Christian Jalon Massinburg (born April 14, 1997) is an 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

Pallacanestro Brescia Pallacanestro Brescia S.p.A., known for sponsorship reasons as Germani Brescia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Brescia, Lombardy. Founded in 2009, the team plays in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) since the 2016–17 season ...

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier le ...

. 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 Buffalo Bulls. He was named the 2019 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. He previously played for the

Long Island Nets The Long Island Nets are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Uniondale, New York, and are affiliated with the Brooklyn Nets. The team plays its home games at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Nassau County ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

and

Limoges CSP Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

of the

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

Early life and high school career

Born and raised in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Massinburg came to Buffalo from

South Oak Cliff High School South Oak Cliff High School (colloquially referred to as SOC, pronounced "sock") is a public secondary school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. South Oak Cliff High School enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a ...

. As a senior, he averaged 22.3 points per game, but initially received no

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

offers. He ultimately signed with the Bulls after being scouted playing on a travel team for unsigned seniors.

College career

In his freshman season, Massinburg was not expected to contribute much, but ended up playing a key role off the bench averaging 11.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, earning a spot on the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

(MAC) All-Freshman Team. As a sophomore, Massinburg's progress was slowed by missing the first eight games of the season due to a bout with

mononucleosis Infectious mononucleosis (IM, mono), also known as glandular fever, is an infection usually caused by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Most people are infected by the virus as children, when the disease produces few or no symptoms. In young adult ...

, but he improved his scoring to 14.5 points per game as he moved into the starting lineup. As a junior, Massinburg was named first-team All-MAC as the Bulls enjoyed regular-season and Tournament conference championships, earning a trip to the 2018 NCAA tournament. Massinburg scored 19 points in the Bulls' upset over 4-seed

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

in the NCAA Tournament's first round, thought to be the biggest win in program history at the time. As a senior, Buffalo was the overwhelming preseason choice to win the MAC and Massinburg was named preseason first-team All-MAC East. The Bulls experienced great team success, as the team achieved a top 25 ranking in the November 12, 2018

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

, signifying a first for the school. The Bulls would go on to maintain a spot in the top 25 for the remainder of the year. Massinburg led the team in scoring, moving into the school's top five all-time scoring list on January 29, 2019. He received national individual recognition as he was named to thee watch lists for several national Player of the Year awards. Massinburg closed the 2018–19 regular season averaging 18.5 points per game and winning MAC Player of the Year honors and repeating on the all-conference first team. ''

The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It recently sold its headquarters to Uniland Development Corp. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by W ...

'' named Massinburg the best player of the decade from Buffalo, Canisius, Niagara, or St. Bonaventure. He was also named to the

Lou Henson Award The Lou Henson Award is an award given annually by '' CollegeInsider.com'' to the most outstanding mid-major men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award, established in 2010, is named for legendary Illinois Fighting Il ...

All-Decade Team.

Professional career

Long Island Nets (2019–2021)

On October 15, 2019, Massinburg signed with the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The t ...

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). On October 18, the Nets waived Massinburg. He was ultimately added to the roster of the Nets’

affiliate, the

. On November 15, Massinburg contributed 28 points, six rebounds and three assists in a loss to the

Delaware Blue Coats The Delaware Blue Coats are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Wilmington, Delaware, and are affiliated with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Blue Coats play their home games at Chase Fieldhouse. The team was founde ...

. He missed a game against the

Canton Charge The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, Ohio, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team plays its home games at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland. The fr ...

on December 30 for undisclosed reasons. Massinburg missed more than a month of action due to a right knee injury before returning against the

Grand Rapids Drive The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anaheim ...

on January 27, 2020.

Limoges CSP (2021–2022)

On September 14, 2021, Massinburg was signed by

of the

, the top tier men's basketball league in France.

Pallacanestro Brescia (2022–present)

In June 2022, Massinburg signed a 2 year contract with

The Basketball Tournament

Massinburg has played in

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 201 ...

(TBT), an annual $1 million winner-take-all tournament, for Blue Collar U, a team primarily rostered with Buffalo alumni. In TBT 2021, the team made it to the semifinals of the tournament. In TBT 2022, Blue Collar U won the tournament and $1 million prize, with Massinburg being named tournament MVP.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 35 , , 7 , , 25.3 , , .447 , , .389 , , .752 , , 4.1 , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 24 , , 18 , , 32.4 , , .411 , , .331 , , .750 , , 5.6 , , 2.8 , , .6 , , .1 , , 14.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 36 , , 35 , , 34.0 , , .468 , , .405 , , .743 , , 7.3 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 17.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 35 , , 34 , , 32.1 , , .464 , , .399 , , .780 , , 6.5 , , 3.0 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 18.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 130 , , 94 , , 30.8 , , .452 , , .386 , , .757 , , 5.9 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 15.3

References

External links

Buffalo Bulls bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massinburg, C. J. 1997 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Dallas Buffalo Bulls men's basketball players Limoges CSP players Long Island Nets players Shooting guards