Corey Dwight Benjamin (born February 24, 1978) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who played in the NBA from 1998 to 2003. He graduated from Fontana High School in

Fontana, California Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It is now a regional ...

, then 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

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degree ...

, and was selected by the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on Januar ...

in the first round (28th overall) of the 1998 NBA draft.

NBA career

Benjamin stayed with the Bulls for three seasons, and during the 2002–03 campaign, he signed a pair of 10-day contracts to play for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

. Between his stints with Chicago and Atlanta, he played for

Sutor Montegranaro Sutor Basket Montegranaro, is an amateur Italian basketball club based in Montegranaro, Marche. It plays in the Promozione (7th division) as of June 2015. It was formerly in the top division, with the 2013-14 season its last in Lega Basket Serie ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and the Southern California Surf in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

. He also suited up for the

North Charleston Lowgators North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''no ...

in the NBDL (now known as the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA De ...

). Benjamin is also known for an incident where he mentioned to teammate Randy Brown that he could beat

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

in one-on-one game. Jordan had just retired, but he showed up at a Bulls practice to completely embarrass Benjamin in an 11–3 rout.

International career

Benjamin spent the final five years of his career playing abroad, first heading to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

's Ligue Nationale de Basketball with Chalonnais for the 2003–04 season, followed by a stint in China for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association in 2004–05. Heading to

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

for the 2005–06 campaign, Benjamin next joined the Guaros de Lara in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in ...

's Liga Profesional de Baloncesto, followed by a spell in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. The Baloncesto Superior Nac ...

with the

Conquistadores de Guaynabo Mets de Guaynabo is a Puerto Rican professional basketball team of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional based in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. The team dissolved in 2015, but was reinstated with new ownership in 2019. The team was founded in 1935 as the ...

. Benjamin then returned to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

to play for Benfica in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

during the 2006–07 season. He wrapped up his overseas career with a second stint in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

the following winter, going to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

to compete in the Korean Basketball League with the

Daegu Orions Goyang Carrot Jumpers ( Korean: 고양 캐롯 점퍼스) is a professional basketball club based in Goyang, South Korea which plays in the Korean Basketball League. Before the change of ownership in 2022, they were called Orions. History Day ...

Career statistics

NBA

, - , align="left" , 1998–99 , align="left" ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, 31 , , 1 , , 10.3 , , .376 , , .214 , , .675 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 3.8 , - , align="left" , 1999–00 , align="left" ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, 48 , , 10 , , 18.0 , , .414 , , .348 , , .598 , , 1.8 , , 1.1 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 7.7 , - , align="left" , 2000–01 , align="left" ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, 65 , , 5 , , 13.2 , , .381 , , .259 , , .675 , , 1.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 4.7 , - , align="left" , 2002–03 , align="left" ,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

, 9 , , 0 , , 16.9 , , .302 , , .154 , , .750 , , 3.4 , , 1.1 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 4.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 153 , , 16 , , 14.3 , , .390 , , .289 , , .652 , , 1.7 , , 0.9 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 5.5

College

, - , align="left" , 1996-97 , align="left" , Oregon State , 23 , , 17 , , 26.1 , , .432 , , .315 , , .653 , , 4.0 , , 1.3 , , 1.1 , , 0.5 , , 14.9 , - , align="left" , 1997–98 , align="left" , Oregon State , 25 , , 22 , , 26.9 , , .539 , , .293 , , .713 , , 5.0 , , 2.2 , , 1.9 , , 0.7 , , 19.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 48 , , 39 , , 26.5 , , .491 , , .305 , , .688 , , 4.5 , , 1.8 , , 1.5 , , 0.6 , , 17.5

Personal life

While a member of the

Oregon State Beavers The Oregon State Beavers are the athletic teams that represent Oregon State University, located in Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ( Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for c ...

, Benjamin played on the same team as his older brother, Sonny. In 2000 Benjamin was arrested and charged with one count of domestic battery. He was arrested again in 2016. In 2021, Benjamin apologised after a video of his daughter punching another player 1/3 her size during a basketball game went viral.

References

External links

NBA.com bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin, Corey 1978 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Portugal American expatriate basketball people in South Korea American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Compton, California Charleston Lowgators players Chicago Bulls draft picks Chicago Bulls players Élan Chalon players Goyang Day One Jumpers players McDonald's High School All-Americans Oregon State Beavers men's basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Shooting guards S.L. Benfica basketball players Xinjiang Flying Tigers players American men's basketball players Mets de Guaynabo basketball players Fontana High School alumni