Jonathan Rene Bender (born January 30, 1981) 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 for the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks 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 highly-touted 6’11 prospect who mostly played shooting guard in high school, Bender’s unusual height and potential garnered much attention leading up to the 1999 NBA Draft. After playing 78 games for the Pacers in 2001, knee injuries limited him to a combined 76 games over the next four seasons. He played 25 games for the Knicks in 2009 before his retirement.

Professional career

Indiana Pacers (1999–2006)

Bender was selected with the fifth pick by 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 ...

in the 1999 NBA Draft out of

Picayune Memorial High School Picayune Memorial High School is a grade 9–12 high school located in Picayune, Mississippi, United States. State championships Football *1925 *1943 *1948 *1986 *2011 *2013 *2021 *2022 Baseball *2002 Golf *1992 *2021 Notable people Staff *Butc ...

Picayune, Mississippi Picayune ( ) is the largest city in Pearl River County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 10,878 at the 2010 census. The city is located approximately from New Orleans, Hattiesburg, and Gulfport– Biloxi. The Stennis Space Cen ...

despite a verbal commitment to Mississippi State Universitybr>ESPN.com: 1999 NBA Draft: Jonathan Bender
The Raptors then traded Bender to the Indiana Pacers for

Antonio Davis Antonio Lee Davis (born October 31, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, and New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also playe ...

. Being hyped for his size, athleticism and all around skill, Bender scored 10 points in 13 minutes against Cleveland on December 10, 1999. He became the first high school draftee to score in double figures in his NBA debut, which was an instance repeated only two other times (four if you expand the range to those that played in the league while still being 18 years old at the time of their debuts). However, Bender had been plagued by injuries ever since he arrived in Indiana. Playing in 78 games in the 2001–02 season, he signed a four-year, $28.5 million contract extension. However, the next few years were plagued by injuries. He played in only 46 games the following season, then 21 games in the season after that. A persistent sore right knee limited him to just seven games in 2004–05 and two games in 2005–06. He was waived by the Pacers on June 14, 2006. At that point, he had averaged 5.6 points in 237 career regular season games. In 2005, Bender was rated by Sports Illustrated as #11 on the list of the 20 biggest busts in modern NBA draft history. Highlights of Bender's career as a Pacer included participating in the Slam Dunk competition during 2001’s All-Star weekend, where he executed a Julius Erving-style tomahawk jam from the free throw line, left-handed. In the Pacers' 2004 playoff series with the Celtics, Bender led the Pacers in scoring in game 3, and set personal playoff career bests in rebounds and minutes in game 2. That post season overall, Bender posted a career high 12.5 minutes played per game over 16 games. Despite a lack of personal statistical success given his initial expectations, the Pacers made the postseason every year of Bender’s tenure.

New York Knicks (2009–2010)

On December 13, 2009, the New York Knicks signed Bender to a minimum contract. "Jonathan has worked extremely hard in preparing himself for a return to the NBA," said

Donnie Walsh Joseph Donald Walsh, Jr. (born March 1, 1941) is a front office adviser of the Indiana Pacers and a former professional basketball coach. He is also the former President of Basketball Operations for the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers. Early li ...

, Knicks President of Basketball Operations. In 25 appearances, Bender averaged 4.7 points in 11.7 minutes per game. But especially notably, Knicks coaches believed he showed great improvement in practice as the season progressed. The Knicks wanted him to return the following season on a one year deal, but Bender declined saying “it just felt like I’d be going backwards.” Bender then officially retired to focus on his business career.

Coaching career

Bender currently coaches in the greater Houston area with the private coaching service,

CoachUp CoachUp is a venture-funded startup company that connects athletes with private coaches. History CoachUp was founded in 2011 by former professional basketball player Jordan Fliegel with engineers Arian Radmand and Gabe Durazo. Its site, Coach ...

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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

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 ...

, 24 , , 1 , , 5.4 , , .329 , , .167 , , .667 , , .9 , , .1 , , .0 , , .2 , , 2.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 59 , , 7 , , 9.7 , , .355 , , .268 , , .735 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .1 , , .5 , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 78 , , 17 , , 21.1 , , .430 , , .360 , , .733 , , 3.1 , , .8 , , .2 , , .6 , , 7.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 46 , , 2 , , 17.8 , , .441 , , .358 , , .714 , , 2.9 , , .9 , , .2 , , 1.2 , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 21 , , 0 , , 12.9 , , .472 , , .409 , , .830 , , 1.9 , , .4 , , .2 , , .5 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 7 , , 0 , , 13.3 , , .400 , , .200 , , .500 , , 2.0 , , .6 , , .1 , , .3 , , 5.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 10.5 , , .800 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .5 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", New York , 25 , , 1 , , 11.7 , , .400 , , .359 , , .923 , , 2.1 , , .6 , , .1 , , .7 , , 4.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 262 , , 28 , , 14.7 , , .417 , , .340 , , .763 , , 2.2 , , .6 , , .2 , , .6 , , 5.5

Playoffs

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

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

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

, 9 , , 0 , , 2.3 , , .667 , , 1.000 , , .500 , , .3 , , .0 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2001 , style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 0 , , 4.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2002 , style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 9.2 , , .500 , , .000 , , .000 , , .8 , , .4 , , .4 , , .6 , , 1.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003 , style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 0 , , 11.3 , , .333 , , .333 , , .667 , , 2.3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .7 , , 5.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2004 , style="text-align:left;",

, 16 , , 0 , , 12.6 , , .406 , , .360 , , .750 , , 1.8 , , .4 , , .1 , , .9 , , 4.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 43 , , 0 , , 7.6 , , .454 , , .361 , , .679 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .1 , , .4 , , 2.6

Personal life

Bender was known to read while on NBA road trips. He mostly read business books,

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

and J.P. Morgan being two authors he specifically liked. Bender invented the JB Intensive Trainer, a resistance training device, that strengthened his knees. Sales of the device began in July 2013. Two years after Hurricane Katrina, Bender founded the nonprofit Jonathan Bender Foundation in New Orleans.

References

External links

NBA page
– Jonathan Bender Announces End Of Career
Jonathan Bender Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bender, Jonathan 1981 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Mississippi Indiana Pacers players McDonald's High School All-Americans National Basketball Association high school draftees New York Knicks players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Picayune, Mississippi Small forwards Toronto Raptors draft picks