Kent Bazemore

Kent Bazemore

Bazemore with the Hawks in 2016
No. 24 – Atlanta Hawks
Position Shooting guard / Small forward
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1989-07-01) July 1, 1989
Kelford, North Carolina
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 201 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school Bertie (Windsor, North Carolina)
College Old Dominion (2008–2012)
NBA draft 2012 / Undrafted
Playing career 2012–present
Career history
2012–2014 Golden State Warriors
2012–2014 →Santa Cruz Warriors
2014 Los Angeles Lakers
2014–present Atlanta Hawks
Career highlights and awards
  • First-team All-CAA (2012)
  • Second-team All-CAA (2011)
  • 2× CAA Defensive Player of the Year (2011, 2012)
  • 3× CAA All-Defensive Team (2010–2012)
  • Lefty Driesell Award (2011)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Kenneth Lamont "Kent" Bazemore Jr. (born July 1, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a junior at Old Dominion University in 2010–11, Bazemore won the Lefty Driesell Award, an award given to the best defensive player in college basketball.

College career

Bazemore, a 6'5" shooting guard from Kelford, North Carolina,[1] redshirted the 2007–08 season. As a freshman in 2008–09, Bazemore was a key rotation player for the Monarchs, averaging 4.5 points and 3.1 rebounds per game[1] as ODU won the 2009 CollegeInsider.com Tournament. As a sophomore, he moved into the starting lineup and was a driving force for the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season and tournament champions. Bazemore averaged 8.4 points, 3.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. He was named to the CAA All-Defensive team that season.[2]

As a junior, Old Dominion repeated as tournament champions and made the 2011 NCAA tournament, losing to eventual national runner-up Butler 60-58. Bazemore averaged career highs of 12.3 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game and was named the CAA Defensive player of the year and second team All-Conference. He also gained national recognition, receiving the Lefty Driesell Award given to the nation's top defensive player.[3]

Prior to the 2011–12 season Bazemore was named the CAA preseason player of the year.[4] He was also named a preseason Mid-Major All-American by collegeinsider.com.[5] In his final season at ODU, Bazemore averaged 15.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.

Professional career

Golden State Warriors (2012–2014)

After going undrafted in the 2012 NBA draft, Bazemore joined the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Orlando Summer League and the Golden State Warriors for the Las Vegas Summer League. On July 26, he signed with Golden State.[6] During his rookie season, he was assigned multiple times to the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA Development League.[7] On March 15, 2013, he scored a season-high 14 points in a loss to the Chicago Bulls.[8]

In July 2013, Bazemore re-joined Golden State for the 2013 NBA Summer League. On February 1, 2014, he was reassigned to the Santa Cruz Warriors.[9] He was recalled by Golden State on February 2,[10] reassigned on February 11,[11] and recalled again February 12.[12]

Los Angeles Lakers (2014)

On February 19, 2014, Bazemore was traded, along with MarShon Brooks, to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Steve Blake.[13] On March 4, he tied his then career high of 23 points in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.[14] On April 7, he was ruled out of the rest of the season after suffering a torn tendon in his right foot.[15]

Atlanta Hawks (2014–present)

Bazemore taking a free-throw for Atlanta in a game against Washington in 2015

On September 23, 2014, Bazemore signed with the Atlanta Hawks.[16] On March 28, 2015, he scored a season-high 20 points in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets.[17]

On November 7, 2015, Bazemore scored a career-high 25 points in a 114–99 win over the Washington Wizards.[18] He topped that career high mark with 28 points on December 14 in a loss to the Miami Heat.[19]

On July 7, 2016, Bazemore re-signed with the Hawks.[20]

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
2012–13 Golden State 61 0 4.4 .371 .294 .614 .4 .4 .3 .1 2.0
2013–14 Golden State 44 0 6.1 .371 .256 .528 .9 .5 .3 .1 2.3
2013–14 L.A. Lakers 23 15 28.0 .451 .371 .644 3.3 3.1 1.3 .3 13.1
2014–15 Atlanta 75 10 17.7 .426 .364 .600 3.0 1.0 .7 .4 5.2
2015–16 Atlanta 75 68 27.8 .441 .357 .815 5.1 2.3 1.3 .5 11.6
Career 278 93 16.5 .430 .351 .683 2.7 1.3 .8 .3 6.4

