, Joey, was his college teammate and has also played in the NBA.

High school and college career

Born in Wilmington, Delaware, Graham played competitively at Florida's Brandon High School, and was team captain his senior year in which he averaged 16 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists per game; in that year, he and his brother Joey led Brandon to the state finals. Graham was named to Hillsborough County's All-Conference team his junior year and to the All-State team his senior season. He played in the AAU's Junior Olympics National Game and was named an All-American. He was a member of both Tampa's championship AAU Sunshine State Games' team, and Nike's traveling Florida team. He was recruited by South Florida, Richmond, Florida State and Florida.[1]

Graham spent his freshman and sophomore college basketball seasons (2000–01; 2001–02) with the University of Central Florida Knights, then transferred to Oklahoma State University for his junior year (2002–03) in which he redshirted.[1] In his first season with the Cowboys in 2003–04, he only twice scored 12 points, his season-high.[2] He averaged a mere 2.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game overall,[3] but he was named first-team Academic All-Big 12 for his academic achievements.[1] A highlight in his senior season in 2004–05 was leading the Cowboys with 22 points in a 78-75 home loss to Gonzaga on December 28, 2004.[4] For his second and final season for Oklahoma State, he averaged 6.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.[3]

Professional career

After playing through his senior year with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Graham declared for the NBA Draft in 2005. However, he was not selected. He played for the Phoenix Suns in the Las Vegas Summer League, and then for the San Antonio Spurs during the 2005 preseason, but was not offered a longer contract by either team. He then joined the CBA, a minor league, signing with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Graham was signed by the NBA's Houston Rockets on December 10, 2005, but was cut on December 29 after playing in six games.[5]

After returning to the Skyforce in the interim, he signed a 10-day contract with the Chicago Bulls on January 17, 2006.[6] He played his first game in a Bulls uniform three days later against the Rockets. However, Graham saw limited playing time with the Bulls and his contract was not extended when it expired.

On February 6, Graham was signed to a 10-day contract by the Cleveland Cavaliers.[7] On February 20, he was signed to a second 10-day contract,[8] then for the rest of the season.[9]

He spent the first two months of the 2006–07 NBA season with the Portland Trail Blazers, but was waived on January 2, 2007, playing with an old acquaintance, the Skyforce in South Dakota, who were now a part of the D-League.

In July 2007, he signed with the Indiana Pacers.[10]

He signed with the Charlotte Bobcats in September 2009.[11]

On September 15, 2010, Graham signed with the New Jersey Nets.[12] The Nets waived Graham on December 22, 2011, following the lockout.[13]

On March 13, 2012, Graham was acquired by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.[14]

On September 30, 2013, Graham signed with the Milwaukee Bucks.[15] However, he was waived on October 26.[16]

On December 21, 2013, Graham signed with Guaros de Lara.[17]

Graham competes for the Ants Alumni in The Basketball Tournament. He was a forward on the 2015 team who made it to the semifinals, falling 87-76 to Team 23.

Coaching career

On October 21, 2015, he was hired by the Fort Wayne Mad Ants to work as an assistant coach.[18]

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
2005–06 Houston 6 0 6.3 .375 .200 1.000 1.2 .5 .3 .0 2.8
2005–06 Chicago 3 0 6.7 .200 .250 1.000 1.0 .3 .0 .0 1.7
2005–06 Cleveland 13 0 9.0 .424 .000 .889 1.3 .2 .2 .2 2.8
2006–07 Portland 14 1 11.8 .425 .273 .889 1.5 .4 .3 .1 3.2
2007–08 Indiana 22 0 5.8 .586 .500 .750 1.0 .4 .2 .0 4.0
2008–09 Indiana 52 6 13.2 .414 .303 .806 1.8 .6 .2 .1 5.4
2009–10 Charlotte 70 8 11.5 .496 .320 .646 1.9 .3 .3 .1 4.2
2010–11 New Jersey 59 28 16.3 .405 .238 .816 2.1 .7 .2 .0 3.4
Career 239 43 12.2 .446 .308 .766 1.8 .5 .2 .1 4.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2010 Charlotte 2 0 2.5 .000 .000 .000 .0 .5 .5 .0 .0
Career 2 0 2.5 .000 .000 .000 .0 .5 .5 .0 .0

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stephen Graham biography
  2. ↑ Stephen Graham Game Log 2003–04
  3. 1 2 Stephen Graham college basketball stats
  4. ↑ Bulldogs' strong finish holds off Cowboys
  5. ↑ "Rockets Release Stephen Graham". NBA.com. 2005-12-29. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  6. ↑ NBA. "Stephen Graham Info Page". Retrieved 2007-10-12.
  7. ↑ "Cavaliers Sign Stephen Graham to 10-Day Contract". NBA.com. 2006-02-06. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  8. ↑ "Cavaliers Sign Stephen Graham to a Second 10-Day Contract". NBA.com. 2006-02-20. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  9. ↑ "Cavaliers Sign Stephen Graham; Waive Nailon". NBA.com. 2006-02-24. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  10. ↑ Stevie Signs with the Pacers
  11. ↑ Five Former OSU Players On NBA Training Camp Rosters
  12. ↑ "NETS Sign Free-Agent Forward Stephen Graham". NBA.com. 2010-09-15. Retrieved 2010-09-16.
  13. ↑ Stephenson, Colin (December 22, 2011). "Nets waive swingman Stephen Graham". The Star-Ledger. Archived from the original on December 26, 2011.
  14. ↑
  15. ↑ Bucks add Junior Cadougan, Olek Czyz, Stephen Graham, Trey McKinney Jones to training camp
  16. ↑ Milwaukee Bucks waive Trey McKinney Jones, Olek Czyz and Stephen Graham
  17. ↑
  18. ↑ "Mad Ants Finalize Coaching Staff for 2015-16 Season". OurSportsCentral.com. October 21, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.

External links

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