Trajan Shaka Langdon (born May 13, 1976) is an American

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 ...

executive and former professional player. He is the current general manager of the

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

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 S ...

(NBA). A and

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

, he first gained fame in the U.S. while playing

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 ...

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

. Following a three-year

NBA 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 ...

stint, Langdon had a very successful career in Europe. A three-time

All-EuroLeague Team The All-EuroLeague Team is an award for Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 season. During the FIBA era of the EuroLeague, players were honor ...

member and the

EuroLeague Final Four MVP The EuroLeague Final Four Most Valuable Player Award is presented and awarded to the basketball player who has exhibited the most exceptional play during the EuroLeague Final Four. The award often goes to the best player on the European-wide top ...

in 2008, he won two EuroLeague titles with

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. In March 2016, he was named the assistant general manager of the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The t ...

, serving in the role until May 2019, when he was named the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of the Pelicans.

Early career

Born in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

, Langdon moved to Anchorage, Alaska soon after. During his high school career, Langdon attended

Steller Secondary School Steller Secondary School is an alternative school located in Anchorage, Alaska. The Anchorage School District established the school in 1974 as a response to a proposal by the Committee of Alternative Secondary Education. Steller was named after ...

, and played with

East Anchorage High School East Anchorage High School (EAHS) is a public high school which serves grades 9–12 in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Anchorage School District. The current principal is Ron Brown. East's mascot is the Thunderbird, and the ...

. He set the Alaska 4A state record of 2,200 career points scored, and was a 3-time Alaskan State Player of the Year. He led East Anchorage to the 1994 Alaskan State Championship, and he played in the

McDonald's All-American Game The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

, where he won the 3-point shooting contest. Langdon also played high school baseball. Although his seasons were only twelve games long, as a senior he

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

.333 with four

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 12 RBIs. In the league championship game, he gave up only four hits and

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denote ...

eleven batters.

College career

After high school, Langdon moved on to play

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

with the highly regarded Duke University basketball team, where he set the school record for the most career 3-point field goals made (which was later broken by

JJ Redick Jonathan Clay "JJ" Redick (born June 24, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player who is a podcaster and sports analyst for ESPN. He was selected 11th overall by the Orlando Magic in the 2006 NBA draft. He played college baske ...

in 2006), earning him the nickname, "The Alaskan Assassin". A major knee injury kept him sidelined for his entire sophomore year, so he finished his college career as a fifth year guard. In the

1999 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1999, and ended with the champions ...

championship game, with Duke down 1 point to the

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's fo ...

, with 5.4 seconds to go in the game, Langdon attempted to drive the ball into the lane, and committed a traveling violation that turned the ball over to UConn. Analysts, as well as Langdon himself, credited the defense of

Ricky Moore Ricky Moore may refer to: * Ricky Moore (American football) (born 1963), American former football running back in the National Football League (NFL) * Ricky Moore (basketball) (born 1976), American retired basketball player and coach * Ricky Moore ...

, who was considered the top defensive player in the tournament, for forcing the travel.

Baseball career

A baseball scout discovered Langdon playing catch with his father in the parking lot of their hotel during Langdon's recruiting trip to Duke and was immediately impressed. Langdon was selected in the 6th round of the

1994 Major League Baseball draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1994 Major League Baseball draft. Compensation picks Compensation Picks Other notable players *Troy Glaus, 2nd round, 37th overall by the San Diego Padres, but did not ...

out of high school by the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

, ahead of such eventual All-Stars as

Carl Pavano Carl Anthony Pavano (born January 8, 1976) is an American former professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher, Pavano played in Major League Baseball from 1998 to 2012 for the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, New York Yankees, Cleveland I ...

and

Plácido Polanco Plácido Enrique Polanco (; born October 10, 1975) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and Miami Marlins. He was a ...

. At the time he was the highest drafted player ever out of Alaska. He signed with the Padres and received a $230,000 signing bonus. Because

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

rules at the time prevented a player from receiving a scholarship in one sport while playing another professionally, Langdon had to play basketball at Duke without a scholarship while playing Minor League Baseball during the summer. In three seasons in the minors, he played in 50 games for the

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

and

Idaho Falls Braves Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Professional career

Langdon was selected by the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

in the 1999 NBA Draft. Langdon made his professional debut with the Cavaliers on November 2, 1999, when he became the first Alaskan to play in the NBA. Following a three-year career with the Cavaliers, Langdon moved to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

to play for the

Italian League The Italic League or Most Holy League was an international agreement concluded in Venice on 30 August 1454, between the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Florence, and the Kingdom of Naples, following the Tr ...

club Benetton Treviso for the 2002–03 season. The following season, after being waived by the

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

in the preseason, he originally signed with and briefly played for the

Long Beach Jam Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great time, duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music ...

before he moved to the

Turkish League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

powerhouse Efes Pilsen. For the 2004–05 season, he moved on to the Russian League club

Dynamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

, before moving across town to

for the 2005–06 season. Langdon was named to the

All-EuroLeague The All-EuroLeague Team is an EuroLeague awards, award for European professional club basketball system, Europe's premier level league, the EuroLeague, that is given to the league's top ten basketball players for each season, since the 2000–01 se ...

