Antonio Davon Blakeney (born October 4, 1996) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Jiangsu Dragons Jiangsu Dragons Kentier (), also known as Jiangsu Dragons or Jiangsu Kentier, are a Chinese professional basketball team in the Southern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association, based in Nanjing, Jiangsu. History In the 2004–05 seaso ...

of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

(CBA). 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

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

High school career

Born in

Watertown, New York Watertown is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by th ...

, Blakeney was a 2015 McDonald's All-American and Florida's Mr. Basketball. Blakeney was rated as a 5 star recruit by Rivals, ESPN, and 247 Sports. Rivals had him as the #13 overall recruit, while ESPN had him at #15 and 247 at #16. Both ESPN and 247 ranked him as the #3 SG in the nation.

College career

Blakeney initially gave a verbal commitment to the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...

, but then Blakeney changed his mind about 10 days later and decommitted. Blakeney ended up committing to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

. At

he was featured in 34 games as a freshman, playing alongside Ben Simmons. Behind Simmons and Keith Hornsby, Blakeney was LSU's third-leading scorer in 2015–16, averaging 12.6 points a contest, hitting a team-best 52 three-point shots on the season. The 2016–17 season saw him emerge as LSU's leading scorer, pouring in 17.2 points per contest, while corralling 4.8 rebounds a game and handing out 1.7 assists per outing. Blakeney took home an All- SEC Second Team selection that year. In April 2017, he announced to forgo the remaining two years of his eligibility and declared for the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

Professional career

Chicago Bulls (2017–2019)

After going undrafted, Blakeney joined 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 ...

for the

2017 NBA Summer League The 2017 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Eight teams participated in the wee ...

. Based on his performance there, Blakeney was signed to a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

by the Bulls. Under the terms of the deal, he split time between the Bulls and their G League affiliate, the

Windy City Bulls The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thir ...

. He made his professional debut with Chicago on October 19 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 ...

. On November 21, 2017, Blakeney scored 15 points in 18 minutes off the bench in a 113–105 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. He won the

NBA G League Rookie of the Year Award The NBA G League Rookie of the Year is an annual NBA G League (formerly known as the NBA Development League) award given since the league's inaugural season to the top rookie of the regular season. The league's head coaches determine the award by ...

for his time with the

. On July 19, 2018, Blakeney was signed to an NBA contract by the Bulls. In the season opener on October 18, 2018, Blakeney scored 15 points off the bench in a 127–108 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. In a 107–105 loss to the Indiana Pacers on November 2, 2018, Blakeney scored a career-high 22 points off the bench. On September 9, 2019, Blakeney was released by the Bulls.

Canton Charge (2021)

For the 2020–21 season, Blakeney signed with the

Canton Charge The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, Ohio, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team plays its home games at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland. The fr ...

of the G League. In early 2021, Blakeney was arrested for armed robbery and bonded out of jail.

Al Ahli Club of Manama(2022)

On Jan, 2022, Blakeney signed with the Al-Ahli of the

Bahraini Premier League The Bahraini Premier League is the main football competition in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Currently known as the Nasser bin Hamad Premier League, the first season was held in 1957. The winners of the domestic championship qualify for the AFC Cup. ...

. On Jan 28, 2022, he scored game-high 32 Pts in the 1st round against Al-Najma. On Feb 8, 2022 he scored 26 Pts in the 3rd round against Al-Hala. On March 22, 2022, it was revealed on instagram : @bs_action (Bahrain basketball media) that Blakeney wasn't getting paid his salaries, and that he wanted to clear the rumors that he didn't play due to injury. He left the team soon after.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva (2022)

On March 17, 2022, he has signed with

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The c ...

of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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

, 19 , , 0 , , 16.5 , , .371 , , .288 , , .769 , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , .1 , , 7.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-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 ...

, 57 , , 3 , , 14.5 , , .419 , , .396 , , .658 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .2 , , .2 , , 7.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 76 , , 3 , , 15.0 , , .406 , , .357 , , .696 , , 1.8 , , .8 , , .3 , , .1 , , 7.5

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, 33 , , 24 , , 30.8 , , .425 , , .335 , , .748 , , 3.5 , , .9 , , .7 , , .2 , , 12.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 30 , , 32.9 , , .458 , , .358 , , .724 , , 4.8 , , 1.7 , , .7 , , .1 , , 17.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center" colspan="2", Career , 64 , , 54 , , 31.8 , , .444 , , .347 , , .736 , , 4.1 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , .1 , , 14.8

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio

Profile at eurobasket.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blakeney, Antonio 1996 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Basketball players from Orlando, Florida Canton Charge players Chicago Bulls players Jiangsu Dragons players LSU Tigers basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Shooting guards Undrafted National Basketball Association players Windy City Bulls players