P. J. Tucker

P. J. Tucker

Tucker in December 2012
No. 17 – Phoenix Suns
Position Small forward / Shooting guard
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1985-05-05) May 5, 1985
Raleigh, North Carolina
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight 245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school William G. Enloe
(Raleigh, North Carolina)
College Texas (2003–2006)
NBA draft 2006 / Round: 2 / Pick: 35th overall
Selected by the Toronto Raptors
Playing career 2006–present
Career history
2006–2007 Toronto Raptors
2007 →Colorado 14ers
2007–2008 Hapoel Holon
2008–2010 Donetsk
2010 Bnei HaSharon
2010–2011 Aris Thessaloniki
2011 Sutor Montegranaro
2011 Piratas de Quebradillas
2011–2012 Brose Baskets
2012–present Phoenix Suns
Career highlights and awards

Anthony Leon "P. J." Tucker Jr. (born May 5, 1985)[1] is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

High school and college

A former college basketball player for the University of Texas, Tucker attended William G. Enloe High School in Raleigh. In his three seasons at Texas, he scored 1,169 points, including a career-high 594 in the 2005-06 season. He also collected 714 rebounds and dished out 170 assists, including 107 in 2005–06. He posted 116 steals throughout his career. In that season, he was a Second Team All-American and the Big 12 Player of the Year.

Professional career

Tough beginnings and International career

Tucker was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the 35th pick in the 2006 NBA Draft and signed a two-year deal with them on July 26, 2006.

On January 5, 2007, the Raptors announced that Tucker had been sent to the Colorado 14ers of the NBA Development League. Colorado, led by head coach Joe Wolf, had been designated as Toronto's D-League affiliate for the 2006-07 season. On February 6, 2007, the Raptors recalled Tucker to the NBA. On March 6, 2007, Tucker was sent back to the 14ers.

On March 24, 2007, Tucker was waived by the Toronto Raptors in order to free up a roster spot for Luke Jackson.[2] He only played a total of 83 minutes during his only season with the Raptors. Tucker was also on the 2007 Summer League roster for the Cleveland Cavaliers.[3]

In the 2007–08 season with Hapoel Holon from Israeli Premier League, Tucker won the MVP trophy and led his team to the league title. Holon broke Maccabi Tel Aviv's fourteen-year streak as Israeli champions.

For the 2008–09 season he signed with a BC Donetsk team[4] that was just promoted to the Ukrainian Basketball Super League.[5][6] He led the team to a current third place in the league at its first appearance there, as well as become a Ukrainian SuperLeague All-Star. A season ending knee injury didn't prevent Tucker from finishing the season with the highest average of points per game in the league.[7] On October 7, 2009 Tucker renewed his contract with Donetsk for the 2009-10 season.[8] After the team bankrupted he returned to Israel in March 2010 and signed for Bnei HaSharon until the end of the season.[9]

In August 2010, he signed with Aris BC for the 2010–11 season,[10] but he was released in March 2011.[11] In April 2011 he signed with Sutor Basket Montegranaro in Italy.[12]

In July 2011, he signed a one-year deal with Brose Baskets Bamberg of Germany.[13] He went on to help Brose Baskets win the 2012 championship; he also won the Finals MVP award.

Return to the NBA

During the summer of 2012, Tucker signed a contract to play for Spartak St. Petersburg of Russia. However, he soon opted out of that contract to play for the Phoenix Suns' NBA Summer League team, and on August 1, 2012, he signed with the Suns on a two-year deal, with a team option on his second year.[14] In his first game back in the NBA, Tucker recorded 10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block in a 87–85 loss to the Golden State Warriors. On November 23, 2012, he scored a then career-high 15 points in a 111–108 overtime win over the New Orleans Hornets. Tucker made his first start for the Suns on December 31, 2012 against the Oklahoma City Thunder,[15] as he started the majority of the Suns' games for the rest of the 2012–13 NBA season.

On February 8, 2014, Tucker recorded 16 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and 4 steals in a 122–109 win over the Golden State Warriors,[16] becoming the first Suns player to have 15 points, 15 rebounds and 4 steals in a game since Shawn Marion in 2007.[17] On February 25, 2014, he tied his career high with a 15-rebound effort against the Minnesota Timberwolves.[18] On April 6, 2014, Tucker scored a career-high 22 points in a 122–115 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.[19]

On June 27, 2014, the Suns extended a qualifying offer to Tucker, thus making him a restricted free agent.[20] On July 23, 2014, he re-signed with the Suns[21] to a three-year, $16.5 million contract.[22] In August 2014, he was suspended for the first three games of the 2014–15 season without pay for pleading guilty to driving while under the extreme influence in May 2014.[23] He returned from suspension on November 4, 2014 to face the Los Angeles Lakers.[24]

On December 31, 2015, Tucker tied his career high of 22 points in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.[25] On January 26, 2016, he recorded a career-high eight assists in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.[26] On March 14, he scored a career-high 23 points in a 107–104 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.[27] He topped that mark on April 7, scoring 24 points in a 124–115 win over the Houston Rockets.[28] He played in all 82 games for the Suns in 2015–16, the only player to do so.[29]