Second Team for the 2005–06 season. CSKA won the EuroLeague championship that same season. The following season, he helped CSKA return to the EuroLeague championship game, where they lost to Greek power

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

, on the Greek team's home court. In the process, he was named to the All-EuroLeague First Team for the 2006–07 season, a feat that he repeated in the 2007–08 season. On May 4, 2008, he was named the

, after again winning the EuroLeague title with CSKA. On October 7, 2006, Langdon led his CSKA Moscow team to a 94–75 win over the Clippers, in an

NBA Europe Live Tour The NBA Global Games are a series of games featuring NBA teams that are played outside the United States and Canada. Its purpose is to bring teams from the National Basketball Association (NBA) to play games against either another NBA team or a for ...

exhibition game An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

. Coincidentally, he played against his former

teammate

Elton Brand Elton Tyron Brand (born March 11, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player and the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing college basketball for Duke, he was selecte ...

, who was playing for the Clippers at that time. He led all scorers in the game with 17 points. In June 2011, he announced his retirement from playing professional basketball. He made his announcement two days after helping CSKA to its ninth consecutive Russian championship.

National team career

After graduating from

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

, with degrees in mathematics and history, Langdon played for the

USA national basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. They are the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in ...

at the

1998 FIBA World Championship The 1998 FIBA World Championship was the 13th FIBA World Championship, an international basketball tournament held by the International Basketball Federation and hosted in Greece from 29 July to 9 August 1998. The tournament was contested by 16 n ...

, winning the bronze medal.1998 USA Basketball.

Post-playing career

After his playing days ended, Langdon was a scout for the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

, from 2012 to 2015. On March 8, 2016, he was named the assistant

of the

. On May 19, 2019, Langdon was named the general manager of the

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1999–00 , align="left" ,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, 10 , , 0 , , 14.5 , , .375 , , .421 , , 1.000 , , 1.5 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .0 , , 4.9 , - , align="left" , 2000–01 , align="left" ,

, 65 , , 5 , , 17.2 , , .431 , , .411 , , .895 , , 1.4 , , 1.2 , , .6 , , .1 , , 6.0 , - , align="left" , 2001–02 , align="left" ,

, 44 , , 0 , , 10.8 , , .398 , , .365 , , .913 , , 1.3 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , .1 , , 4.8 , - class="sortbottom" , colspan="2" align="center" , Career , 119 , , 5 , , 14.6 , , .416 , , .396 , , .910 , , 1.3 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .1 , , 5.4

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2002–03 , style="text-align:left;", Benetton , 21 , , 19 , , 28.6 , , .540 , , .511 , , .759 , , 2.7 , , 1.7 , , 1.6 , , .1 , , 14.8 , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2003–04 , style="text-align:left;", Efes Pilsen , 20 , , 19 , , 33.1 , , .461 , , .391 , , .864 , , 3.0 , , 1.6 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , 14.3 , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2005–06† , style="text-align:left;" rowspan=6,

, 24 , , 24 , , 31.8 , , .453 , , .390 , , .860 , , 3.1 , , 1.5 , , 1.3 , , .2 , , 12.8 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2006–07 , 25 , , 25 , , 29.5 , , .475 , , .420 , , style="background:#CFECEC;", .925 , , 4.0 , , 1.0 , , 1.6 , , .2 , , 13.5 , , 14.6 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2007–08† , 25 , , 25 , , 29.1 , , .512 , , .458 , , .884 , , 3.3 , , .9 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 12.6 , , 13.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2008–09 , 21 , , 21 , , 28.8 , , .494 , , .432 , , .878 , , 2.7 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 10.6 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , 21 , , 21 , , 32.2 , , .505 , , .470 , , .913 , , 3.0 , , 1.1 , , 1.4 , , .0 , , 15.0 , , 15.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 10 , , 9 , , 27.5 , , .397 , , .229 , , .708 , , 2.2 , , .5 , , .2 , , .0 , , 8.3 , , 4.5 , - class="sortbottom" , colspan="2" align="center" , Career , 167 , , 164 , , 30.2 , , .486 , , .427 , , .868 , , 3.1 , , 1.3 , , 1.3 , , .1 , , 13.0 , , 12.7

Personal life

Langdon is the son of social worker Gladys, and Dr. Steve Langdon, a professor of anthropology at the

University of Alaska Anchorage The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna College, and Prin ...

. Trajan traveled with his father on many anthropological trips within southeastern Alaska. His father studied the Indigenous Nation of southeastern Alaska known as the

Tlingit The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),

Nation.