Brandon Clarke (born September 19, 1996) is a Canadian-American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Gonzaga Bulldogs The Gonzaga Bulldogs () (also known unofficially as the Zags) are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing Gonzaga University, located in Spokane, Washington, United States. Gonzaga competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

and San Jose State University Spartans men’s basketball team. He was drafted 21st overall by the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

in the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, i ...

and then immediately traded to the Grizzlies. He was named to the

NBA All-Rookie First Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for playe ...

in 2020.

Early life and high school career

Clarke was born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

to a Canadian mother and Jamaican father. At age three, Clarke moved with his family to the U.S. city of

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

; he is now a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S. He attended

Desert Vista High School Desert Vista High School is a public high school located in the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix, Arizona. Opened in 1996, it is the second Tempe Union High School District (TUHSD) school in Ahwatukee and serves approximately 3,000 students. Academic ...

in Phoenix. He was named All-Arizona Division 1 honoree by the

Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

after leading Desert Vista to the championship game in 2015.

College career

He played two seasons for the

San Jose State Spartans The San Jose State Spartans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Mountain West Conference (MW) at the NCAA Division I level, with football competing in the Football B ...

. As a freshman he was named

Mountain West The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations o ...

Six Man of the Year by the league's head coaches after putting up 10.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in conference play. As a sophomore, he averaged 17.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, and 2.3 assists on route to being named All-Mountain West First Team and Mountain West All-Defensive Team. After the season he decided to transfer to Gonzaga, where he redshirted the 2017-18 season. In his junior season at Gonzaga, Clarke continued onward with his improvements to be named the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

's Newcomer of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and be named a member of the All-WCC First Team. Clarke was the first player in WCC history to win both their Newcomer of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors in the same season. He was also named to the All-American Third Team by the

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

. On March 23, 2019, Clarke recorded a career-high 36 points alongside 8 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 3 assists in a 83–71 win over #9 seeded Baylor. He became the third player in NCAA Tournament history to record a game of 35+ points alongside 5 blocks, joining

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

and

David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...

as the only players to do so. Clarke also broke a team record in points scored in an NCAA Tournament game, breaking a record previously set by

Adam Morrison Adam John Morrison (born July 19, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. Morrison played for three years at Gonzaga University and was considered to be one of the top college basketball players in 2005–06. He was a finalist ...

Professional career

Memphis Grizzlies (2019–present)

Clarke was selected in the first round of the

with the 21st overall pick. On July 7, 2019, the

announced that they had officially acquired the right to Clarke from the

for draft right to

Darius Bazley Darius Denayr Bazley (born June 12, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bazley attended Princeton High School in Sharonville, Ohio after playing his fir ...

and a future second round draft pick. With four

double-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

s, he was named the

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

(MVP) of the

2019 NBA Summer League The 2019 NBA Summer League was held at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It began on July 5 and ended on July 15. All 30 teams and two national teams, China and Croat ...

, becoming the second non-American to win the award. He had 15 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks in the championship game to lead Memphis to the league championship, and earned game MVP honors as well, becoming the first non-American to win championship MVP and the first player in Summer League history to win both honors. On October 23, 2019, Clarke made his debut in NBA, coming off from bench in a 101–120 loss to the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

with eight points, seven rebounds, an assist and a block. On February 25, 2020, it was announced that Clarke would be sidelined because of a right quadricep injury. On September 15, 2020, Clarke was named to the 2019–20 NBA All-Rookie First Team by the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. On December 16, 2020, the

announced that they had exercised their team option on Clarke. On October 16, 2021, the Grizzlies exercised their team option on Clarke for the 2022–23 season.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, 58 , , 4 , , 22.4 , , .618 , , .359 , , .759 , , 5.9 , , 1.4 , , .6 , , .8 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 59 , , 16 , , 24.0 , , .517 , , .260 , , .690 , , 5.6 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , .9 , , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 64 , , 1 , , 19.5 , , .644 , , .227 , , .654 , , 5.3 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , 1.1 , , 10.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 181 , , 21 , , 21.9 , , .591 , , .294 , , .699 , , 5.6 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .9 , , 10.9

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

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, style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 4.5 , , .500 , , — , , — , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , , .5 , , 1.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 12 , , 0 , , 24.7 , , .615 , , .000 , , .667 , , 7.0 , , 2.0 , , .8 , , .8 , , 12.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 14 , , 0 , , 21.8 , , .613 , , .000 , , .667 , , 6.1 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .8 , , 10.7

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

, 31 , , 3 , , 23.5 , , .634 , , .167 , , .561 , , 5.6 , , 1.5 , , .7 , , 1.2 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30 , , 30 , , 31.9 , , .592 , , .333 , , .572 , , 8.7 , , 2.3 , , 1.2 , , 2.6 , , 17.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Gonzaga , style="text-align:center;" colspan="11",

Redshirt , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Gonzaga , 37 , , 36 , , 28.1 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .687* , , .267 , , .694 , , 8.6 , , 1.9 , , 1.2 , , 3.1 , , 16.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 98 , , 69 , , 27.8 , , .639 , , .250 , , .618 , , 7.7 , , 1.9 , , 1.0 , , 2.3 , , 14.5

References

External links

Gonzaga Bulldogs bioSan Jose State Spartans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Brandon 1996 births Living people Basketball people from British Columbia Basketball players from Phoenix, Arizona Black Canadian basketball players Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United States Canadian men's basketball players Canadian people of Jamaican descent Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball players Memphis Grizzlies players Oklahoma City Thunder draft picks Power forwards (basketball) San Jose State Spartans men's basketball players Basketball players from Vancouver National Basketball Association players from Canada Canadian emigrants to the United States American people of Jamaican descent