Justin Ray "J. R." Giddens (born February 13, 1985) 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. He was selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft by the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

out of the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

. He initially played for 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 transferred following his sophomore season. He is the current Head Coach of the women’s basketball team at

Northern New Mexico College Northern New Mexico College is a public college in Española, New Mexico. History Northern was founded in El Rito, New Mexico in 1909 as the Spanish American Normal School, with the original mission of providing teacher training for the ar ...

in Española, NM.

College

Giddens accepted a scholarship offer from University of Kansas from then-head coach Roy Williams. After Williams left, Giddens was persuaded to stay by Williams' replacement

Bill Self Billy Eugene Self Jr. (born December 27, 1962) is an American basketball coach. He is the head men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, a position he has held since 2003. During his 19 seasons as head coach, he has led the Jayhawks to ...

. In his first year at Kansas, Giddens earned All-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

Freshman honors while averaging 11 points per game. In May 2005 he was involved in a fight outside a bar in Lawrence and received a stab wound. He was later charged with battery for his role in the incident and left Kansas in a mutual agreement with Self.Ex-Jayhawk Giddens charged with battery – Men's College Basketball – ESPN
/ref> Giddens transferred to

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

and sat out the next season due to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

regulations. As a junior, he was suspended from the team in late February for disciplinary reasons and missed the team's summer trip to work on his academics. New Mexico hired head coach

Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). Born and raised in Indiana, he was a ...

, who took a no-nonsense approach to discipline, and Giddens made a dramatic transformation. As a senior, he was named

Mountain West Conference 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 ...

Co-Player of the Year and Honorable Mention All-American following career highs in points (16.3 per game) and

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

(8.8 per game).

Professional career

On June 26, 2008, Giddens was selected by the

with the 30th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. He had worked out with the Celtics for three days, and received praises from head coach

Doc Rivers Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing for Marquette Universit ...

, who thought he could fight for minutes on the team right away. He was even mentioned as a possible replacement for

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

Tony Allen. Giddens was already familiar with

Leon Powe Leon Powe Jr. (; born January 22, 1984) is an American former professional basketball power forward. Drafted in 2006 by the Denver Nuggets, Powe grew up in Oakland, California, and played college basketball at the University of California, Berkele ...

and

Kendrick Perkins Kendrick Le'Dale "Perk" Perkins (born November 10, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst for ESPN. He entered the NBA directly out of high school and played for the Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder ...

, who were his teammates at the 2003

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 ...

Game. But on behalf of his agent Aaron Mintz, Giddens declined to work out at the Celtics' minicamp in early July, because he had not signed a contract yet. On November 15, 2008, Giddens was assigned to the Boston Celtics'

NBA Development 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 ...

affiliate team, the

Utah Flash Orem, Utah Orem Orem, Utah Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal ...

.Celtics Assign Giddens to Utah Flash , Celtics.com
/ref> He had played with the Celtics in the 2008–09 pre-season but had been on the inactive list for the first 10 games of the regular season. He was recalled by the Celtics from Utah Flash development team on February 8, 2009. Giddens started his first game for the Boston Celtics on January 2, 2010. On February 18, 2010, Giddens,

Bill Walker Bill Walker may refer to: Australian rules football * Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon * Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy * Bill J. V. Wal ...

and

Eddie House Edward Lee House II (born May 14, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. A guard known for his three-point shooting, House played for nine NBA teams in 11 seasons in the league. He was a member of the Boston Celtics team that ...

were traded to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

for

Nate Robinson Nathaniel Cornelius Robinson (born May 31, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Seattle, Robinson played college basketball for the University of Washington in Seattle and was the 21st pick in the 2005 NBA draft. ...

and

Marcus Landry Marcus Landry (born November 1, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Goyang Orions of the Korean Basketball League. Landry attended Vincent High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and played his college basketball ...

. On October 13, 2010, Giddens's agent said that Giddens would spend the 2010–11 season with

Asseco Prokom Gdynia Arka Gdynia is a Polish professional basketball team, based in Gdynia. The team plays in the Polish PLK. The club's sponsorship name comes from the company Asseco. Historically the team is one of the most successful in Poland, mainly because of t ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, but Giddens left the team in December 2010 by mutual consent. In September 2011, Giddens signed with PAOK Thessaloniki of Greece. In September 2012, Giddens signed with

Basket Brescia Leonessa 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 a ...

, an Italian Legadue team. On June 30, 2014, he signed with

Vaqueros de Bayamón The Vaqueros de Bayamón are a Puerto Rican basketball team of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. The Vaqueros play their home games at Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum, a venue shared with the Liga de Voleibol Superior F ...

of Puerto Rico. On November 22, 2014, Giddens signed with

Peñarol de Mar del Plata Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol, Monte ...

of Argentina. On March 10, 2015, he was waived by the Peñarol after appearing in seventeen LNB games. In January 2017, Giddens signed with Club Trouville of the

Liga Uruguaya de Basketball Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Lig ...

. The next month, he left the club after appearing in five games. On February 22, 2017, he signed with Mexican club Mineros de Parral. On March 22, 2018, Giddens signed with

Ferro Carril Oeste Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or familiarly, Ferro, is an Argentine sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Ferro is mostly known for its footb ...

of the

Liga Nacional de Básquet The Liga Nacional de Básquet (abbreviated LNB, and literally in English, "National Basketball League"), also commonly referred to as "La Liga de Básquet" ("The Basketball League"), is the top-tier level of the Argentine basketball league system ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Stabbing incident

On May 19, 2005, Giddens was stabbed in his right calf in a bar fight in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

, requiring 30 stitches.DraftExpress.com NBA Draft Prospect Profile: J.R. Giddens
/ref>

Personal

Majored An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...

in university studies. *Cleared as a high jumper in high school. *His parents are Charles and Dianna, and he has two sisters, Breeanna and Portia. *Lists

Steve Urkel Steven Quincy Urkel is a fictional character on the American ABC/CBS sitcom ''Family Matters'', portrayed by Jaleel White. Originally slated to be a one-time-only character on the show, he broke out to be its most popular character and gradually ...

and

Mr. Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...

as his favorite television characters. * Has sixteen tattoos, including his first initial "J" on his left triceps and his last initial "G" on his right triceps, and the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

verse

Philippians The Epistle to the Philippians is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and Timothy is named with him as co-author or co-sender. The letter is addressed to the Christian c ...

4:13 – ''"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength"'' – on his right shoulder.Jeremy Fowler
Men's basketball: Lobo J.R. Giddens seeks to rise above the labels
, ''The Alburquerque Tribune'', February 10, 2007.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

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New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

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References

External links

J. R. Giddens Euroleague.net Profile

J. R. Giddens Player Info
@ DraftExpress.com
J. R. Giddens – New Mexico Player Bio

@

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 ...

.com
Trying to get past his past
–

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...