Gregory Derayle Buckner (born September 16, 1976) 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 is the associate head coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of 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). He had previously served as an assistant coach for 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 ...

. Selected in the second round (53rd pick overall) of the

1998 NBA draft The 1998 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1998, at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This draft helped turn around four struggling franchises: the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings, the Boston Celtics, and the To ...

by the Dallas Mavericks after playing college basketball at Clemson, he played for the Mavericks, Philadelphia 76ers, Denver Nuggets,

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

and Grizzlies. Buckner's first professional experience came with the

Grand Rapids Hoops The Grand Rapids Hoops were a basketball team that played in the Continental Basketball Association based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Their first season was in 1989 and their final season was in 2003. Professional basketball later returned to Grand ...

of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), where he averaged 8.6 points and 3.9 rebounds per game in the 1998–99 season.

Playing career

College career

During his time with the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) s ...

, he started all 122 games of his career while guiding the team to three NCAA tournaments. Buckner led the team in scoring all four years becoming the first Clemson Tiger to do so. In 1995, Buckner was named ACC Rookie of the Year. He was entered into the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.

Professional career

After playing with the Dallas Mavericks from 1999 to 2002, Buckner signed with the Philadelphia 76ers as a free agent. Then he signed with the Denver Nuggets. In 2006, he re-signed with the Dallas Mavericks, but after one season, he was traded to the Timberwolves for

Trenton Hassell Trenton Lavar Hassell (born March 4, 1979) is an American former professional basketball forward. A , guard-forward, Hassell was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 30th overall pick of the 2001 NBA draft. Early life and college career Hasse ...

on September 28, 2007. On June 27, 2008, the Timberwolves traded him to the

with O. J. Mayo,

Marko Jarić Marko Jarić ( sr-cyr, Марко Јарић, ; el, Μάρκο Γιάριτς, Marko Yiarits; born 12 October 1978) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. Standing at 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in), he mainly played the shooting guard po ...

, and

Antoine Walker Antoine Devon Walker (born August 12, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He was drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft out of the University of Kentucky and played in the NBA from 1996 to 2008. Walker ...

for

Kevin Love Kevin Wesley Love (born September 7, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a five-time NBA All-Star Game, All-Star, a two-time member of the All-NBA ...

, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal, and

Jason Collins Jason Paul Collins (born December 2, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who was a center for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal, where he was ...

. On July 9, 2009, Buckner was traded to the Dallas Mavericks as a part of the four-team deal among Grizzlies, Mavericks, Orlando Magic and

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 ...

Coaching career

On July 29, 2011, he joined the Houston Rockets as a player development coach, serving for five seasons. Buckner reached the playoffs three times with the team as part of the coaching staff. He would later become an assistant coach with the

, and in November 2020, became an assistant coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers. On April 21, 2021, Buckner got his first NBA head coaching victory when he temporarily replaced head coach J. B. Bickerstaff as the Cavaliers won 121–105 against 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 ...

. On June 13, 2022, the Cavaliers promoted Buckner to associate head coach position.

Career statistics

Regular season

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

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, 48 , , 1 , , 19.2 , , .476 , , .385 , , .683 , , 3.6 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .4 , , 5.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 37 , , 9 , , 22.2 , , .438 , , .286 , , .728 , , 4.2 , , 1.3 , , .9 , , .2 , , 6.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 44 , , 16 , , 20.1 , , .525 , , .313 , , .690 , , 3.9 , , 1.1 , , .7 , , .4 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, 75 , , 5 , , 20.2 , , .465 , , .273 , , .802 , , 2.9 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 53 , , 3 , , 13.3 , , .377 , , .273 , , .741 , , 1.9 , , .8 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 70 , , 41 , , 21.7 , , .528 , , .405 , , .778 , , 3.0 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 6.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 73 , , 27 , , 24.1 , , .434 , , .354 , , .782 , , 2.9 , , 1.7 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 6.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 76 , , 11 , , 18.1 , , .411 , , .311 , , .794 , , 2.1 , , .9 , , .6 , , .1 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, 31 , , 4 , , 16.8 , , .385 , , .300 , , .864 , , 2.1 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , .1 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, 63 , , 0 , , 13.9 , , .384 , , .255 , , .800 , , 2.1 , , .9 , , .5 , , .1 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 570 , , 117 , , 19.1 , , .450 , , .334 , , .757 , , 2.8 , , 1.3 , , .8 , , .2 , , 5.0

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2001 , style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 15.0 , , .478 , , .333 , , .700 , , 4.2 , , .6 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2002 , style="text-align:left;",

, 7 , , 0 , , 15.0 , , .480 , , .000 , , .750 , , 3.7 , , .6 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003 , style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 0 , , 11.2 , , .323 , , .222 , , 1.000 , , 1.7 , , .3 , , .1 , , .2 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2005 , style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 2 , , 20.0 , , .222 , , .222 , , , , 3.2 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .2 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006 , style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 4 , , 27.4 , , .418 , , .313 , , .875 , , 2.8 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .2 , , 12.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2007 , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 0 , , 7.3 , , .000 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .3 , , .2 , , .2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 38 , , 6 , , 15.1 , , .377 , , .259 , , .786 , , 2.6 , , .6 , , .4 , , .2 , , 4.1

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckner, Greg 1976 births Living people African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Kentucky Basketball players from Kentucky Clemson Tigers men's basketball players Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coaches Dallas Mavericks draft picks Dallas Mavericks players Denver Nuggets players Houston Rockets assistant coaches Grand Rapids Hoops players Medalists at the 1997 Summer Universiade Memphis Grizzlies assistant coaches Memphis Grizzlies players Minnesota Timberwolves players Philadelphia 76ers players Shooting guards Small forwards Sportspeople from Hopkinsville, Kentucky Universiade gold medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in basketball 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople