C. J. Watson

Charles "C. J." Akeem Watson Jr. (born April 17, 1984)[1] is an American professional basketball player for Uşak Sportif of the Turkish Basketball Super League. He played college basketball for the University of Tennessee.

C. J. Watson
Watson with the Bulls
Free agent
PositionPoint guard
Personal information
Born (1984-04-17) April 17, 1984
Las Vegas, Nevada
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolBishop Gorman
(Las Vegas, Nevada)
CollegeTennessee (2002–2006)
NBA draft2006 / Undrafted
Playing career2006–present
Career history
2006–2007Pallacanestro Reggiana
2007PAOK Thessaloniki
2007–2008Rio Grande Valley Vipers
2008–2010Golden State Warriors
2010–2012Chicago Bulls
2012–2013Brooklyn Nets
2013–2015Indiana Pacers
2015–2017Orlando Magic
2018–2019Uşak Sportif
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

College career

Watson played college basketball for the Tennessee Volunteers for four seasons. During his freshman season, he earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors. His best season came during his senior year in 2005–06, where he and fellow All-American Chris Lofton led the Volunteers to a 22–8 record and a 12–4 record in SEC play. He averaged 15.3 points, 3.9 assists and 3.1 rebounds, and earned second-team All-SEC honors from the Associated Press and the league coaches. He finished his collegiate career as Tennessee's second all-time leader in assists (577), second in steals (198), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.396), tied for eighth in three-point field goals (401), and 15th in scoring (1,424 points).[1]

Professional career

European career (2006–2007)

Despite an excellent college career, Watson went undrafted in 2006 NBA draft. He then played briefly with San Antonio Spurs in 2006 NBA summer league before joining Italian Serie A team Bipop Carire Reggio Emilia. He averaged 8.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 17 games. He then moved on to join Greek A1 Ethniki team PAOK B.C. where he averaged 7.4 points and 2.2 assists in five games.[1]

D-League career (2007–2008)

Watson returned to the states to revive his NBA career, participated in 2007 NBA summer league with the Spurs and later joined the Charlotte Bobcats' training camp. However, he once again failed to make the roster for the season. On November 1, 2007, he joined NBA D-League and was drafted 5th overall by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.[2] He averaged 26.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.38 steals in 38.1 minutes per game for the Vipers before signed by Golden State Warriors on January 8, 2008. At the time of the call-up, Watson was the third-leading scorer in the D-League. He also became the 100th player to be called up by an NBA team in D-League history.[3]

Golden State Warriors (2008–2010)

On January 8, 2008, Golden State Warriors signed Watson to a 10-day contract to be a backup point guard to All-Star Baron Davis.[3] He impressed Warriors coach Don Nelson and subsequently earned a second 10-day contract.[4] After two 10-day contracts, where he appeared in 8 games, averaging 5.4 points and 1.8 assists in 16.6 minutes, Watson was signed for the remainder of the season. On February 17, 2010, Watson scored a career-high 40 points against the Sacramento Kings with 16-of-23 shooting.[5]

Chicago Bulls (2010–2012)
Watson in a game with the Bulls in 2011

On July 21, 2010, Watson was acquired in a sign and trade deal by the Chicago Bulls.[6] On November 26, 2010, the Bulls' starting point guard Derrick Rose was out with a stiff neck. Watson started against the Denver Nuggets and scored a season-high 33 points in a loss, while also shooting 50% from the field.[7][8] On December 14, 2011, Watson changed his number from 32 to 7 because of Richard "Rip" Hamilton signing with the Bulls. On April 28, 2012, in the Bulls' first game of that year's playoffs, guard Derrick Rose suffered a torn ACL in his left knee. In his absence, Watson started the rest of the Bulls' playoff games.[9] The Bulls lost in the first round to the Philadelphia 76ers. Watson averaged 7.3 points on 24% shooting in the series.

