DeShawn Stevenson (born April 3, 1981) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. Stevenson played for six teams in 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) during a 13-year career. He originally committed to play at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

, but decided to enter the NBA directly from high school and was picked by the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

with the 23rd selection of the 2000 NBA draft. He was a member of the Dallas Mavericks team that won an NBA championship in 2011. In 2017, Stevenson joined

Power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

, one of the eight

BIG3 Big3 (stylized BIG3) is a 3-on-3 basketball league founded by hip hop musician and actor Ice Cube and entertainment executive Jeff Kwatinetz. The league consists of 12 teams whose rosters include both former NBA players and international play ...

basketball league teams.

Early life

Stevenson was born in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

. His father, Darryl Stevenson, never married his mother Genice Popps, and eventually was forcibly placed in a facility after threatening family members and diagnosed as schizophrenic. Darryl signed a court order agreeing he had a duty to support his son, but eventually murdered his own mother Clara by strangling her; he died of cancer at the age of 36 in prison. DeShawn's name was tattooed on his chest. Due to the absence of his father, DeShawn lived with his

godparent In infant baptism and denominations of Christianity, a godparent (also known as a sponsor, or '' gossiprede'') is someone who bears witness to a child's christening and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelon ...

s in Easton,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He played high school ball at the same school where his father had played, and won a state championship his junior year. Stevenson signed with the Kansas Jayhawks in the fall of his senior year. Jayhawks head coach Roy Williams called him his "most gifted recruit ever". As a senior, Stevenson averaged 30.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists a game. He was named to the

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger s ...

team and scored 25 points to lead the West to a 146–120 win, and won the slam-dunk contest. Stevenson's mother advised him not to go straight to the NBA, but after there were irregularities with his

SAT test The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later calle ...

, Stevenson did indeed enter the league straight out of high school.

NBA career

Utah Jazz (2000–2004)

Stevenson was picked by the

with the 23rd selection of the 2000 NBA draft. Stevenson appeared in 222 regular season games during his time with Utah. He averaged 5.9 ppg., 1.9 rpg. and 1.2 apg. in 16.7 minpg. during that time. Stevenson played in five career playoff outings. At 19 years old, he became the youngest player to ever play and start for the Jazz during the 2000–01 season. In 2001, Stevenson finished second in the NBA

Slam Dunk Contest The NBA Slam Dunk Contest (officially known as the AT&T Slam Dunk) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. ''Sports Illustrated'' wrote "the dunk contest was the best halftime inventio ...

. Later that year, Stevenson pleaded no contest to having sex with a 14-year-old girl. On March 16, 2003, Stevenson received widespread attention for shoving

Ricky Davis Tyree Ricardo Davis (born September 23, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who played twelve seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for University of Iowa. Biography Davis atten ...

of the Cleveland Cavaliers after Davis deliberately missed a shot on his own basket in an attempt to record a

triple-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 ...

, when the Cavaliers were up 120–95. On November 1, 2003, Stevenson scored a then-career-high 24 points in a loss against the Mavericks. On February 19, 2004, Stevenson and a future second round draft pick were acquired by the Orlando Magic from the

in exchange for guard–forward Gordan Giricek.

Orlando Magic (2004–2006)

Stevenson played with the Orlando Magic for 2½ seasons. He had his best year during the 2005–06 season when he averaged 11.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, and 2.0 apg. Stevenson opted out of the third and final year of his contract with Orlando, and on August 5, 2006 he signed a two-year minimum contract with the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

Washington Wizards (2006–2010)

Stevenson in December 2007 On August 5, 2006, Stevenson signed a two-year contract with the Washington Wizards for the NBA minimum salary. Stevenson quickly adjusted to coach

Eddie Jordan Edmund Patrick Jordan, OBE (born 30 March 1948), also known as EJ, is an Irish businessman, television personality and former motorsport team owner. Born in Dublin, Jordan worked first at the Bank of Ireland. He won the Irish Kart Championship ...

's system, averaging 11.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, and 2.7 apg in his first season with Washington. Following the 2006–07 season, he opted out of the second year of his contract to test free agency. On July 16, 2007, Stevenson re-signed with the Wizards on a four-year, $15 million deal. On the early morning of August 20, 2007, a 31-year-old man, Curtis Ruff, was shot and injured at Stevenson's home, following an argument with women who were invited from Destiny's Club in

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...

. Circumstances of the incident remain unclear. After Stevenson, with a sore knee, scored a career-high 33 points, including a game winning three-pointer as time expired in a February 25, 2008 victory over the

New Orleans Hornets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan described Stevenson by saying, "He's a warrior, man, a true warrior. His confidence is growing, he's making threes, he's just a true pro. This is a man's league and he is man. In the dictionary next to that word there is a picture of DeShawn Stevenson." At the start of the 2008–09 season, Stevenson struggled and could not bring his offensive game to the level it had attained in 2007. As a result, Stevenson's minutes dipped slightly with the development of second year shooting guard Nick Young and former Maryland standout

Juan Dixon Juan Dixon (born October 9, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player and the current head coach for Coppin State University in Baltimore. Dixon led the University of Maryland Terrapins to their first NCAA championship in 2002 a ...

