P. J. Hairston

P. J. Hairston
No. 15 – Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Position Small forward / Shooting guard
League NBA Development League
Personal information
Born (1992-12-24) December 24, 1992
Greensboro, North Carolina
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight 230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school
College North Carolina (2011–2013)
NBA draft 2014 / Round: 1 / Pick: 26th overall
Selected by the Miami Heat
Playing career 2014–present
Career history
2014 Texas Legends
2014–2016 Charlotte Hornets
2016 Memphis Grizzlies
2016–present Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com

Samuel Peterson "P. J." Hairston Jr. (born December 24, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League. He played college basketball for the University of North Carolina. He finished his sophomore season in 2013 and was eligible for the 2014 NBA draft.[1] He was selected with the 26th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Miami Heat, and was later traded to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Shabazz Napier.

High school career

Hairston attended Dudley High School in Greensboro for his first three years of high school. He scored 53 points in one game as a junior. For his senior year of high school, he played at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia and averaged 25.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He scored 15 points in the 2011 McDonald's All-American Boys Game.[2]

Considered a five-star recruit by ESPN.com, Hairston was listed as the No. 3 shooting guard and the No. 13 player in the nation in 2011.[3]

College career

In 2011, Hairston joined the North Carolina Tar Heels for the 2011–12 season as a freshman. He was the team's eighth-leading scorer at 5.7 points per game and lead the team in free-throw percentage.[2]

In the 2012–13 season, Hairston's playing time increased significantly in the second half of the season. In the last five games of the regular season, he averaged 32 minutes of playing time, up 60% from 20 minutes of average playing time in the first 29 games of the season. Hairston led UNC in scoring in the last five games of the season with 19.6 points per game. He earned ACC Co-Player of the Week honors for his play against Duke and Virginia in February 2013. North Carolina coaches also selected Hairston as the defensive player of the game in the win over Virginia.[2]

In Hairston's sophomore season, he was in the starting line-up for the second time in his college career against Duke in February 2013. He scored a then career high 23 points. In his next game in the starting line-up versus Virginia he set a new high with 29 points, just four games after returning the court after missing a game due to a concussion. In UNC's first game of the ACC tournament on March 15, 2013, Hairston was holding the basketball in the second half when a Florida State player swiped Hairston's hand. Either from the swipe, or from his fingers extending on the basketball, Hairston split the webbing between the middle and ring fingers on his non-shooting left hand.[4] Hairston left the game and received eight stitches. He still led UNC with 21 points after making five of six three point shots.

After getting the stitches, Hairston returned to play in UNC's next two games in the ACC tournament. He played 36 minutes in the next game against Maryland and scored 13 points. In the next day's game against Miami he scored 28 points.

Suspended in 2013, Hairston did not return to North Carolina for the 2013–14 season.[5] On December 20, 2013, the school announced that they would not seek his reinstatement.[6]

College statistics

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 North Carolina 37 0 13.0 .308 .273 .839 2.2 .8 .4 .2 5.7
2012–13 North Carolina 34 14 23.6 .431 .396 .779 4.3 1.4 1.3 .4 14.6

Professional career

Texas Legends (2014)

After his suspension was confirmed, Hairston filed paperwork to join the NBA Development League.[1] On January 14, 2014, he was acquired by the Texas Legends.[7][8] He went on to play 26 games for Texas while averaging 21.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.[9]

Charlotte Hornets (2014–2016)

On June 26, 2014, Hairston was selected with the 26th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Miami Heat on behalf of the Charlotte Hornets. In doing so, Hairston became the first NBA D-League player to be drafted in the first round of an NBA draft.[10][11] On August 22, he signed with the Hornets after averaging an impressive 18.3 points in seven Summer League games.[12] On December 22, Hairston recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to help the Hornets defeat the Denver Nuggets, 110–82.[13] On February 10, 2015, he scored a season-high 16 points in a loss to the Detroit Pistons.[14]

On June 30, 2015, Hairston re-joined the Hornets for the 2015 NBA Summer League.[15] On January 23, 2016, he scored a then career-high 20 points and tied a career-high with 10 rebounds in a 97–84 win over the New York Knicks.[16]

Memphis Grizzlies (2016)

On February 16, 2016, the Hornets traded Hairston to the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-way deal also involving the Miami Heat.[17] He made an impression early for the Grizzlies, earning the starting shooting guard role and subsequently scoring 17 points on February 24 against the Los Angeles Lakers in just his third game for the team.[18] He went on to score a career-high 21 points on February 26, helping the Grizzlies defeat the Lakers for the second time in three days.[19]

On September 30, 2016, Hairston signed with the Houston Rockets,[20] but was waived on October 24, 2016.[21] Seven days later, he was acquired by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of the Rockets.[22]

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 Charlotte 45 2 15.3 .323 .301 .861 2.0 .5 .5 .3 5.6
2015–16 Charlotte 48 43 19.5 .359 .314 .810 2.7 .6 .5 .1 6.0
2015–16 Memphis 18 9 20.9 .348 .232 .727 2.6 .5 .4 .2 6.9
Career 111 54 18.0 .343 .295 .810 2.4 .5 .5 .2 6.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016 Memphis 2 0 11.0 .333 .333 .000 .0 .0 .5 .0 2.5
Career 2 0 11.0 .333 .333 .000 .0 .0 .5 .0 2.5

References

  1. 1 2 Goodman, Jeff (January 10, 2014). "P.J. Hairston hopes to join D-League". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "P.J. Hairston Biography". GoHeels.com. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  3. ↑ "P. J. Hairston Recruiting Profile". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  4. ↑ "North Carolina tops Florida State 83-62 in ACCs". SportsIllustrated.CNN.com. March 15, 2013. Archived from the original on January 13, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  5. ↑ "P.J. Hairston not enrolled at UNC". ESPN.com. January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  6. ↑ Brown, C. L. (December 20, 2013). "Tar Heels won't seek reinstatement". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  7. ↑ "LEGENDS ACQUIRE PJ HAIRSTON". NBA.com. January 14, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  8. ↑ Karalla, Bobby (January 14, 2014). "Legends Claim P.J. Hairston". NBA.com. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  9. ↑ "PJ Hairston Jr. D-League Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  10. ↑ Herbert, James (June 26, 2014). "2014 NBA Draft: Hornets get A for landing P.J. Hairston in a trade at No. 26". CBSSports.com. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  11. ↑ Oliva, Anthony (June 26, 2014). "Hairston Becomes First NBA D-League Alum Picked in First Round of NBA Draft". NBA.com. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Hornets Sign Hairston". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. August 22, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Hornets top Nuggets 110-82 for third straight win". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. December 22, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
  14. ↑ "P.J. Hairston 2014-15 Game Log". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Hornets Announce 2015 Orlando Pro Summer League Roster". NBA.com. June 30, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Lin, Walker lead Hornets past Knicks 97-84". NBA.com. January 23, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Grizzlies acquire four 2nd Round Picks, Chris Andersen & P.J. Hairston in three-team trade". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  18. ↑ "P.J. Hairston 2015-16 Game Log". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Carter scores 19 for Grizzlies in 112-95 win over Lakers". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. February 26, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Rockets Sign Free Agent P.J. Hairston". NBA.com. September 30, 2016. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Rockets Waive Three Players". NBA.com. October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Vipers perform trade with Erie and finalize training camp roster". NBA.com. October 31, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
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