Paul Jamaine Washington Jr. (born August 23, 1998) 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

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

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

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

. After being selected by the Hornets in the first 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 ...

with the 12th overall pick, he was named to the

NBA All-Rookie Second Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for playe ...

in 2020.

Early life

Washington attended

Lone Star High School Lone Star High School is a public high school located in the city of Frisco, Texas, United States and classified as a 5A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Frisco Independent School District. In 2015, the school was rated as " Met Standard" ...

in Frisco, Texas before transferring to

Findlay Prep Findlay Prep is a former high school basketball program located in Henderson, Nevada. The program was created in 2006 by local businessman Cliff Findlay, who owns several car dealerships in the Las Vegas area.Abramson, Mitch"Former Knick Jerome Wi ...

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the second largest city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with an estimated population of 320,189 in 2019. The city is part of the Las Vegas Vall ...

Recruiting

Washington was rated as a five-star recruit and No.12 overall recruit and No.3 power forward in the 2017 high school class by

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. On November 10, 2016, he committed to the Kentucky Wildcats, on November 20 he signed his letter of intent.

College career

Throughout most of his freshman season at Kentucky, Washington played through a pinkie injury that required surgery in the summer. In the NCAA Tournament loss to Kansas State, Washington led Kentucky with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Washington averaged 10.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game as a freshman. After the season, he declared for the NBA draft, but announced his return on May 30, 2018. Following Kentucky's loss to

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

in the 2019 NCAA men's basketball tournament, Washington announced his intention to forgo his final two seasons of collegiate eligibility and declare for the

, where he was projected to be a first-round selection.

Professional career

Charlotte Hornets (2019–present)

Washington was selected as the 12th overall pick by the

in the

. On July 3, 2019, Washington officially signed with the Hornets. On October 23, 2019, Washington made his debut in NBA, started in a 126–125 win over the Chicago Bulls with 27 points, 4 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. He also made 7 three-pointers, the most in an NBA debut in NBA history. On October 31, 2019, Washington scored 23 points and 8 rebounds in a 118–111 win over the Sacramento Kings. On November 29, 2019, Washington put up 26 points and 5 rebounds in a 110–107 victory against the Detroit Pistons. On September 15, 2020, Washington was named 2019–20 NBA All-Rookie Second Team by the

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 ...

. On February 28, 2021, Washington scored a career-high 42 points to help the

win over the Sacramento Kings.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, 58 , , 57 , , 30.3 , , .455 , , .374 , , .647 , , 5.4 , , 2.1 , , .9 , , .8 , , 12.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 64 , , 61 , , 30.5 , , .440 , , .386 , , .745 , , 6.5 , , 2.5 , , 1.1 , , 1.2 , , 12.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 65 , , 28 , , 27.2 , , .470 , , .365 , , .716 , , 5.2 , , 2.3 , , .9 , , .9 , , 10.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 187 , , 146 , , 29.3 , , .454 , , .375 , , .702 , , 5.7 , , 2.3 , , .9 , , 1.0 , , 11.8

College

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

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, 37 , , 30 , , 27.4 , , .519 , , .238 , , .606 , , 5.7 , , 1.5 , , .8 , , .8 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 33 , , 29.3 , , .522 , , .423 , , .663 , , 7.5 , , 1.8 , , .8 , , 1.2 , , 15.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 72 , , 63 , , 28.3 , , .521 , , .384 , , .632 , , 6.6 , , 1.7 , , .8 , , 1.0 , , 12.9

References

External links

Kentucky Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, P. J. 1998 births Living people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Louisville, Kentucky Basketball players from Texas Charlotte Hornets draft picks Charlotte Hornets players Findlay Prep alumni Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans People from Frisco, Texas Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex 21st-century African-American sportspeople