Ben Edward McLemore IIIKeegan, Tom
Rising above: Ben Mclemore elevates above adversity
''

Lawrence Journal-World The ''Lawrence Journal-World'' is a daily newspaper published in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, by Ogden Newspapers. History Though the ''Journal-World'' title came into existence in 1911, the paper dates itself to 1858, according to the ...

'', December 5, 2012. (born February 11, 1993) 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

Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin () is a Chinese professional basketball team based in Jinan, Shandong, which plays in the Northern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Some home games are held in the nearby city of Linyi. The Hi-Speed Gr ...

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

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a mem ...

. McLemore was selected with the seventh overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by 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 ...

. He spent four seasons with the team before signing 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 ...

in July 2017. He was traded back to Sacramento in July 2018, but was waived in February 2019. In July of the same year, McLemore signed with the

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 ...

. He signed with the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

in April 2021 and joined the Trail Blazers in August of the same year. McLemore signed with the

in January 2023.

High school career

McLemore played

high school 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 ...

at Wellston High School in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

for three years before his school was shut down in 2010. He then attended both Oak Hill Academy in

Mouth of Wilson, Virginia Mouth of Wilson is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community, in Grayson County, Virginia, Grayson County in the U.S. state of Virginia, just north of the North Carolina state line. The community lies in the Blue Ridge Highlands section of ...

and Christian Life Center in

Humble, Texas Humble ( ) is a city located in the Houston metropolitan area. Humble became an oil boomtown in the early 20th century when oil was first discovered there in 1904. By 1905, the Humble oilfield was the largest producing oilfield in Texas. Humble ...

during his senior year of high school. Considered a four-star recruit by

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 ...

, McLemore was listed as the No. 9 shooting guard and the No. 34 player in the nation in 2011.

College career

After committing to Kansas, McLemore was deemed ineligible to play by the NCAA because he attended multiple high schools, resulting in his transcripts being "a little fuzzy". He was allowed to practice with the team and take part in team activities starting in the second semester of the school year. At the beginning of his college career, McLemore was considered to be either a late first-round or early second-round prospect. However, during his first season as a redshirt freshman, McLemore averaged 15.9 points, 5.2

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

, and 2.0 assists, with 49.5% shooting from the field and 87% shooting from the foul line, and was named a finalist for the

John R. Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

. After declaring for the 2013 NBA draft, allegations arose that NBA agent Rodney Blackstock had given thousands of dollars in impermissible benefits to McLemore's AAU coach, Darius Cobb, in exchange for Cobb steering McLemore toward certain financial advisers and NBA agents. Lending credence to Cobb's allegations, McLemore had Blackstock on his guest pass list for at least three Kansas home games that season, and subsequently signed Blackstock as his NBA agent. This set of facts caused the launch of an NCAA investigation to determine whether or not Kansas would have to vacate the basketball games in which McLemore played.

Professional career

Sacramento Kings (2013–2017)

McLemore was selected with the seventh overall pick by the

in the 2013 NBA draft. On July 13, 2013, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Kings and joined them for the

2013 NBA Summer League The 2013 NBA Summer League is a pro basketball league run by the NBA just after the 2013 NBA draft. It gives newly drafted players a chance to test their skills against each other, and to give them a feel for professional basketball. All 30 NBA ...

. He was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for November 2013. In February 2014, McLemore was selected to participate in the 2014 Sprite Slam Dunk contest. In the Kings' final game of the regular season on April 16, McLemore scored a season-high 31 points in a loss to the Phoenix Suns. In his rookie season, he played all 82 games (55 starts), averaging 8.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 26.7 minutes per game. In July 2014, McLemore re-joined the Kings for the

2014 NBA Summer League The 2014 NBA Summer League consists of two pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA and the Orlando Magic just after the 2014 NBA Draft. Ten teams took part in the week-long summer league at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, from July 5 t ...

where he helped them win the Summer League championship while averaging 12.6 points in seven games. On October 19, 2014, the Kings exercised their third-year team option on McLemore's rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2015–16 season. On March 11, 2015, he scored a season-high 27 points in a win over 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 ...

. He started in all 82 regular season games for the Kings in 2014–15 while averaging 12.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 32.6 minutes per game. On October 3, 2015, the Kings exercised their fourth-year team option on McLemore's rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2016–17 season. On December 5, he had a season-best game with 19 points and 9 rebounds in a loss to the Houston Rockets. On January 28, 2016, he scored a season-high 26 points in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. On February 1, McLemore missed his first game of his career due to a sprained right wrist, snapping his consecutive games streak at 211, which was the second-longest in the NBA behind

Tristan Thompson Tristan Trevor James Thompson (born March 13, 1991) is a Canadian-American professional basketball player who last played for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won the 2016 NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavali ...

(335). He later missed 10 games in March with a finger-tip injury. On February 10, 2017, McLemore had a season-high 22 points, helped by a career-best six three-pointers, in a 108–107 win over the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

. On March 29, 2017, he tied a season high with 22 points in a 112–82 loss to 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), ...

Memphis Grizzlies (2017–2018)

On July 7, 2017, McLemore signed a multi-year contract with the

. On August 8, 2017, he was ruled out for approximately 12 weeks after fracturing his right foot in a pickup game. On November 2, 2017, McLemore was assigned to the

Memphis Hustle The Memphis Hustle are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in the Greater Memphis suburb of Southaven, Mississippi, and are affiliated with the Memphis Grizzlies. The team plays their home games at the Landers Cent ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

. He was recalled a week later, and made his debut for the Grizzlies on November 11, 2017, recording four points and two rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench in a 111–96 loss to the

. On December 9, 2017, he scored a season-high 17 points in a 102–101 overtime loss to the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

. On January 19, 2018, he set a new season high with 21 points in a 106–88 win over the

Return to Sacramento (2018–2019)

On July 17, 2018, McLemore was traded, along with

Deyonta Davis Deyonta Davis (born December 2, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League. He won the Mr. Basketball of Michigan in 2015 and appeared in the McDonald's All-American Boys Game the same year. He p ...

, a 2021 second-round pick and cash considerations, to the

in exchange for

Garrett Temple Garrett Bartholomew Temple (born May 8, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the LSU Tigers from 2005 until 2009. An NBA jo ...

. On February 7, 2019, McLemore was waived by the Kings.

Houston Rockets (2019–2021)

On July 23, 2019, McLemore signed with the

. On December 5, 2019, McLemore led the Rockets in scoring with a season-high 28 points, on top of career-best 8-of-17 shooting from behind the three-point arc in a 119–109 win 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 December 7, 2019, McLemore finished with 27 points on 10-of-15 field goal shooting (5-of-9 from beyond the arc) in a 115–109 win against 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 ...

, which is the first time he has contributed more than 25 points in consecutive games in his career. On April 3, 2021, the Rockets waived McLemore.

Los Angeles Lakers (2021)

On April 6, 2021, McLemore signed with the

. On April 8, he made his debut in a loss against the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

, scoring 6 points off the bench.

Portland Trail Blazers (2021–2022)

On August 5, 2021, McLemore signed 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 ...

. He made his debut for the team on October 23, scoring six points in a 134–105 win over the

Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin (2023-present)

On January 31, 2023, McLemore signed a one-year contract with the Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin.

Player profile

Before he was drafted, McLemore's size, style of play, and abilities had garnered comparisons to former

NBA All-Star The National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game is an annual exhibition basketball game. It is the main event of the NBA All-Star Weekend. Originally, the All-Star Game featured a conference-based format, featuring a team composed of al ...

Ray Allen Walter Ray Allen Jr. (born July 20, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in ...

Career statistics