Aaron Michael Gray (born December 7, 1984) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who played seven seasons 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 St ...

(NBA). A heart condition forced him into early retirement in 2015.

High school career

Gray played high school basketball at

Emmaus High School Emmaus High School is a large public high school located in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. The school serves grades nine through 12 in Pennsylvania's East Penn School District in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. Emmaus High School is loca ...

in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. The school competes in Pennsylvania's highly competitive East Penn Conference. Gray did not start playing for the varsity team until the middle of his sophomore season. In Gray's senior season at Emmaus High School, he won the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year. Gray was recruited by major collegiate basketball programs, including the Penn State, Pitt, and

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and w ...

, and committed to Pitt.

College career

While at Pitt, Gray was named a Third Team All-American after helping lead Pitt to the Sweet 16 in the

2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2006–07 basketball sea ...

in March 2007.

Professional career

At the NBA's 2007 pre-draft camp, Gray was the only player whose height measured at least seven feet without shoes. He was selected with the 49th overall pick by 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 ...

in the 2007 NBA draft.

Chicago Bulls (2007–2010)

Gray made his NBA debut with the Bulls on November 2, 2007 against the Philadelphia 76ers. On April 16, 2008 against the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

, he recorded 19 points, 22 rebounds and 2 assists in 35 minutes of play. In the 2007–08 season, Gray scored 262 points and recorded 168 rebounds for the Bulls.

New Orleans Hornets (2010–2011)

On January 25, 2010, the Bulls traded Gray to the

New Orleans Hornets 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 ...

for Devin Brown. On July 15, 2010, the Hornets re-signed Gray.

Toronto Raptors (2011–2013)

On December 11, 2011, Gray was signed to a one-year contract by the

. On July 27, 2012, Gray was re-signed by the Raptors. On January 28, 2013, Gray recorded a career high 22 points, along with 10 rebounds, in a 114–102 loss to Golden State Warriors.

Sacramento Kings (2013–2014)

On December 9, 2013, the Raptors traded Gray, along with

Rudy Gay Rudy Carlton Gay Jr. (born August 17, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6'8" forward played college basketball for the University of Connecticut before being d ...

and Quincy Acy, 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 ...

for

Greivis Vásquez Greivis Josué Vásquez Rodríguez (born January 16, 1987) is a former Venezuelan professional basketball player, who spent six seasons in the NBA. He is currently a coach, most recently working as the associate head coach for the Erie BayHawk ...

, Patrick Patterson,

John Salmons John Rashall Salmons (born December 12, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the University of Miami. ...

, and Chuck Hayes. On August 18, 2014, Gray signed with 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 L ...

. On September 29, 2014, the Pistons announced Gray would miss training camp while rehabbing from a cardiac episode suffered following a voluntary workout in late August. On October 26, 2014, he was waived by the Pistons.

Coaching career

Detroit Pistons (2015–2018)

On June 19, 2015, Gray decided to retire after a blood clot was discovered in his heart in the summer of 2014. He subsequently joined Stan Van Gundy's staff at the Detroit Pistons as an assistant coach to work with the team's big men and with young prospects of the team's NBA D-League affiliate, the

Grand Rapids Drive The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anaheim ...

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 61 , , 1 , , 10.0 , , .505 , , .000 , , .566 , , 2.8 , , .7 , , .3 , , .3 , , 4.3 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 56 , , 18 , , 12.8 , , .485 , , .000 , , .576 , , 3.9 , , .8 , , .3 , , .3 , , 3.5 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 8 , , 0 , , 6.3 , , .381 , , .000 , , .286 , , 2.0 , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.3 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, 24 , , 0 , , 10.9 , , .557 , , .000 , , .857 , , 3.8 , , .8 , , .4 , , .5 , , 3.6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, 41 , , 6 , , 13.0 , , .566 , , .000 , , .500 , , 4.2 , , .4 , , .3 , , .3 , , 3.1 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, 49 , , 40 , , 16.6 , , .516 , , .000 , , .532 , , 5.7 , , .6 , , .4 , , .3 , , 3.9 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 42 , , 16 , , 12.2 , , .533 , , .000 , , .523 , , 3.2 , , .8 , , .2 , , .1 , , 2.8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 4 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , .667 , , .000 , , .500 , , 2.0 , , .8 , , 0 , , 0 , , 1.3 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 33 , , 6 , , 10.2 , , .431 , , .000 , , .556 , , 3.1 , , .6 , , .3 , , .2 , , 1.8 , - class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2", Career , 318 , , 87 , , 12.1 , , .509 , , .000 , , .562 , , 3.7 , , .7 , , .3 , , .3 , , 3.4

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 2009 , align="left" ,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 2 , , 0 , , 4.5 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - , align="left" , 2011 , align="left" ,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, 6 , , 0 , , 14.5 , , .692 , , .000 , , .375 , , 3.5 , , .3 , , .3 , , .3 , , 3.5 , - class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2", Career , 8 , , 0 , , 12.0 , , .600 , , .000 , , .375 , , 2.8 , , .3 , , .3 , , .3 , , 2.6

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Aaron 1984 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from California Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Los Angeles Basketball players from Pennsylvania Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls draft picks Chicago Bulls players Detroit Pistons assistant coaches Emmaus High School alumni New Orleans Hornets players People from Tarzana, Los Angeles Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball players Sacramento Kings players Sportspeople from Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from the New York metropolitan area Toronto Raptors players