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2013 Golden State 9 0 1.8 .125 .000 .000 .6 .2 .1 .0 .2
2015 Atlanta 16 2 18.9 .423 .214 .677 3.3 .8 .7 .6 5.4
2016 Atlanta 10 10 32.5 .364 .262 .682 6.6 1.9 1.4 .6 11.9
Career 35 12 18.4 .375 .244 .632 3.5 1.0 .8 .4 5.9

Personal

Bazemore is a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.[21] While with the Warriors, Bazemore was noted for his celebrations while on the team's bench, which became a fixture on YouTube and were included in the NBA 2K14 video game.[22][23]

Role in Stephen Curry endorsement contract

In March 2016, ESPN writer Ethan Sherwood Strauss published a story about how Under Armour successfully signed away Stephen Curry from Nike in the 2013 offseason, and revealed that Bazemore played a significant role in the signing.

During the 2012 offseason, when Bazemore was an undrafted rookie trying to make the Warriors roster, his agent contacted Under Armour and convinced the company to take a chance on Bazemore as an endorser, noting that rising Warriors stars Curry and Klay Thompson had endorsement deals set to expire in the near future. Under Armour signed Bazemore to a deal, mainly providing massive amounts of branded merchandise—enough to allow Bazemore to provide clothing to several Warriors staff members. Once Bazemore made the team, he and his fellow North Carolinian Curry bonded over their common origins and shared work ethic. Bazemore then sold Curry on signing with Under Armour, which he did following several missteps by Nike. According to Strauss, "UA owes him [Bazemore] now. Big time." As a result, Bazemore has a six-figure deal with the company, an unusually high amount for a player of his stature in the league. The company also recognized Bazemore's role in luring Curry by signing an apparel deal with Old Dominion for seven times the amount that the school had previously received from Nike. His deal with Under Armour enabled him to provide most of the funding for ODU's new basketball practice facility.[24]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Kent Bazemore Player Profile". RealGM.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  2. ↑ Kent Bazemore Profile, accessed November 19, 2011
  3. ↑ ODU's Bazemore named Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year, accessed November 19, 2011
  4. ↑ Drexel picked to win CAA men's basketball championship in 2011-12 accessed November 19, 2011
  5. ↑ The 2011-12 Lou Henson preseason All-America team, accessed November 19, 2011
  6. ↑ "Warriors Sign Rookie Free Agent Kent Bazemore". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. July 26, 2012. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
  7. ↑ 2012-13 NBA Assignments
  8. ↑ Kent Bazemore 2012-13 Game Log
  9. ↑ Warriors Assign Bazemore and Brooks to Santa Cruz Warriors of NBA D-League
  10. ↑ Warriors Recall Bazemore & Brooks From Santa Cruz Warriors of NBA D-League
  11. ↑ Warriors Assign Bazemore, Brooks, and Kuzmic to Santa Cruz Warriors of NBA D-League
  12. ↑ Warriors Recall Bazemore, Brooks & Kuzmic From Santa Cruz Of NBA D-League
  13. ↑ "Lakers Acquire Bazemore and Brooks". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. February 19, 2014. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
  14. ↑ Notebook: Pelicans 132, Lakers 125
  15. ↑ Kent Bazemore Injury Update
  16. ↑ Hawks Sign Free Agent Guard Kent Bazemore
  17. ↑ Hornets beat Hawks backups 115-100
  18. ↑ Hawks beat Wizards 114-99 for 7th straight win
  19. ↑ Bloodied but undaunted, Heat snap skid against Hawks 100-88
  20. ↑ Hawks Re-Sign Kent Bazemore
  21. ↑ About Kent | KentBazemore20.com
  22. ↑ "Warriors rookie Kent Bazemore's bench celebrations are great". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  23. ↑ Augustine, Bermie. "Kent Bazemore turns starring role on Warriors bench into feature in NBA 2K14". New York Daily News. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  24. ↑ Strauss, Ethan Sherwood (March 24, 2016). "You won't believe how Nike lost Steph to Under Armour". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
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