Jordan LaVell Adams (born July 8, 1994) 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 (appro ...

player for the Dewa United Banten of the

Indonesian Basketball League The Indonesia Basketball League (IBL; ) is the preeminent men's professional basketball league in Indonesia, founded by Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi) in 2003. From 2010 to 2015 it was known as the National Basketball League (NBL) ...

(IBL). He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

. He was the first UCLA freshman to score 20 or more

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

in his first four games, and was an all-conference first-team selection in the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

in his sophomore year. After deciding to forgo his remaining college eligibility and enter the

2014 NBA draft The 2014 NBA draft was held on June 26, 2014, at Barclays Center, Brooklyn. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The ...

, Adams was selected by

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 Southwest Division of the ...

in the first round with the 22nd overall pick. He played two seasons with Memphis before being waived after multiple knee surgeries.

Early life

Adams was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

to John Adams, a nutrition manager, and Sabrina Robinson Johnson, a dental hygienist. His parents never married but remained friends. When Adams was in the fourth grade and his life began to revolve around

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

and

, he moved from his mother's house to his father's. One of Adams' coaches was usually his father from when he was six until he was 16. Adams attended Central Gwinnett High School in

Lawrenceville, Georgia Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Atlanta, located approximately northeast of downtown. It was incorporated on December 15, 1821. As of the 2020 census, the populatio ...

, for his first two seasons. He transferred to Oak Hill Academy in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

for his final two seasons, where he was the ninth player in their basketball program's rich history to score 1,000 career points. Considered a four-star recruit by

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including ...

, Adams was listed as the No. 9 small forward and the No. 41 player in the nation in 2012. He also played

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) basketball with the Atlanta Celtics. Shortly after Celtics' coach Korey McCray became an assistant coach at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA), Adams accepted an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

to play for the

College career

Adams in 2012 joined fellow incoming freshman

Shabazz Muhammad Shabazz Nagee Muhammad (born November 13, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Hangtuah Jakarta of the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL). He played one season of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins before being selecte ...

, Kyle Anderson, and

Tony Parker William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket, LDLC ASVEL of the LNB Élite and the EuroLeague. The son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career ...

in a UCLA recruiting class considered the best in the nation. The first of the four recruits to sign, Adams was the only one that was not a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

in high school. Despite the competition, he remained committed to UCLA. He began the 2012–13 season with 20 or more points in the first four games, becoming the first UCLA freshman to accomplish that feat; he was the first Bruin in any class to start the season with four straight since Don MacLean (6 straight) in 1990–91. Though he did not start until the seventh game of the season, Adams was second on the team in scoring behind Muhammad. He finished the season starting in 27 of 33 games played, ranked eighth in the

in scoring with 15.3 points per game, led the conference with 73 steals, and was fourth with an 84.3

free throw percentage In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

. UCLA coach

Ben Howland Benjamin Clark Howland (born May 28, 1957) is an American college basketball coach who most recently served as the men's head coach at Mississippi State University from to 2015 to 2022. He served as the head men's basketball coach at Northern Ar ...

and

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

coach

Sean Miller Sean Edward Miller (born November 17, 1968) is an American college basketball coach who currently serves as head coach at the Texas Longhorns men's basketball, University of Texas at Austin. He previously served as head coach at the Arizona Wil ...

were surprised that Adams did not make the conference's all-freshman team. Miller further believed that Adams should have been named to the All-Pac-12 team as well as the conference's all-defensive team. In the semifinals of the 2013 Pac-12 tournament, Adams scored 11 points in the last six minutes in a comeback victory over Arizona. However, he broke his right foot on the final play of the game; he had fractured the same foot in high school. Without Adams, the Bruins lost their next two games, including a season-ending loss to the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

in the opener of the 2013 NCAA tournament. Two days after the season ended, Howland was fired and replaced by

Steve Alford Stephen Todd Alford (born November 23, 1964) is an American men's college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack men's basketball, Nevada Wolf Pack of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). ...

. Adams did not play basketball for four months while his foot healed. Jordan Adams UCLA Feb 2014

In his sophomore season in 2013–14, Adams said he enjoyed his role under Alford and his "very open" system, more so than he did with Howland. Coaches gave Adams the nickname '

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

', after his ability for steals with his "web on the ball." Early in the season, the ''

Inland Valley Daily Bulletin The ''Inland Valley Daily Bulletin'' is a daily newspaper based in Ontario, California, serving the Pomona Valley and southwest San Bernardino County. The ''Daily Bulletin'' is a member of the Southern California News Group (formerly the Los Ang ...

