Brandon Knight (basketball)

Brandon Knight

Knight during his tenure with the Detroit Pistons
No. 11 – Phoenix Suns
Position	Shooting guard / Point guard
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	(1991-12-02) December 2, 1991 Miami, Florida
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school	Pine Crest (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
College	Kentucky (2010–2011)
NBA draft	2011 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8th overall
Selected by the Detroit Pistons
Playing career	2011–present
Career history
2011–2013	Detroit Pistons
2013–2015	Milwaukee Bucks
2015–present	Phoenix Suns
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie First Team (2012) First-team All-SEC (2011) SEC All-Freshman Team (2011) McDonald's All-American (2010) Gatorade Athlete of the Year (2009) 2× Gatorade National Player of the Year (2009, 2010) 2× Florida Mr. Basketball (2009, 2010)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Brandon Emmanuel Knight (born December 2, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the University of Kentucky. Knight has also previously played for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Knight won the 2009 and 2010 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year awards, becoming just the third junior to receive the award following LeBron James (2002) and Greg Oden (2005).^[1]

High school career

Knight attended Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he was a two-time Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year, becoming the first student-athlete from the state of Florida to earn such honor.^[2] A national advisory board was composed of sportswriters and sport-specific experts from around the United States. This board selected Knight from more than 552,000 high school boys basketball players nationwide. Knight maintained a 4.3 grade-point average.^[3]

In his junior year, he led the Panthers to their second consecutive Class 3A state title. He averaged 31.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists and three steals per game during the season. Knight scored 27 points, pulled down nine rebounds and dished four assists in a 60–44 win over Jones High in the state final. He beat his own school single-season record by more than 200 points, finishing with 968 points. He also set a school record with 127 three-pointers. These accomplishments contributed to Knight being named the 2009 Florida Mr. Basketball. Knight is second all-time on the scoring list for high school basketball in Florida, amassing a staggering 3,515 points from 2005–2010.

As a senior, he averaged 32.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. On March 4, 2010, Knight played his last high school basketball game. After injuring his groin in the state semi-finals, he led Pine Crest to the championship game seeking a third consecutive Class 3A state title, but lost 70–46 to Rickards High School of Tallahassee.^[4]

Knight played in the 2010 McDonald's All-American Game in Columbus and hit the game winning three-point basket to give the West a 107–104 victory. He also played in the 2010 Nike Hoop Summit in Portland and the 2010 Jordan Brand Classic in New York City,^[5] and earned first-team Parade All-American honors.

AAU

Knight also had a lot of success on the AAU circuit. As a sophomore, Knight's Team Breakdown won the Junior Division National Championship, which is the most competitive division in AAU. The following year, Knight formed a dominating backcourt with Kenny Boynton and Raymond Taylor, as Team Breakdown defended their title. Once Boynton graduated, Knight switched to Team STAT/Each One Teach One during 2009, joining Austin Rivers in the backcourt. Knight broke his foot in mid July during a game at the Nike Peach Jam Tournament and took the rest of the summer off to rest his foot.^[6]

College recruiting

Knight was ranked as the No. 4 recruit in the class of 2010 in the ESPNU 100, and the No. 6 recruit by Rivals.com and Scout.com. He considered Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse.^[7]

On April 14, 2010, Knight signed an aid agreement with the University of Kentucky, not a letter of intent. Amid rumors that Kentucky coach John Calipari would jump to coach in the NBA, Knight's parents advised him to sign an aid agreement. By signing an aid agreement, the Wildcats were committed to Knight, but he was not committed to them.^[8]

College career

Knight playing in an exhibition game at Kentucky after his career.

On November 12, 2010, Knight made his regular season debut for Kentucky, recording 17 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in an 88-65 win over East Tennessee State.^[9] After his first 14 games, Knight led all freshmen in the nation in scoring, averaging 18.3 points on 47% from the field and 40% from the three-point line. Impressively, Knight won SEC freshman of the week three times. In February 2011, Knight was one of ten players selected as a finalist for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award, given to the year's best point guard in college basketball.^[10] He went on to earn All-SEC first team and SEC All-Freshman team honors. He was also named to the Fox Sports' All-America fifth team.^[11] He led his team to an SEC championship victory and then went on to advance to the Final Four.

