Malaki Lamar Branham (born May 12, 2003) 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

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 ( ...

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

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

Early life and high school career

Branham was raised in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. Starting in 5th grade, he trained under Jason Dawson in Columbus. He moved to

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

where he attended high school at St. Vincent–St. Mary High School. At St. Vincent-St. Mary, he won two state championships in 2018 and 2021. He was named first team All-Ohio in his junior and senior seasons. As a senior, Branham averaged 21.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game. In his senior season, he was named

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and made the

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, which was not played due to the

COVID-19 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 identif ...

Recruiting

Branham was a consensus four-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 ranked as the best player in Ohio. On July 22, 2020, Branham committed to playing college basketball for

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

over offers from teams such as

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, Baylor, and

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

College career

Branham started his college career off the bench, but quickly became a regular starter. He scored a career-high 35 points in a 87–79 overtime win against

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

after a nearly month-long COVID pause. In a three-game stretch in February, he scored 22, 27, and 31 points. As a freshman, he averaged 13.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and two assists per game. Branham was named

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Freshman of the Year as well as Third Team All-Big Ten. On April 1, 2022, Branham declared for the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...

while maintaining his college eligibility. He later signed with an

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, forgoing his remaining eligibility. He was projected as a potential lottery pick in the draft.

Professional career

San Antonio Spurs (2022–present)

Branham was selected with the 20th overall pick by the

in the

. Branham joined the Spurs'

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 ...

team. In his Summer League debut, Branham scored fifteen points in a 99–90 loss to 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 ...

. On July 8, 2022, Branham signed a rookie-scale contract with the Spurs.

Career statistics

NBA

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San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

, 66 , , 32 , , 23.5 , , .440 , , .302 , , .829 , , 2.7 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , .1 , , 10.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 66 , , 32 , , 23.5 , , .440 , , .302 , , .829 , , 2.7 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , .1 , , 10.2

College

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, 32 , , 31 , , 29.6 , , .498 , , .416 , , .833 , , 3.6 , , 2.0 , , .7 , , .3 , , 13.7

References

External links

*
Ohio State Buckeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Branham, Malaki 2003 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Austin Spurs players Basketball players from Columbus, Ohio Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players San Antonio Spurs draft picks San Antonio Spurs players Shooting guards Small forwards