DeShawn Stevenson

DeShawn Stevenson
Stevenson at the Dallas Mavericks championship parade in June 2011
Personal information
Born (1981-04-03) April 3, 1981
Fresno, California
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 218 lb (99 kg)
Career information
High school Washington Union
(Easton, California)
NBA draft 2000 / Round: 1 / Pick: 23rd overall
Selected by the Utah Jazz
Playing career 2000–2013
Position Shooting guard / Small forward
Number 2, 9, 92
Career history
2000–2004 Utah Jazz
2004–2005 Orlando Magic
2005–2010 Washington Wizards
2010–2011 Dallas Mavericks
2011–2012 New Jersey Nets
2012–2013 Atlanta Hawks
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

DeShawn Stevenson (born April 3, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player who played for 13 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He originally committed to play at the University of Kansas, but decided to enter the NBA directly from Washington Union High School in his hometown of Fresno, California and was picked by the Utah Jazz with the 23rd selection of the 2000 NBA draft. He is well known for his defense and his athleticism. In 2017, DeShawn joined Power, one of the eight BIG3 basketball league teams.

Early life

Stevenson was born in Fresno, California. His father, Darryl Stevenson, never married his mother Genice Popps, and eventually was forcibly placed in a facility after threatening family members and diagnosed as schizophrenic. Darryl signed a court order agreeing he had a duty to support his son, but eventually murdered his own mother Clara by strangling her; he died of cancer at the age of 36 in prison. DeShawn's name was tattooed on his chest.[1][2] Due to the absence of his father, DeShawn lived with his godparents in Easton, California. He played high school ball at the same school where his father had played, and won a state championship his junior year.

Stevenson signed with the Kansas Jayhawks in the fall of his senior year. Jayhawks head coach Roy Williams called him his "most gifted recruit ever".[3] As a senior, Stevenson averaged 30.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists a game. He was named to the McDonald's All-American team and scored 25 points to lead the West to a 146–120 win, and won the slam-dunk contest. Stevenson's mother advised him not to go straight to the NBA, but after there were irregularities with his SAT test, Stevenson did indeed enter the league straight out of high school.[4][5]

NBA career

Utah Jazz

Stevenson was picked by the Utah Jazz with the 23rd selection of the 2000 NBA draft.

Stevenson appeared in 222 regular season games during his time with Utah. He averaged 5.9 ppg., 1.9 rpg. and 1.2 apg. in 16.7 minpg. during that time. Stevenson played in five career playoff outings. At 19 years old, he became the youngest player to ever play and start for the Jazz during the 2000–01 season. In 2001, Stevenson finished second in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.[6]

Later that year, Stevenson pleaded no contest to having sex with a 14-year-old girl.[7]

On February 19, 2004, Stevenson and a future second round draft pick were acquired by the Orlando Magic from the Utah Jazz in exchange for guard–forward Gordan Giricek.

Orlando Magic

Stevenson played with the Orlando Magic for 2½ seasons. He had his best year during the 2005–06 season when he averaged 11.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, and 2.0 apg. Stevenson opted out of the third and final year of his contract with Orlando, and on August 5, 2006 he signed a two-year minimum contract with the Washington Wizards.[8]

Washington Wizards

Stevenson takes a jump shot in a game against the Portland Trail Blazers while being defended by Brandon Roy.

On August 5, 2006, Stevenson signed a two-year contract with the Washington Wizards for the NBA minimum salary. Stevenson quickly adjusted to coach Eddie Jordan's system, averaging 11.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, and 2.7 apg in his first season with Washington. Following the 2006–07 season, he opted out of the second year of the his contract to test free agency. On July 16, 2007, Stevenson re-signed with the Wizards on a four-year, $15 million deal.[9]

On the early morning of August 20, 2007, a 31-year-old man, Curtis Ruff, was shot and injured at Stevenson's home, following an argument with women who were invited from Destiny's Club in Orlando. Circumstances of the incident remain unclear.[10]

After Stevenson, with a sore knee, scored a career-high 33 points, including a game winning three-pointer as time expired in a February 25, 2008 victory over the New Orleans Hornets, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan described Stevenson by saying, "He's a warrior, man, a true warrior. His confidence is growing, he's making threes, he's just a true pro. This is a man's league and he is man. In the dictionary next to that word there is a picture of DeShawn Stevenson."[11]

At the start of the 2008–09 season, Stevenson struggled and could not bring his offensive game to the level it had attained in 2007. As a result, Stevenson's minutes dipped slightly with the development of second year shooting guard Nick Young and former Maryland standout Juan Dixon.

Dallas Mavericks

On February 13, 2010, Stevenson was traded to the Dallas Mavericks along with Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross.[12][13] Stevenson became the first player in NBA history to wear number 92 on his jersey. Stevenson chose number 92 because he wore number 9 in Orlando and number 2 with Utah and Washington.[14] He used his player option and made $4.15 million during the 2010–11 NBA season.[15] On June 12, 2011, Stevenson won the NBA championship when the Mavericks beat the Miami Heat 105-95 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. In that game, Stevenson made three of five three point shots, resulting in 9 crucial points.[16] Even more important than any contributions he made on offense may have been his assignment to guard LeBron James throughout the series, in part causing James to average significantly lower than his regular season average on most major statistical categories.

