Ater James "AJ" Majok (born 4 July 1987) is a 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 (appr ...

player for

Al Riyadi Club Beirut Al Riyadi Club Beirut ( ar, نادي الرياضي بيروت, lit=Sporting Club Beirut) is a multi-sports club based in Manara, a district in Beirut, Lebanon. Founded in 1934, the basketball team competes in the Lebanese Basketball League. T ...

of the

Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League is the top-tier professional men's basketball league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketball Federation (FLB). Currently, the leagu ...

. He was drafted by the

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

in the

2011 NBA draft The 2011 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2011, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (23:00 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. Kia Motors was the presenting spons ...

with the 58th overall pick. He represents

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

internationally.

High school and college career

Majok was born in Sudan in 1987. He migrated to Sydney through a refugee camp in Egypt. Upon arrival in Sydney, he bonded with a group of young men also from Sudan, called the South Stars basketball team. He attended high school at St Aloysius' College and Parramatta Marist High School in Sydney, and the American International School in Carlingford where he graduated in 2008. After graduating, he committed to the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

. He sat out during the 2008–09 season because he was not cleared to play by the

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 ...

. In January 2009, Majok joined the UConn roster and was eligible to practice with the squad for the remainder of the season, but was not able to play in games. In April 2009, he declared for the

2009 NBA draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other e ...

but did not sign with an agent. About a week before the draft, he decided to withdraw his name and returned to UConn. On 20 December 2009, Majok made his debut with the Huskies. He scored one point and collected three rebounds in 16 minutes of action as a starter. In September 2010, Majok announced that he was leaving Connecticut, though the reasons as to why remain unclear. In 2009–10, he played in 26 games for the Huskies, averaging 2.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.

Professional career

2010–11 season

In October 2010, Majok signed a two-month deal with FMV Isikspor Istanbul, a 2nd-division Turkish club. He played 7 games for them, averaging 13.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.1 blocks in 28.3 minutes. After his contract expired, he left Turkey. On 24 December 2010, Majok signed a six-week deal with the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

of the Australian NBL as an injury replacement for Jesse Wagstaff and Matthew Knight. In 8 games for the Wildcats, Majok averaged 7.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. Despite his short stint in Perth, Majok became a favourite amongst the Wildcats fans with due to his shot blocking ability, blocking a total of 11 shots in his first three games.Player statistics for Ater Majok
/ref> On 12 February 2011, Majok signed with the

Gold Coast Blaze The Gold Coast Blaze were an Australian men's professional basketball team which competed in the National Basketball League (NBL). The Blaze competed in their inaugural season in 2007–08. The club was based on the Gold Coast and joined the ...

for the rest of the 2010–11 season as an injury replacement for Mark Worthington. On 22 March 2011, just days before the Gold Coast's final home game of the 2010–11 NBL season against the

Adelaide 36ers The Adelaide 36ers, also known as the Sixers, are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (NBL). The 36ers are the only team in the league representing the state of South Australia and are based in th ...

, Majok was released by the club so that he could advance his preparations and seek out training-camp opportunities in the United States prior to the

. In 6 games for the Blaze, he averaged 2.8 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.

2011–12 season

On 23 June 2011, Majok was selected by the

with the 58th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. In August 2011, he signed with BK SPU Nitra of Slovakia for the 2011–12 season. In 41 league games for Nitra, he averaged 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.4 assists per game.

2012–13 season

Majok joined the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2012 NBA Summer League. In 3 games (1 start), he averaged 1.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 15 minutes per game. In September 2012, he signed a short-term deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel but left a month later before appearing in a game for them. In November 2012, he signed with

BC Tsmoki-Minsk Basketball Club Minsk ( be, Мінск) is a professional basketball club that is based in the city of Minsk, Belarus. They play in the Belarus Premier League and the VTB United League. The team plays its home games at the Minsk Arena. Establis ...

for the rest of the 2012–13 season. In 13 VTB United League games for Tsmoki-Minsk, he averaged 4.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.

2013–14 season

On 3 September 2013, Majok signed with KCC Egis of Korea for the 2013–14 season. On 29 October 2013, he was released by Egis after just 12 games. The next day, he signed with Taiwan Beer for the rest of the season. On 12 November 2013, he was released by Taiwan Beer before appearing in a game for them. On 30 December 2013, he signed with

BG Göttingen Basketballgemeinschaft Göttingen ( eng, Basketball Association Göttingen) is a German basketball club based in Göttingen, Germany. In 2010, the club won the EuroChallenge against Krasnye Krylya Samara from Russia. The team had played in Germa ...

of Germany for the rest of the season. In 23 games for Göttingen, he averaged 4.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

2014–15 season

On 12 December 2014, Majok was acquired by the

Los Angeles D-Fenders LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significan ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

. On 25 February, he was waived by the D-Fenders after suffering a season-ending MCL sprain to his left knee.

2015–16 season

On 1 September 2015, Majok signed with Trefl Sopot of the

Polish Basketball League Polska Liga Koszykówki (PLK) (English: Polish Basketball League) is a professional men's club basketball league in Poland. It constitutes the first and highest-tier level of the Polish league pyramid. The winning team of the final round are crow ...

. In 27 games for Trefl, he averaged 9.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. In May 2016, Majok joined Beijing Eastern Bucks of the Chinese National Basketball League.

