Nicolas Devir Claxton (born April 17, 1999) 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

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 ...

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

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

High school career

Claxton attended Legacy Charter School in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

. In his senior season, he averaged 17.4 points,7.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game and became the fourth player in school history to record 1,000 career points. Claxton was a three-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 chose to play for

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

over Baylor,

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

, and

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Professional career

Brooklyn Nets (2019–present)

Early years and limited role (2019–2021)

On June 20, 2019, Claxton was selected with the 31st overall pick in 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 ...

by the

. On July 7, the Nets announced that they had signed Claxton. He made his NBA debut on November 8, recording eight points and six rebounds in a 119–115 win over 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 ...

. Claxton suffered a hamstring injury in January 2020 and was assigned to the Nets'

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 ...

affiliate, the

Long Island Nets The Long Island Nets are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Uniondale, New York, and are affiliated with the Brooklyn Nets. The team plays its home games at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Nassau County ...

, on January 10, 2020. On January 20, he scored a season-high 15 points, alongside four rebounds and two assists, in a 117–111 loss to the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

. On June 24, the Nets announced that Claxton had undergone successful arthroscopic labrum repair surgery on his left shoulder and was expected to miss the remainder of the 2019–20 season. Heading to the 2020–21 season the Nets traded center

Jarrett Allen Jarrett Allen (born April 21, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Texas Longhorns. Allen was selected 22nd overall by ...

to create more minutes for Claxton. On May 12, 2021, Claxton scored a season-high 18 points, alongside five rebounds and two blocks, in a 128–116 win over 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 ( ...

. During the playoffs, the Nets faced 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 ...

in the first round. Claxton made his playoff debut on May 22, recording six points and five rebounds in a 104–93 Game 1 win. The Nets ended up winning the series in five games, but lost to the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

in seven games during the second round.

Emerging as a defensive star and increase production (2021–present)

In the off-season the Nets traded starting center

DeAndre Jordan Hyland DeAndre Jordan Jr. (born July 21, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for the Texas A&M Aggies. Jordan was sel ...

and named Claxton as their main starting center. On February 2, 2022, Claxton scored a season-high 23 points, alongside eleven rebounds and five blocks, in a 112–101 loss to 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 a rematch of last year's series, the Nets faced the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs. The Nets were eliminated in four games, with Claxton averaging 10.5 points and 2.3 blocks per game. On July 7, 2022, Claxton re-signed with the Nets on a two-year, $20 million contract. He was the Nets' starting center entering the 2021–22 season. On January 26, 2023, Claxton scored a career-high 27 points, alongside 13 rebounds and two blocks, in a 130–122 loss to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

National team career

In 2014, Claxton played for the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

at the Centrobasket Under-15 Championship in

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

, averaging a

double-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 ...

of 10.6 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. He made another appearance for the Virgin Islands at the 2015 Centrobasket Under-17 Championship in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

, where he averaged 11 points and eight rebounds per game. Claxton competed at the

2016 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship The 2016 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship for Men was an international basketball competition that was held in Valdivia, Chile from July 19–23, 2016. It was the tenth edition of the championship, and was the FIBA Americas qualifying tournamen ...

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and Cau-Cau R ...

, Chile. He averaged a team-high 12 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, leading his team to seventh place. In the summer of 2018, Claxton joined the senior Virgin Islands national team at qualifying competition for the

2019 FIBA World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since 1967 that did no ...

. Claxton is eligible for the U.S. Virgin Islands team because his father, Charles, was born in St. Thomas.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, 15 , , 0 , , 12.5 , , .563 , , .143 , , .524 , , 2.9 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , .5 , , 4.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 1 , , 18.6 , , .621 , , .200 , , .484 , , 5.2 , , .9 , , .7 , , 1.3 , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 47 , , 19 , , 20.7 , , .674 , , , , .581 , , 5.6 , , .9 , , .5 , , 1.1 , , 8.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 76 , , 76 , , 29.9 , , style="background:#cfecec;", .705* , , .000 , , .541 , , 9.2 , , 1.9 , , .9 , , 2.5 , , 12.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 170 , , 96 , , 23.7 , , .679 , , .143 , , .540 , , 6.9 , , 1.4 , , .7 , , 1.7 , , 9.7

Play-in

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, 1 , , 0 , , 28.7 , , 1.000 , , , , .167 , , 9.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 5.0 , , 13.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 1 , , 0 , , 28.7 , , 1.000 , , , , .167 , , 9.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 5.0 , , 13.0

Playoffs

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, 12 , , 0 , , 10.8 , , .483 , , , , .667 , , 2.8 , , .6 , , .3 , , 1.0 , , 2.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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

, 4 , , 0 , , 24.5 , , .792 , , , , .182 , , 6.3 , , 1.5 , , 1.3 , , 2.3 , , 10.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

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, 4 , , 4 , , 29.2 , , .720 , , , , .600 , , 8.0 , , 1.5 , , .3 , , 1.8 , , 10.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 20 , , 4 , , 17.2 , , .654 , , , , .343 , , 4.5 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , 1.4 , , 5.7

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 5 , , 14.7 , , .449 , , .364 , , .523 , , 3.9 , , .2 , , .2 , , 1.3 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 32 , , 31.6 , , .460 , , .281 , , .641 , , 8.6 , , 1.8 , , 1.1 , , 2.5 , , 13.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 65 , , 37 , , 23.0 , , .457 , , .302 , , .611 , , 6.2 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , 1.9 , , 8.4

Personal life

Claxton is the son of Charles Claxton, a U.S. Virgin Islands native who played college basketball for

and was briefly a member of the

in the

1995–96 NBA season The 1995–96 NBA season was the 50th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), though the 50th anniversary was not celebrated until the following season. The Chicago Bulls defeated the Seattle SuperSonics 4 games to 2 in the NBA Final ...

. Nic's younger brother, Chase Claxton, plays Division I basketball for the

Winthrop Eagles The Winthrop Eagles are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Winthrop University, located in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Winthrop's 17 men's and women's teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I ...

References

External links

Georgia Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claxton, Nicolas Living people 1999 births American men's basketball players American people of Virgin Islands descent Basketball players from South Carolina Brooklyn Nets draft picks Brooklyn Nets players Georgia Bulldogs basketball players Long Island Nets players Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Greenville, South Carolina United States Virgin Islands men's basketball players