New Jersey Nets

On December 23, 2011, Stevenson signed one-year $2.5 million contract with the New Jersey Nets.[17]

Atlanta Hawks

On July 11, 2012, the Nets traded Stevenson (sign-and-trade), Jordan Farmar, Jordan Williams, Anthony Morrow, and Johan Petro to the Atlanta Hawks for Joe Johnson.[18] On August 2, 2013, he was waived by the Hawks.[19][20]

On December 19, 2016, Stevenson formally announced his retirement.[21]

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
† Denotes season in which Stevenson won an NBA championship

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2000–01 Utah 4027.3.341.083.684.7.5.3.12.2
2001–02 Utah 672316.9.385.080.6982.01.7.4.44.9
2002–03 Utah 61812.5.401.333.6911.4.7.4.14.6
2003–04 Utah 545428.0.445.233.6693.31.7.5.311.4
2003–04 Orlando 262435.9.404.293.6904.62.5.9.011.2
2004–05 Orlando 552719.8.408.373.5541.91.3.3.27.8
2005–06 Orlando 828232.3.460.133.7442.92.0.7.211.0
2006–07 Washington 828229.5.461.404.7042.62.7.8.211.2
2007–08 Washington 828231.3.386.383.7972.93.1.8.211.2
2008–09 Washington 322527.7.312.271.5332.43.1.7.16.6
2009–10 Washington 401315.4.282.177.7201.61.1.3.12.2
2009–10 Dallas 24511.1.283.320.7001.1.5.2.02.0
2010–11† Dallas 725416.1.388.378.7671.51.1.3.15.3
2011–12 New Jersey 513018.8.285.283.5632.0.8.4.12.9
2012–13 Atlanta 563120.7.374.364.5222.2.9.5.15.1
Career 82454222.3.406.340.6982.21.6.5.27.2

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2001 Utah 108.0.500.000.0001.0.0.0.02.0
2003 Utah 409.3.400.0001.0001.81.0.3.04.5
2007 Washington 4430.5.196.158.4292.51.8.5.86.0
2008 Washington 6632.7.367.389.8892.23.01.0.012.3
2010 Dallas 203.0.000.000.000.0.0.0.0.0
2011† Dallas 211815.8.349.397.750.9.6.5.14.5
2013 Atlanta 4011.3.600.600.0002.5.3.0.02.3
Career 422817.8.327.353.7911.41.0.5.15.3

See also

  • National Basketball Association portal

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ "Stevenson follows dad's dream to NBA". Lawrence Journal-World. Associated Press. July 22, 2000. Archived from the original on 2008-10-02. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
  3. ↑ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ku-recruit-going-pro-after-all/
  4. ↑ Bedore, Gary (May 9, 2000). "Stevenson picks Kansas after all". Lawrence Journal-World. Archived from the original on May 4, 2001.
  5. ↑ "Memphis basketball teaches the wrong lesson". The Oregonian. June 5, 2009.
  6. ↑ Slam Dunk Year-by-Year Results
  7. ↑ McCarthy, Michael; Upton, Jodi (May 4, 2006). "Athletes lightly punished after their day in court". USA Today. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  8. ↑ "ESPN - Wizards sign former Magic guard Stevenson - NBA". Sports.espn.go.com. 2006-08-05. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  9. ↑ "NBA.com News Flash". NBA.com. July 16, 2007. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Man Injured In Shooting At NBA Player's Home". Wesh.com. 2007-08-20. Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  11. ↑ Magazine, Dime (2008-02-26). "Worlds Apart | Dime Magazine (dimemag.com) : Daily NBA News, NBA Trades, NBA Rumors, Basketball Videos, Sneakers". dimemag.com. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  12. ↑ "MAVERICKS ACQUIRE BUTLER, HAYWOOD AND STEVENSON IN SEVEN-PLAYER TRADE". NBA.com. 2010-02-13. Retrieved 2010-02-14.
  13. ↑ Townsend, Brad (June 1, 2011). "Townsend: How Mavericks' DeShawn Stevenson went from troublemaker to 'perfect' life". DallasNews.com. Dallas News. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  14. ↑ "NBA & ABA Players Who Wore Number 92". basketball-reference.com. 2010-03-15. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  15. ↑ "Stevenson uses his Option". Sports.espn.go.com. 2010-05-24. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  16. ↑ "Mavs' Big Team sheds negative labels with team's first title". NBA.com. 2011-06-13. Archived from the original on 2016-09-10. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
  17. ↑ "NETS Sign DeShawn Stevenson". NBA.com. 2011-12-23. Retrieved 2011-12-23.
  18. ↑ Couch, Ben (July 11, 2012). "A Jolt of Joe for the Nets". Brooklyn Nets. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  19. ↑ "Hawks Waive DeShawn Stevenson". HoopsRumors.com. August 2, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Atlanta Hawks expected to add DeMarre Carroll". InsideHoops.com. August 2, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  21. ↑ Conway, Tyler (December 19, 2016). "DeShawn Stevenson Retires: Latest Comments and Reaction". BleacherReport.com. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
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