Stephen Graham (born June 11, 1982) 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 coach. Graham's twin brother,

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

, was his college teammate and has also played in the NBA. He is currently a player and development coach with the Denver Nuggets.

High school and college career

Born in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

, Graham played competitively at

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

's Brandon High School, and was team captain his senior year in which he averaged 16 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists per game; in that year, he and his brother Joey led Brandon to the state finals. Graham was named to Hillsborough County's All-Conference team his junior year and to the All-State team his senior season. He played in the AAU's Junior Olympics National Game and was named an All-American. He was a member of both

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

's championship AAU Sunshine State Games' team, and Nike's traveling Florida team. He was recruited by South Florida, Richmond, Florida State and Florida. Graham spent his freshman and sophomore

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 ...

seasons (2000–01; 2001–02) with the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

Knights A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

, then transferred to Oklahoma State University for his junior year (2002–03) in which he redshirted. In his first season with the Cowboys in 2003–04, he only twice scored 12 points, his season-high. He averaged a mere 2.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game overall, but he was named first-team Academic All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

for his academic achievements. A highlight in his senior season in 2004–05 was leading the Cowboys with 22 points in a 78–75 home loss to Gonzaga on December 28, 2004. For his second and final season for Oklahoma State, he averaged 6.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

Professional career

After playing through his senior year with the

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Stillwater. ...

, Graham declared for the

2005 NBA draft The 2005 NBA draft took place on June 28, 2005, in the Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, NBA teams took turns selecting amateur college basketball players and other first-time eligible players, such as players f ...

. However, he was not selected. He played for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

in the Las Vegas Summer League, and then 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 ( ...

during the 2005 preseason, but was not offered a longer contract by either team. He then joined the CBA, a minor league, signing with the

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 ...

. Graham was signed 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 ...

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

on December 10, 2005, but was cut on December 29 after playing in six games. After returning to the Skyforce in the interim, he signed a 10-day contract 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 ...

on January 17, 2006. He played his first game in a Bulls uniform three days later against the Rockets. However, Graham saw limited playing time with the Bulls and his contract was not extended when it expired. On February 6, Graham was signed to a 10-day contract by 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 February 20, he was signed to a second 10-day contract, then for the rest of the season. He spent the first two months of the

2006–07 NBA season The 2006–07 NBA season was the 61st season of the National Basketball Association. The San Antonio Spurs were crowned the champions after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *The first NBA draft under the ne ...

with 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 ...

, but was waived on January 2, 2007, playing with an old acquaintance, the Skyforce in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

, who were now a part of the

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 De ...

. In July 2007, he signed with the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

. He signed with the

Charlotte Bobcats Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populous ...

in September 2009. On September 15, 2010, Graham signed with the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. The Nets waived Graham on December 22, 2011, following the

lockout Lockout may refer to: * Lockout (industry), a type of work stoppage **Dublin Lockout, a major industrial dispute between approximately 20,000 workers and 300 employers 1913 - 1914 * Lockout (sports), lockout in sports leagues **MLB lockout, lock ...

. On March 13, 2012, Graham was acquired by the

Fort Wayne Mad Ants The Fort Wayne Mad Ants are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and are affiliated with the Indiana Pacers. The team plays their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The M ...

. On September 30, 2013, Graham signed with 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 ...

. However, he was waived on October 26. On December 21, 2013, Graham signed with

Guaros de Lara Guaros de Lara is a Venezuelan Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass a ...

. Graham competes for the Ants Alumni in

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 201 ...

. He was a forward on the 2015 team who made it to the semifinals, falling 87–76 to

Team 23 Team 23 is an American basketball team that competes in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), an annual winner-take-all competition. The team has competed in each tournament since 2015, except for 2020. , the team's general manager (sports), general man ...

Coaching career

On October 21, 2015, he was hired by the

to work as an assistant coach. He was announced as a player development coach for the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

for the 2016–17 season.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

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Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

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New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

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Playoffs

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References

External links

NBA.com ProfileLuke Winn
on the Graham brothers' career at Oklahoma State
An article concerning the influence of Graham's family on him
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Stephen 1982 births Living people 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Wilmington, Delaware Charlotte Bobcats players Chicago Bulls players Cleveland Cavaliers players Denver Nuggets assistant coaches Fort Wayne Mad Ants coaches Fort Wayne Mad Ants players Guaros de Lara (basketball) players Houston Rockets players Indiana Pacers players New Jersey Nets players Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball players Portland Trail Blazers players Shooting guards Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA) players Sioux Falls Skyforce players Small forwards American twins Twin sportspeople UCF Knights men's basketball players Undrafted National Basketball Association players