Justin Taylor James (born January 24, 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 the

Cleveland 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 fra ...

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 ...

. 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

Wyoming Cowboys The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie, Wyoming, Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 ...

. He was selected by the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

in the second round of the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, i ...

College career

A native of

Port St. Lucie, Florida Port St. Lucie is a city in St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. It is the most populous municipality in the county with a population of 204,851 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is located southeast of Orlando, Florida, O ...

, James was an unheralded basketball recruit out of high school, generating only one high-major offer from

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

, before ultimately going to the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

. He became a full-time contributor by his sophomore year and increased his scoring average each year. James led the

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 ...

in scoring during his final season at Wyoming, averaging 22.1 points per game as a senior, despite playing as a point guard, a position he does not normally play, because Wyoming needed James to have the ball as much as possible during an 8–24 season. He also led the Cowboys with 8.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, and made second team All-Mountain West. James had a three-point field goal percentage of 33.7 percent during his college career. Despite his high scoring, James posted career-lows in field goal percentage (40.9 percent) and 3-point field goal percentage (29.6 percent) during his senior high, as well as 4.1 turnovers per game. James finished his college career with 2,061 points, the third-highest in Mountain West history. He also participated in the

Portsmouth Invitational Tournament The Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, (PIT), is the oldest amateur basketball tournament in the United States and the only postseason camp restricted to college basketball seniors. The Portsmouth Invitational is the first of two NBA pre-draft ...

, one of 64 seniors from around the country invited to the event.

Professional career

Sacramento Kings (2019–2021)

James was selected by the

in the second round of the

with the 40th overall pick, and became the first University of Wyoming player drafted since the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

selected

Larry Nance Jr. Larry Donnell Nance Jr. (born January 1, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Wyoming Cowboys, where he was considered ...

in 2015.

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

had ranked James as the 96th-best prospect heading into the draft, while the ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' and NBADraft.net had him unranked, and most

mock draft Mock draft is a term used by sports websites and magazines in reference to a simulation of a sports league draft or fantasy sports league's draft. ESPN has run mock drafts on the front page of its website, allowing any visitor to vote towards a sp ...

s did not predict he would be picked. Sacramento General Manager

Vlade Divac Vlade Divac ( sr-Cyrl, Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento Kings ...

said the team drafted him because they followed his college career and appreciated his passion and production: "We talked to everybody about his professionalism and his love for the game. We were so excited when we spent time with him in Sacramento." On July 10, 2019, the

announced that they had signed James. On October 25, 2019, James made his debut in the NBA, coming off the bench in a 112–122 loss to the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

with two points. He scored 30 points for the G League

Stockton Kings The Stockton Kings are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Stockton, California, and are affiliated with the Sacramento Kings. The Kings play their home games at the Stockton Arena and compete in the G League' ...

in a win over the

Iowa Wolves The Iowa Wolves are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Des Moines, Iowa, and are affiliated with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves play their home games at the Wells Fargo Arena and compete in the Western ...

on January 11, 2020.

Cleveland Charge (2021–2022)

On September 22, 2021, James signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

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), ...

. However, he was waived on October 1. On October 13, he signed with

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 ...

, but was waived three days later. On October 23, he signed with the

as an affiliate player. James averaged 17.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. On December 26, 2021, the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

signed James to a 10-day contract. However, he never appeared in a game for the team. On January 5, 2022, James was reacquired by the

. James joined 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 ...

for the

2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus ...

Metropolitans 92 (2022–2023)

On December 13, 2022, James signed with

Metropolitans 92 Metropolitans 92 is a French professional basketball club that is based in Levallois-Perret, in the Paris metropolitan area. The club currently plays in the LNB Pro A, the highest-tier level in French basketball. The club was established in 200 ...

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. ...

Return to the Charge (2023–present)

On March 2, 2023, James was re-acquired by the

Career statistics

NBA regular season

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

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 36 , , 0 , , 6.4 , , .417 , , .310 , , .476 , , .9 , , .5 , , .2 , , .3 , , 2.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 36 , , 0 , , 8.6 , , .468 , , .368 , , .583 , , .8 , , .6 , , .2 , , .1 , , 3.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 72 , , 0 , , 7.5 , , .446 , , .343 , , .544 , , .9 , , .6 , , .2 , , .2 , , 3.2

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

, 31 , , 3 , , 16.6 , , .418 , , .358 , , .565 , , 2.1 , , .8 , , .3 , , .4 , , 5.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 37 , , 6 , , 26.2 , , .462 , , .419 , , .762 , , 5.0 , , 2.2 , , .8 , , .5 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 31.2 , , .472 , , .308 , , .726 , , 6.0 , , 3.1 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , 18.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 38.2 , , .409 , , .296 , , .741 , , 8.5 , , 4.4 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , 22.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 132 , , 73 , , 28.1 , , .442 , , .337 , , .731 , , 5.4 , , 2.6 , , .9 , , .5 , , 15.6

References

External links

Wyoming Cowboys bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Justin 1997 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Florida Cleveland Charge players Metropolitans 92 players People from Port St. Lucie, Florida Sacramento Kings draft picks Sacramento Kings players Shooting guards Small forwards Stockton Kings players St. Lucie West Centennial High School alumni Wyoming Cowboys basketball players