Joshua Evan Christopher (born December 8, 2001) 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 the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

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

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member o ...

. Christopher is often known as "Jaygup," a nickname created in his childhood.

Early life and high school career

Christopher grew up playing basketball with his older brother, Caleb, in elementary school, middle school and his first two years with

Mayfair High School Mayfair High School is a middle and high school in the Bellflower Unified School District in the city of Lakewood, California. The school first opened in 1959. The student population is approximately 3616 in grades 7 through 12. Mayfair serves ...

Lakewood, California Lakewood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 80,048 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is bordered by Long Beach on the west and south, Bellflower, California, Bellflower on the north, C ...

,and also the most prolific highlight of his career is where he played

Servite High School Servite High School is a private, Catholic, all-male college preparatory high school operated by the Order of Friar Servants of Mary on a campus in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area in Anaheim, California, US. It was founded by the Servites in ...

the freshman underdog Joshua D Perez was going off against the 5 star recruit as well as on the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU) circuit. In his childhood, he often played against older opponents. As a sophomore at Mayfair, Christopher averaged 25.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3.6 assists per game, leading his team to a 21–8 record. In his junior season, he averaged 25 points per game and won the Division 2AA championship. As a senior, Christopher was joined by Dior Johnson, one of the highest rated sophomores in the country. He averaged 29.2 points, 8 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 3.1 steals per game, leading his team to the

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF ...

Division 1 quarterfinals. Christopher was selected to play in the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

and

Nike Hoop Summit The Nike Hoop Summit is an international men's basketball all-star game sponsored by Nike, held once a year since 1995, except from 2001–2003, which features the USA Basketball Men's Junior Select Team against a World Select Team of internationa ...

, but all three games were canceled due to the ongoing

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

Recruiting

Christopher is a consensus five-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

and the number two

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

in the 2020 recruiting class. On April 13, 2020, he announced his commitment to

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

over

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

and

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. His brother, Caleb had served 1 year there as well. As such, Christopher became Arizona State's highest-ranked recruit in the modern recruiting era and the program's first five-star recruit since

James Harden James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harden is regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA ...

in 2007.

College career

On November 26, 2020, Christopher scored a career-high 28 points for Arizona State in an 83–74 loss to third-ranked Villanova. As a freshman, he was limited to 15 games due to injury, and averaged 14.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. On March 31, 2021, Christopher declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

Professional career

Houston Rockets (2021–present)

2021-22 season Christopher was selected with the 24th pick of the

by the

. On August 7, 2021, Christopher signed with the Rockets. He made his summer league debut adding up 13 points, four assist, and five rebounds win against the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in 28 minutes. Christopher began his preseason debut playing around 11 minutes with 7 points, two rebounds, and one assist in a game loss against the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

. He made his official NBA debut on October 20, coming off the bench with five points in eight minutes in a game loss against the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

. On November 24, The Rockets assigned Christoper to the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...

. After averaging 20 points in three games with the Vipers, the rockets recalled Christoper. On December 8, Christoper logged 18 points in a 7 of 7 from the field with four threes on a 104-114 game win 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 ...

. Christopher began playing a major role for the Rockets throughout his rookie season coming off the bench averaging a decent amount of stats. He scored 23 points win four assists and five rebounds in the loss game against the Spurs. On March 23, 2022, Christopher adds up 21 points in a 139-130 overtime win against the lakers. On April 3, Christoper puts up his first 30 points with a well-performance from 11-of-14 of shooting, 3-of-5 from threes, three assists and two steals in a home game loss against the Timberwolves. Throughout the 2021-22 season, Christopher played 74 games, averaging 7.9 points, 2.0 assists, and 2.5 rebounds, Christopher started out his rookie season in the G-league average of 20 points and was later promoted to a key role player to the rockets roster since November 29, 2021. 2022-23 season The rockets announce that Christopher would enter the 2022 summer league. In the first game of the 2022 summer league, Christopher puts up 22 points with three blocks in a game loss against the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

Player profile

Christoper is highly suggest to be a top shelf athlete who showcases the power and explosiveness with his defense, passing and athleticism. Christopers Handles and speed can attack in transition and get to the rim for flashy dunks and layups. Sources compared his sizes and skills with

Norman Powell Norman WC Powell (born May 25, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Powell played college basketball with the UCLA Bruins, where he was an all-conference ...

and

Jrue Holiday Jrue Randall Holiday (; born June 12, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for one season with the UCLA Bruins before being selected ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

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College

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Personal life

Christopher is the youngest of four siblings, all of whom have played basketball. His brother,

Patrick Patrick may refer to: * Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name * Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People * Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick ...

, played professionally, including a brief stint with 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), ...

of the

(NBA). Patrick's godbrother is former NBA player

Tayshaun Prince Tayshaun Durell Prince (born February 28, 1980) is an American professional basketball executive and former player. The small forward graduated from Dominguez High School before playing college basketball for the University of Kentucky. He was ...

. Christopher's sister, Paris, played college basketball for Saint Mary's but suffered a career-ending injury as a freshman. His brother, Caleb, was a player for Arizona State University and is now a player for Tennessee Tech. Christopher's father, Laron, is a musician. His parents are devout

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

References

External links

Arizona State Sun Devils bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christopher, Josh 2001 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball players Basketball players from California Houston Rockets draft picks Houston Rockets players McDonald's High School All-Americans People from Lakewood, California Rio Grande Valley Vipers players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California