'' wrote that it could be Adams' last college season given his prospects of playing professionally in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

. Adams shot 50% from the field during the Bruins' non-conference schedule, and began Pac-12 play with 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting against the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

. However, he shot just 36.2% in the next 10 games, before shooting 10-for-14 against

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

for 24 points, his then-career high against a Pac-12 opponent. On February 27, he and Anderson missed one game after being suspended for a violation of team rules. On March 6, Adams scored a career-high 31 as UCLA clinched a No. 2 seed in the upcoming 2014 Pac-12 tournament with a 91–82 win at

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. The Bruins won the tournament, with Adams hitting a

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or triple) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two ...

that broke a tie with 45 seconds remaining in a 75–71 upset over No. 4 ranked Arizona in the championship game. For the season, he led the team in both scoring at almost 18 points per game, shot a team-best 83.6 percent of his free throws, led the conference in steals at 2.8 per game, and broke the school record for steals in a season previously set by Cameron Dollar (82) in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. Adams was voted to the All-Pac-12 first team, and was also named UCLA's most outstanding

team player Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a group to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in an effective and efficient way. Teamwork is seen within the framework of a team, which is a group of interdependent individuals who work toget ...

. In April 2014, Adams declared early for the NBA draft, foregoing his final two years of college eligibility. Many analysts believed he had a chance to be a first-round pick. He finished his career at UCLA having played 69 games while averaging 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. He made 46.7 percent of his field goals and had a school-record 2.43 steals per game.

Professional career

Memphis Grizzlies (2014–2016)

On June 26, 2014, Adams was selected in the first round with the 22nd overall pick of the

by the

. General manager

Chris Wallace Christopher Wallace (born October 12, 1947) is an American broadcast journalist. He is known for his tough and wide-ranging interviews, for which he is often compared to his father, ''60 Minutes'' journalist Mike Wallace. Over his 60-year care ...

said Adams graded high in basketball analytics, and vice president of basketball operations

John Hollinger John Hollinger (born May 17, 1971) is the former Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and current Senior NBA columnist at ''The Athletic''. Prior to December 2012, he was ...

praised his ability to "find ways to score and score without needing the ball n his hands first. However, Head Coach

Dave Joerger David Joerger ( AY-ger born February 21, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach who is an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the head coach of the Dakota Wizards from 2000 to ...

as well as the Grizzlies' fans preferred another shooting guard, Rodney Hood, who was taken next by 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 Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

with the 23rd pick. After two Summer League games, Adams signed with the Grizzlies on July 7. He began the 2014–15 season with minimal playing time with the Grizzlies, and received multiple assignments to the

Iowa Energy Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

. While he spent most of the season in the D-League, Adams appeared in 30 games for Memphis, typically when they were behind by a large margin. In limited action, he shot 40 percent from three-point range and his active hands on defense led to a high steal rate. During the offseason, Adams underwent minor surgery to repair the

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

in his right knee after averaging 16 points in four games to help the Grizzlies win the Orlando Summer League in July. However, he missed most of the 2015–16 exhibition season as he continued to bothered by soreness related to the procedure. Adams appeared in two out of the team's first four games of the regular season before being sidelined by right knee soreness. On January 12, 2016, he underwent right knee surgery and missed the rest of the season. On June 15, Adams underwent cartilage transplant surgery on his right knee, a procedure that generally addresses issues with motion, bone damage and pain. The following month, he watched Grizzlies summer league games holding a crutch in one hand and wearing a knee brace. Following the preseason on October 24, Adams was waived by the Grizzlies after he was expected to miss the season.

2017–present

The following year, Adams joined 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 Northwest Division (N ...

to play in the 2017 NBA Summer League. He played with the Sons of Westwood in

The Basketball Tournament 2018 The Basketball Tournament 2018 was the fifth edition of The Basketball Tournament, a 5-on-5, single elimination basketball tournament broadcast by the ESPN family of networks. The tournament involved 72 teams; it started on June 29 and continued t ...