Brooklyn Nets (2012–2013)

On July 23, 2012, Watson signed with the Brooklyn Nets.[10] On February 13, 2013, he scored a season-high 25 points in the 119–108 win over the Denver Nuggets. His 25 points were the most he'd scored since November 2010, and his five three-pointers also set a career high.[11] Watson averaged 6.8 points in 80 regular season games for the Nets as a backup point guard to Deron Williams. In the Nets' seven playoff games, he averaged 8.6 points per game.

Indiana Pacers (2013–2015)

On July 10, 2013, Watson signed with the Indiana Pacers.[12] On April 13, 2014, he scored a season-high 20 points in the 102–97 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.[13] In his first season with Indiana, Watson averaged 6.6 points in 63 regular season games as a backup point guard to George Hill. In 18 playoff games, Watson averaged 5.8 points per game.

Orlando Magic (2015–2017)

On July 9, 2015, Watson signed with the Orlando Magic.[14] On February 19, 2016, he played in his first game for the Magic since November 9, 2015 due to a left calf injury.[15]

On July 10, 2017, Watson was waived by the Magic.[16]

Turkey (2018–2019)

In February 2018, Watson signed with Uşak Sportif of the Turkish Super League.[17]

Personal life

Watson majored in psychology at Tennessee and continued working toward his degree every summer after starting his professional basketball career. He completed his coursework in 2012.[18] He has one brother, Kashif, who played college basketball for the University of Idaho, and one sister, Vonyetta.[19]

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
2007–08 Golden State 32011.5.426.346.7931.01.1.5.03.7
2008–09 Golden State 771824.5.457.400.8702.52.71.2.19.5
2009–10 Golden State 651527.5.468.310.7712.62.81.6.110.3
2010–11 Chicago 82113.3.371.393.7401.12.3.7.14.9
2011–12 Chicago 492523.7.368.393.8081.04.1.9.29.7
2012–13 Brooklyn 80819.0.418.411.7801.82.0.8.26.8
2013–14 Indiana 63518.9.437.366.7841.61.71.0.16.6
2014–15 Indiana 572124.9.434.400.8262.93.61.0.210.0
2015–16 Orlando 33219.9.343.292.8722.02.7.6.24.3
2016–17 Orlando 62916.3.387.305.8641.41.8.7.04.5
Career 60010420.2.419.373.8121.92.5.9.17.2

Playoffs
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011 Chicago 1608.5.339.200.909.91.9.5.03.2
2012 Chicago 6527.3.241.250.7502.25.5.8.07.3
2013 Brooklyn 7023.0.436.267.6672.41.9.7.18.6
2014 Indiana 19018.0.411.400.6072.1.9.8.15.6
Career 48516.7.363.314.7011.82.0.7.05.5
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References
  1. "C.J. Watson" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 9, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2008.
  2. "NBA Development League: 2007 D-League Draft Board". Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
  3. WARRIORS: Warriors Sign Guard CJ Watson To 10-Day Contract
  4. WARRIORS: Warriors Sign C.J. Watson To Second 10-Day Contract
  5. WARRIORS: Warriors Sign C.J. Watson For Remainder Of Season
  6. Bulls acquire Watson via sign-and-trade
  7. "Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose out Friday".
  8. "C.J. Watson Game Log".
  9. Powers, Scott. "Bulls' Derrick Rose tears ACL". espn.com. ESPN.
  10. "Brooklyn Nets sign guard C.J. Watson". Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  11. Notebook: Nets 119, Nuggets 108
  12. "Pacers Sign Free Agent C.J. Watson". NBA.com. July 10, 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  13. Notebook: Pacers 102, Thunder 97
  14. "Magic Sign C.J. Watson". NBA.com. July 12, 2015. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  15. "Mavs set franchise best for 3s but lose to Magic in OT". Archived from the original on February 19, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  16. "Orlando Magic Waive C.J. Watson". NBA.com. July 10, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  17. "C.J. Watson: Signs with Turkish club". CBSSports.com. February 17, 2018. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  18. C.J. Watson earns diploma from Tennessee
  19. "#32 Kashif Watson". GoVandals.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
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