Dallas Mavericks (2010–2011)

DeShawn Stevenson at the Championship parade

On February 13, 2010, Stevenson was traded to the Dallas Mavericks along with

Caron Butler James Caron Butler (born March 13, 1980) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). During a 14-year career he played for the Miami ...

and

Brendan Haywood Brendan Todd Haywood (born November 27, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who was a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won an NBA championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011. Following his playing ...

for

Josh Howard Joshua Jay Howard (born April 28, 1980) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the UNT Dallas Trailblazers men's basketball team. He played college basketball for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. H ...

, Drew Gooden, James Singleton and Quinton Ross. Stevenson became the first player in NBA history to wear number 92 on his jersey. Stevenson chose number 92 because he wore number 9 in Orlando and number 2 with Utah and Washington. He used his player option and made $4.15 million during the 2010–11 NBA season. On June 12, 2011, the Mavericks won the NBA championship, defeating the

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...

-led

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 Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

105-95 in Game 6 of the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

. In that game, Stevenson made three of five three-point shots, scoring nine points.

New Jersey Nets (2011–2012)

On December 23, 2011, Stevenson signed one-year $2.5 million contract with the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Atlanta Hawks (2012–2013)

On July 11, 2012, the Nets traded Stevenson in a

sign-and-trade In the National Basketball Association (NBA), a sign-and-trade deal is a type of transaction allowed by the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) where one franchise/team signs an unrestricted free agent or restricted free agent player to a new c ...

, along with

Jordan Farmar Jordan Robert Farmar (born November 30, 1986) is an Israeli-American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In high school, he was named the ''Los Angeles Times'' High School Player of the Y ...

, Jordan Williams,

Anthony Morrow Anthony Jarrad Morrow (born September 27, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who is an executive for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Georgia Tech. He ...

, and

Johan Petro Johan Petro (born January 27, 1986) is a French former professional basketball player of Guadeloupean descent, who last played for the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA Development League. He was selected by the SuperSonics with the 25th overall pic ...

, to 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 ...

for Joe Johnson. On August 2, 2013, he was waived by the Hawks. Stevenson's played his final game on May 1st, 2013 during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference’s 1st Round. The Hawks lost the game 83 - 106 with Stevenson only playing 16 seconds. Stevenson formally announced his retirement three and half years later on December 19, 2016.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

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, 67 , , 23 , , 16.9 , , .385 , , .080 , , .698 , , 2.0 , , 1.7 , , .4 , , .4 , , 4.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 61 , , 8 , , 12.5 , , .401 , , .333 , , .691 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 54 , , 54 , , 28.0 , , .445 , , .233 , , .669 , , 3.3 , , 1.7 , , .5 , , .3 , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 26 , , 24 , , 35.9 , , .404 , , .293 , , .690 , , 4.6 , , 2.5 , , .9 , , .0 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 55 , , 27 , , 19.8 , , .408 , , .373 , , .554 , , 1.9 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .2 , , 7.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 82 , , 32.3 , , .460 , , .133 , , .744 , , 2.9 , , 2.0 , , .7 , , .2 , , 11.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

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, 82 , , 82 , , 31.3 , , .386 , , .383 , , .797 , , 2.9 , , 3.1 , , .8 , , .2 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 25 , , 27.7 , , .312 , , .271 , , .533 , , 2.4 , , 3.1 , , .7 , , .1 , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 40 , , 13 , , 15.4 , , .282 , , .177 , , .720 , , 1.6 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .1 , , 2.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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 ...

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, 72 , , 54 , , 16.1 , , .388 , , .378 , , .767 , , 1.5 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .1 , , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, 51 , , 30 , , 18.8 , , .285 , , .283 , , .563 , , 2.0 , , .8 , , .4 , , .1 , , 2.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-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 498,715 ...

, 56 , , 31 , , 20.7 , , .374 , , .364 , , .522 , , 2.2 , , .9 , , .5 , , .1 , , 5.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 824 , , 542 , , 22.3 , , .406 , , .340 , , .698 , , 2.2 , , 1.6 , , .5 , , .2 , , 7.2

Playoffs

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, 1 , , 0 , , 8.0 , , .500 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003 , style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 0 , , 9.3 , , .400 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007 , style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 4 , , 30.5 , , .196 , , .158 , , .429 , , 2.5 , , 1.8 , , .5 , , .8 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008 , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 6 , , 32.7 , , .367 , , .389 , , .889 , , 2.2 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2010 , style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

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† , style="text-align:left;",

, 21 , , 18 , , 15.8 , , .349 , , .397 , , .750 , , .9 , , .6 , , .5 , , .1 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

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

, 4 , , 0 , , 11.3 , , .600 , , .600 , , .000 , , 2.5 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 42 , , 28 , , 17.8 , , .327 , , .353 , , .791 , , 1.4 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , .1 , , 5.3

References

External links

*
NBA Draft Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Deshawn 1981 births Living people American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from California Big3 players Dallas Mavericks players McDonald's High School All-Americans National Basketball Association high school draftees New Jersey Nets players Orlando Magic players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Shooting guards Small forwards Sportspeople from Fresno, California Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players Washington Wizards players American men's 3x3 basketball players