Christian Jalon Massinburg (born April 14, 1997) 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

Pallacanestro Brescia The Pallacanestro Brescia, better known for sponsorship reasons as Germani Brescia, is an Italian professional basketball team, based in Brescia, Lombardy. Founded in 2009, the team plays in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) since the 2016–17 Lega B ...

of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

(LBA). 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

Buffalo Bulls The Buffalo Bulls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University at Buffalo (UB) in Buffalo, New York. The Bulls compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of Mid-Ame ...

. He was named the 2019 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. He previously played for the

Long Island Nets The Long Island Nets are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Uniondale, New York, and are affiliated with the Brooklyn Nets. The team plays its home games at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Nassau County ...

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 ...

and

Limoges CSP Limoges Cercle Saint-Pierre, commonly referred to as Limoges CSP or CSP, is a French professional basketball club based in the city of Limoges. History The club was founded in 1929, but its peak was during the 1980s and 1990s, when they became t ...

of the

LNB Pro A LNB may refer to: Sport * Liga Nacional de Baloncesto, a professional basketball league in the Dominican Republic * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol, an Argentine basketball league * Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (Paraguay), Liga Nacional de Básquetb ...

Early life

Born and raised in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Massinburg came to

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

from

South Oak Cliff High School South Oak Cliff High School (colloquially referred to as SOC, pronounced "sock") is a public secondary school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. South Oak Cliff High School enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a pa ...

. As a senior, he averaged 22.3 points per game, but initially received no

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

offers. He ultimately signed with the Bulls after being scouted playing on a travel team for unsigned seniors.

College career

In his freshman season, Massinburg was not expected to contribute much, but ended up playing a key role off the bench averaging 11.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, earning a spot on the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC) All-Freshman Team. As a sophomore, Massinburg's progress was slowed by missing the first eight games of the season due to a bout with

mononucleosis Infectious mononucleosis (IM, mono), also known as glandular fever, is an infection usually caused by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Most people are infected by the virus as children, when the disease produces few or no symptoms. In young adu ...

, but he improved his scoring to 14.5 points per game as he moved into the starting lineup. As a junior, Massinburg was named first-team All-MAC as the Bulls enjoyed regular-season and Tournament conference championships, earning a trip to the 2018 NCAA tournament. Massinburg scored 19 points in the Bulls' upset over 4-seed

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

in the NCAA Tournament's first round, thought to be the biggest win in program history at the time. As a senior, Buffalo was the overwhelming preseason choice to win the MAC and Massinburg was named preseason first-team All-MAC East. The Bulls experienced great team success, as the team achieved a top 25 ranking in the November 12, 2018 AP Poll, signifying a first for the school. The Bulls would go on to maintain a spot in the top 25 for the remainder of the year. Massinburg led the team in scoring, moving into the school's top five all-time scoring list on January 29, 2019. He received national individual recognition as he was named to three watch lists for several national Player of the Year awards. Massinburg closed the 2018–19 regular season averaging 18.5 points per game and winning MAC Player of the Year honors and repeating on the all-conference first team. ''

The Buffalo News ''The Buffalo News'' is the daily newspaper of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, located in downtown Buffalo, New York. It was for decades the only paper fully owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. On January 29, 2020, th ...

'' named Massinburg the best player of the decade from Buffalo,

Canisius Canisius may refer to: People * Saint Peter Canisius (1521–1597), Dutch Jesuit Catholic priest * Theodorich Canisius (1532–1606), Jesuit academic, half-brother of St. Peter Canisius * Henricus Canisius (1562–1610), Dutch canonist and histor ...

, Niagara, or

St. Bonaventure Bonaventure ( ; ; ; born Giovanni di Fidanza; 1221 – 15 July 1274) was an Italian Catholic Franciscan bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, he also serv ...

. He was also named to the

Lou Henson Award The Lou Henson Award is an award given annually by Collegeinsider.com to the most outstanding mid-major men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award, established in 2010, is named for esteemed men's college basketball ...

All-Decade Team.

Professional career

Long Island Nets (2019–2021)

On October 15, 2019, Massinburg signed with the

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

of the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

(NBA). On October 18, the Nets waived Massinburg. He was ultimately added to the roster of the Nets’

affiliate, the

. On November 15, Massinburg contributed 28 points, six rebounds and three assists in a loss to the

Delaware Blue Coats The Delaware Blue Coats are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Wilmington, Delaware. They are the G-League affiliates of the Philadelphia 76ers. The Blue Coats play their home games at Chase Fieldhouse. The Bl ...

. He missed a game against the

Canton Charge The Cleveland Charge are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cleveland, and are affiliated with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Since 2024, the team plays its home games at Public Auditorium in downtown Cleveland, thoug ...

on December 30 for undisclosed reasons. Massinburg missed more than a month of action due to a right knee injury before returning against the

Grand Rapids Drive The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anahe ...

on January 27, 2020.

Limoges CSP (2021–2022)

On September 14, 2021, Massinburg was signed by

of the

, the top tier men's basketball league in France.

Pallacanestro Brescia (2022–2024)

In June 2022, Massinburg signed a two-year contract with

Bahçeşehir Koleji (2024–2025)

On June 1, 2024, he signed with Bahçeşehir Koleji of the

Basketbol Süper Ligi The Basketball Super League (; TBSL), also known as the Türkiye Sigorta Basketbol Süper Ligi for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional basketball division of the Turkish basketball league system. It replaced the former Turkish Bas ...

(BSL).

Return to Pallacanestro Brescia (2025–present)

On July 7, 2025, he signed with

of the

(LBA) for a second stint.

The Basketball Tournament

Massinburg has played in

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-invitation, single-elimination tournament, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States, with the stakes being a cash prize (the most recent tournament in The Basketball Tournam ...

(TBT), an annual $1 million winner-take-all tournament, for Blue Collar U, a team primarily rostered with Buffalo alumni. In TBT 2021, the team made it to the semifinals of the tournament. In TBT 2022, Blue Collar U won the tournament and $1 million prize, with Massinburg being named tournament MVP.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 7 , , 25.3 , , .447 , , .389 , , .752 , , 4.1 , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 24 , , 18 , , 32.4 , , .411 , , .331 , , .750 , , 5.6 , , 2.8 , , .6 , , .1 , , 14.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 35 , , 34.0 , , .468 , , .405 , , .743 , , 7.3 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 17.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 35 , , 34 , , 32.1 , , .464 , , .399 , , .780 , , 6.5 , , 3.0 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 18.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 130 , , 94 , , 30.8 , , .452 , , .386 , , .757 , , 5.9 , , 2.4 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 15.3

References

External links

Buffalo Bulls bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Massinburg, C. J. 1997 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Bahçeşehir Koleji S.K. players Basketball players from Dallas Pallacanestro Brescia players Buffalo Bulls men's basketball players Limoges CSP players Long Island Nets players Shooting guards