James Patrick Christopher (born June 3, 1988) is an American former 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. 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

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

and was a two-time first-team all-conference selection in the Pac-10 (now known as the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

). He briefly played in 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) for 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), ...

High school career

Christopher was born in

Artesia, California Artesia (Spanish for "artesian aquifer") is a city in southeast Los Angeles County, California. Artesia was incorporated on May 29, 1959, and is one of Los Angeles County's Gateway Cities. The city has a 2010 census population of 16,522. Artesi ...

. He attended

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 ...

, his freshman through junior years. He averaged 19.8 points per game as a junior in 2004–05, helping his team to a 19–10 record. For his senior year, Christopher moved to

Dominguez High School Manuel Dominguez High School is a four-year public high school located in Compton, California. It is part of the Compton Unified School District. Name Dominguez High School is named after Don Manuel Domínguez, a California rancher. Domínguez in ...

Compton, California Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...

, where he averaged 21 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists per game, earning first-team All-CIF honors for the 2005–06 season. He was rated the No. 44 overall recruit and No. 6 player in the state of California by Rivals.com and was considered the No. 17

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 country by Scout.com.

College career

After graduating high school, Christopher attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where he averaged 15.6 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2 assists as a senior for the Golden Bears. He was named first-team All-Pac-10 after both his junior and senior seasons and finished his Cal career ranked third in Golden Bear history in scoring with 1,700 points and fourth in three-pointers made with 164.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2010 NBA draft The 2010 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2010, at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The draft, which started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National ...

, Christopher played for 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 ...

in the

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season competition organized by the National Basketball Association. NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regular season line-ups ...

. He later moved to Turkey for the 2010–11 season to play for Antalya BB. In 28 games, he averaged 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. In December 2011, Christopher signed with

Cholet Basket Cholet Basket is a professional basketball club that is based in Cholet, France. The club plays in the French League. Their home arena is La Meilleraie. Established in 1975, Cholet won its first French championship in the 2009–10 season. In 19 ...

of the French

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. ...

. In 26 games during the 2011–12 season, he averaged 12.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. In July 2012, Christopher joined 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 ...

for the

, but did not play. He later returned to Turkey for the 2012–13 season to play for

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

. He averaged 11.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists in 26

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

games and 8.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 24 EuroLeague games. On September 27, 2013, Christopher signed with the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

. He was waived by Bulls on October 2 and joined the

Iowa Energy Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, 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: Wiscon ...

of the

NBA D-League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

on November 1, 2013. In 52 games during the 2013–14 season, he averaged 14.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. He was named to the NBA D-League All-Defensive Second Team. On September 25, 2014, Christopher signed with the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

. He was waived by Grizzlies on October 25 and was reacquired by the Iowa Energy on October 31, 2014. On December 10, 2014, he signed with the

. On January 6, 2015, he was waived by the Jazz after sustaining a knee injury. He appeared in four games (starting one) while averaging 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in 7.3 minutes per game. On September 14, 2015, Christopher re-signed with the Memphis Grizzlies, only to be waived by the team on September 23. On October 31, 2015, he was reacquired by the Iowa Energy. He was deactivated by the Energy on November 11, then reactivated on February 16, 2016. In 20 games to finish the 2015–16 season, he averaged 15.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. In July 2016, Christopher played for the NBA D-League Select Team in the

. On September 11, 2016, Christopher signed with

Eisbären Bremerhaven Eisbären Bremerhaven ( en, Polar Bears Bremerhaven) is a professional basketball club from Bremerhaven, Germany, that competes in the ProA. The team was established as the professional section of the club BSG Bremerhaven and played in the first- ...

of the German

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the highest level league of professional club basketball in Germany. The league comprises 18 teams. A BBL season ...

. However, after failing to pass the physicals due to a knee problem, the team voided his contract on September 22, 2016.

Personal life

Christopher is the son of Patricia and Laron Christopher. He is the brother of current

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...

forward Josh Christopher. He is the godbrother of 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 ...

. In 2019, Christopher founded Sloan and Bennett, a luxury menswear brand named after the cross streets of his childhood home in

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

, - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, 4 , , 0 , , 7.3 , , .250 , , .000 , , – , , 1.5 , , .0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.5

References

External links

California Golden Bears bio

Profile
at Eurobasket.com
TBLStat.net Profile

DraftExpress.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christopher, Patrick 1988 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Antalya Büyükşehir Belediyesi players Basketball players from Compton, California Beşiktaş men's basketball players California Golden Bears men's basketball players Cholet Basket players Iowa Energy players Shooting guards Small forwards Undrafted National Basketball Association players Utah Jazz players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people