, and competed with Al Wadha of Syria in the Dubai International Basketball Championship in 2019. In February 2019, Adams was acquired by the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...

of the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

. He appeared in two games, averaging 1.5 points, before being waived in March. In March 2020, Adams joined

Venados de Mazatlán Venados de Mazatlán () are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Mazatlan, Sinaloa. History In February 1958, Venados participated in an international tournament, dubbed the Pan-American Series, against two other c ...

of the CIBACOPA of Mexico. In two games, he averaged 23.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. On July 17, 2020, Adams signed with Libertadores de Querétaro of the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP), officially known as the Liga Grupo Caliente, Caliente LNBP for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball sports league, league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 1 ...

(LNBP). After posting 34 points and 10 rebounds against

Panteras de Aguascalientes Panteras de Aguascalientes (English: ''Aguascalientes Panthers'') is a Mexican professional basketball team that is based in Aguascalientes City, Mexico. They play in the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Bask ...

, he was named LNBP player of the week on October 25. He averaged 25.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.2 steals per game. On November 19, 2020, Adams signed with

Club Comunicaciones Club Comunicaciones is an Argentina, Argentine sports club based in the Agronomía district of Buenos Aires. The association football, football team currently plays in Primera B Metropolitana, the regionalised third division of the Argentine fo ...

of the

Liga Nacional de Básquet Liga (Spanish and Portuguese: ''League'') or LIGA may refer to: Sports Basketball * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga Femenina de Baloncesto, women's professional basketball league in Spain Football Latin Amer ...

. He played with Comunicaciones until April 2022. After a stint with Libertadores de Querétaro in July and August 2022, Adams played for

Club Atlético Aguada Club Atlético Aguada, commonly known as simply Aguada, is an Uruguyan basketball team based in Montevideo. The club was established in February 1922. Aguada plays in the Liga Uruguaya de Basketball (LUB) and has won the championship three times. ...

in October and November 2022. In February 2023, Adams joined with Gladiadores de Anzoátegui in Venezuela. In December 2023, Adams signed the Dewa United Banten of the

(IBL). In August 2024, Adams signed with

San Miguel Beermen The San Miguel Beermen are a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). It is one of three PBA clubs owned by the San Miguel Corporation group of companies along with Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Magnolia ...

of the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines, composed of twelve company-branded Franchising, franchise teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia ...

(PBA) as the team's import for the

2024 PBA Governors' Cup The 2024 PBA Governors' Cup, also known as the 2024 Honda PBA Governors' Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the first conference of the 2024–25 PBA season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The 22nd edition of the Governors' Cup ...

. In December 2024, Adams returned to the Dewa United Banten for the 2025 IBL season.

Career statistics

NBA statistics

Regular season

, - , 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 * Mem ...

, 30 , , 0 , , 8.3 , , .407 , , .400 , , .609 , , .9 , , .5 , , .5 , , .2 , , 3.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 7.5 , , .333 , , .000 , , .600 , , 1.0 , , 1.5 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , 3.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 32 , , 0 , , 8.2 , , .402 , , .385 , , .607 , , .9 , , .6 , , .6 , , .2 , , 3.2

Playoffs

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

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

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, 4 , , 0 , , 2.5 , , .667 , , 1.000 , , .500 , , .3 , , .0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 4 , , 0 , , 2.5 , , .667 , , 1.000 , , .500 , , .3 , , .0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 1.8

College statistics

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2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

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

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, 33 , , 27 , , 30.3 , , .447 , , .307 , , .843 , , 3.8 , , 1.8 , , 2.2 , , .4 , , 15.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 36 , , 30.1 , , .485 , , .356 , , .836 , , 5.3 , , 2.3 , , 2.6 , , .1 , , 17.4 , -class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 69 , , 83 , , 30.2 , , .467 , , .331 , , .839 , , 4.6 , , 2.1 , , 2.4 , , .2 , , 16.4

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Jordan 1994 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in Indonesia American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Syria American expatriate basketball people in Uruguay American men's basketball players Basketball players from Atlanta Dewa United Banten players Iowa Energy players Libertadores de Querétaro players Memphis Grizzlies draft picks Memphis Grizzlies players Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia) alumni Philippine Basketball Association imports Rio Grande Valley Vipers players San Miguel Beermen players Shooting guards UCLA Bruins men's basketball players Venados de Mazatlán (basketball) players Gladiadores de Anzoátegui players