On September 15, 2016, Tucker underwent a successful low back microdiscectomy procedure and was subsequently ruled out for six to eight weeks.[30] He returned in time for the start of the regular season. On November 27, 2016, he scored a season-high 21 points against the Denver Nuggets.[31]

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
2006–07 Toronto 17 0 4.9 .500 .000 .571 1.4 .2 .1 .0 1.8
2012–13 Phoenix 79 45 24.2 .473 .314 .744 4.4 1.4 .8 .2 6.4
2013–14 Phoenix 81 81 30.7 .431 .387 .776 6.5 1.7 1.4 .3 9.4
2014–15 Phoenix 78 63 30.6 .438 .345 .727 6.4 1.6 1.4 .3 9.1
2015–16 Phoenix 82 80 31.0 .411 .330 .746 6.2 2.2 1.3 .2 8.0
Career 337 269 27.9 .436 .349 .747 5.7 1.6 1.1 .3 7.9

Personal life

Tucker is the son of Anthony and Aleshia Tucker. Tucker spent a portion of his childhood living in Germany while his father served in the Army.[1]

In May 2014, Tucker was arrested for "super-extreme DUI" by Scottsdale police. As a result of his "super-extreme DUI," Tucker received a three-day jail sentence, as well as eleven days of house detention. In addition, an ignition interlock device was placed on his vehicles for eighteen months, he was placed on five-year probation, be subject to substance abuse screening and counseling, and pay $2,750 in fines, not including court and jail costs of up to $200 per day.[32]

Footwear

Tucker is a self-proclaimed "sneakerhead" and stores hundreds of pairs of basketball shoes in at least 4 different locations across the country.[33] On August 22, 2016, SLAM Magazine named Tucker as the solidified #1 sneakerhead in the NBA, due to not only the amount of shoes he had, but also the quality of some of the shoes he's had, which includes some rare shoes that former NBA players like Shawn Marion, Michael Finley, Josh Howard, and Eddie Jones wore, as well as some shoes that were previously worn for Fat Joe back in the days he was a member of the Terror Squad.[34]

References

  1. 1 2 Prospect Profile: P.J. Tucker
  2. ↑ Wilkerson, William (2007-03-25). "Ex-Longhorn Tucker released by Raptors". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original (registration required) on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
  3. ↑ NBA.com : Summer League 2007
  4. ↑ Profile on bc.donetsk.ua
  5. ↑ http://one.co.il/Article/122133.html
  6. ↑ http://www.bc.donetsk.ua/news/show.php?ID=3353
  7. ↑ http://ukrbasket.net/fbu/en/statistics/men/superleague/ave/pts
  8. ↑ Таккер – снова донецкий «тигр»! (Ukrainian)
  9. ↑ טאקר בשרון! (Hebrew)
  10. ↑ Aris Thessaloniki and P.J. Tucker reach a two-year agreement
  11. ↑ ΑΝΑΚΟΙΝΩΣΗ ΚΑΕ ΑΡΗΣ (Greek)
  12. ↑ PJ Tucker alla Fabi Shoes: altro sforzo della Triade (Italian)
  13. ↑ Brose Baskets adds scoring ace Tucker
  14. ↑ Suns Sign P.J. Tucker
  15. ↑ Notebook: Thunder 114, Suns 96
  16. ↑ Notebook: Suns 122, Warriors 109
  17. ↑ Where are they now: Last year's Phoenix Suns are "all happy now"
  18. ↑ Notebook: Wolves 110, Suns 101
  19. ↑ Notebook: Suns 122, Thunder 115
  20. ↑ "Suns Extend Qualifying Offers to Bledsoe, Tucker". NBA.com. June 27, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  21. ↑ Suns Re-Sign P.J. Tucker
  22. ↑ P.J. Tucker Signs Three-Year, $16.5M Deal With Suns
  23. ↑ P.J. Tucker Suspended Three Games By NBA For Extreme DUI
  24. ↑ Phoenix Suns beat Lakers 112-106 despite Kobe's 39
  25. ↑ #SunsAtThunder By the Numbers: December 31
  26. ↑ Suns Game Notes – February 27, 2016
  27. ↑ Teletovic's 3 with 1.2 seconds left lifts Suns over Wolves
  28. ↑ Suns end 7-game skid with 124-115 win over Rockets
  29. ↑ 2015-16 Phoenix Suns Roster and Stats
  30. ↑ Suns Forward P.J. Tucker Undergoes Back Surgery
  31. ↑ P.J. Tucker 2016-17 Game Log
  32. ↑ Suns' P.J. Tucker receives jail time for DUI, apologizes to fans
  33. ↑ Cacciola, Scott (2014-01-29). "A Huge N.B.A. Rivalry: Sneaker Collections". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
  34. ↑ Plugged In
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