In April 2011, Knight declared for the NBA draft, foregoing his final three years of college eligibility.^[12]

College statistics

Professional career

Detroit Pistons (2011–2013)

On June 23, 2011, Knight was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 8th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. On February 8, 2012, he was selected to play in the 2012 Rising Stars competition; he was drafted to play for Team Shaq. On May 22, 2012, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie first team.^[13]

On February 27, 2013, Knight scored a then career-high 32 points in a 96-95 win over the Washington Wizards.^[14] He went on to participate in the 2013 NBA All-Star Weekend's Rising Stars Game where he recorded 10 points and 6 assists for Team Chuck.^[15]

Milwaukee Bucks (2013–2015)

On July 31, 2013, Knight was traded, along with Khris Middleton and Viacheslav Kravtsov, to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for guard Brandon Jennings.^[16] On December 31, 2013, Knight scored a then career-high 37 points in a 94-79 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.^[17]

On February 14, 2015, Knight took part in the Taco Bell Skills Challenge and made it up until the final round before losing to Patrick Beverley by a timely shot from Beverley.

Phoenix Suns (2015–present)

On February 19, 2015, Knight was traded, along with former Suns player Kendall Marshall, to the Phoenix Suns in a three-team trade also involving the Philadelphia 76ers.^[18] Two days later, Knight made his Suns debut, recording 13 points and 5 assists off the bench in a 112–107 loss to the Chicago Bulls.^[19] On March 9, Knight suffered a short-term left ankle injury during a 98–80 loss to the Golden State Warriors.^[20] He returned to action on March 29 to score three points on 1-of-10 shooting against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but was then ruled out for the rest of the season in early April due to a left heel bone bruise.^[21] He later underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle on April 17.^[22]

On July 17, 2015, Knight re-signed with the Suns to a five-year, $70 million contract.^[23][24] On November 12, he tied his career-high of 37 points in a 118–104 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.^[25] Four days later, Knight recorded his first career triple-double with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high 15 assists in a 120–101 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.^[26] Knight became just the fourth player since steals became an official stat in the 1973–74 season to record a triple-double with a line of at least 30 points, 15 assists, 10 rebounds and four steals, joining Pete Maravich, Magic Johnson and Russell Westbrook,^[27] as well as the second player behind Magic Johnson to record such a line at 23 years old or younger.^[28][29] On November 20, Knight recorded a double-double with a career-high 38 points and a season-high 11 rebounds in a 114–107 victory over the Denver Nuggets.^[30] On December 13, he scored 25 points and hit a career-high seven three-pointers in a 108–101 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.^[31] On March 10, 2016, Knight scored 10 points in 25 minutes against the Denver Nuggets in his first game since January 19 due to a left adductor strain.^[32] Two days later, he scored 30 points and hit a career-high tying seven three-pointers in a 123–116 loss to the Golden State Warriors.^[33] On March 28, he again scored 30 points and tied a career high with seven 3-pointers in a 121–116 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, recording his fifth 30-point game of the season.^[34] On April 3, he was ruled out for the rest of the season with the same left adductor strain that kept him out for seven weeks earlier in the season.^[35] Five days later, he underwent successful surgery to treat the sports hernia.^[36]

In October 2016, with teammate Eric Bledsoe returning to good health and form, new Suns head coach Earl Watson announced that Knight would come off the bench and be a sixth man to start the 2016–17 season.^[37] On November 16, 2016, Knight scored a season-high 32 points off the bench in a 120–104 loss to the Denver Nuggets.^[38]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Personal life

Knight is the son of Efrem and Tonya Knight.^[39]

Knight is a Christian.^[40][41] Knight frequently posts "TGBTG" ("To God Be The Glory") on his Twitter account.^[42][43][44] Knight also has wristbands that say "TGBTG" and "Faith".^[45]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com, or Basketball-Reference.com
• Brandon Knight at ukathletics.com