2016–17 season

On 21 October 2016, he signed with

Homenetmen Beirut Homenetmen Beirut may refer to: *Homenetmen Beirut (basketball) Homenetmen Beirut ( ar, نادي الهومنتمن; ), or simply Homenetmen, is the basketball department of Homenetmen, a Lebanese-Armenian multi-sports club based in Beirut, Le ...

of the

. In 2017, he received the Lebanese citizenship and represented Lebanon in the 2017 West Asian Championship. In June 2017, he signed with the Luoyang Zhonghe of the Chinese National Basketball League. In his first game with Luoyang, Majok recorded 24 points, 20 rebounds and 7 blocks in a 123-138 loss to Anhui Wenyi.

2017–18 season

In October 2017, Majok signed with Sagesse Club of the Lebanese Basketball League. In June 2018, Majok signed with Shaanxi Xinda of the Chinese National Basketball League.

2018–19 season

Majok signed with Champville SC in Lebanon on August 16, 2018.

2019–20 season

On 6 August 2019, Majok signed with the

New Zealand Breakers The New Zealand Breakers (also known as the Sky Sport Breakers for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Auckland. The Breakers compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at ...

for the

2019–20 NBL season The 2019–20 NBL season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. Teams Nine teams competed in the 2019–20 Season with the addition of South East Melbourne Phoenix. Off-season changes *Th ...

2020–21 season

On 20 August 2020, Majok signed with

Al-Arabi Al-Arabi may refer to: Companies *Al-Arabi Group, a holding company in the Kuwait Stock Exchange#Services * Al Arabi Investment Group (AB Invest), a subsidiary of Arab Bank * Al Arabi Investment Group Company, a subsidiary of Arab Bank Media *'' ...

of the

Qatari Basketball League The Qatari Basketball League () is the top-tier men's basketball league operating in Qatar. The winning team obtains the participation right to the FIBA Asia Champions Cup. The first official season took place in 1981/82. There is a second divis ...

. In February 2020, Majok signed with US Monastir for the

2020 BAL season The 2021 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 1, was the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). Established as a joint effort between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and FIBA, the BAL is the highest tier continental leag ...

. The BAL season was however cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Nevertheless, Majok was on the roster for the 2021 season.

2021–22 season

On August 30, 2021, Majok signed with

Beirut Club Beirut Club () is a basketball team based in Beirut, Lebanon, who plays in the Lebanese Basketball League (LBL), the top-flight of basketball in Lebanon. Home games of the club are played in the Stade Nouhad Naufal. The club was first promoted ...

of the

. In October 2021, Majok returned to Tunisia when he signed with Ezzahra Sports. On March 2, 2022, Majok was announced to be on the roster of US Monastir for the

2022 BAL season The 2022 BAL season, also known as BAL Season 2, was the second season of the Basketball Africa League (BAL). The season began on 2 March 2022 and ended with the Finals on 28 May 2022. The group phase was played in the Dakar Arena in Dakar and t ...

, his second stint with the team and his second appearance in the BAL. He played as an African import due to his South Sudanese heritage. Majok and Monastir won the 2022 BAL Finals and captured the club's first African title. He was named the

Defensive Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY or DPOTY) is the name of an award given in sports for outstanding Defense (sports), defensive play by a single player over the course of a season. Many sports leagues award this type of award. League awards for D ...

and was given a place in the league's All-First Team and All-Defensive Team as well. In June 2022, Majok joined the Piratas de La Guaira of the

Venezuelan SuperLiga The Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as the SPB, is the Venezuelan first division national professional basketball league. Founded in 1974 as the Liga Especial de Baloncesto, it adopted the name Liga Profesional de Baloncesto i ...

NBA draft rights

On 7 July 2016, Majok's draft rights were acquired by the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

in exchange for José Calderón and two future second-round draft picks. On 1 September 2017, Majok's draft rights were traded to 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 ...

in exchange for the

receiving

Quincy Pondexter Quincy Coe Pondexter (born March 10, 1988) is an American former professional basketball player. He is currently an assistant coach for the University of Washington men's basketball team. He played high school basketball in Fresno, California, a ...

, a 2018 second round pick, and cash considerations. Majok's right was renounced by the Pelicans on 13 September.

BAL career statistics

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

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, style="text-align:left;", Monastir , 6 , , 6 , , 24.7 , , .462 , , .143 , , .812 , , 6.7 , , 1.0 , , .5 , , 2.0 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

† , style="text-align:left;", Monastir , 8 , , 8 , , 31.4 , , .613 , , .333 , , .577 , , 11.0 , , 1.9 , , .5 , , 2.4 , , 13.6 , - class="sortbottom"

National team career

Majok plays internationally for the Lebanon national basketball team. He helped his country win gold at the 2022 Arab Basketball Championship in Dubai.

Personal life

Majok is the son of James Majok and Amer Jacob, and has three brothers, Kashual, Orokey and Jacob and two sisters, Agum and Awod. Majok's cousin,

Majok Majok Majok Maker Majok (born 10 December 1992) is a South Sudanese-Australian professional basketball player who last played for the Perth Wildcats of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Ball State Cardinals for ...

, played college basketball for two seasons at Midland College in the

National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

(NJCAA) before transferring to Ball State University (NCAA) for his junior season.Majok Majok Bio
/ref> He holds Lebanese and Australian passports.

Awards and accomplishments

Club

;US Monastir *

Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is Africa's premier men's basketball league. The league consists of twelve teams, each qualified through their domestic competition, similar to the format of the UEFA Champions League. The league is a joint eff ...

: (

) * 2×

Championnat National A The Championnat National A (CNA) is the highest tier professional basketball league in Tunisia. Established in 1956, the league currently features 10 teams. Étoile Sportive de Radès is the record holder for most titles, with a total of thirteen ...

: (

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, 2021) ;Shaanxi Xinda * Chinese NBL: (2018) ;Homenetmen Beirut * Henri Chalhoub Tournament champion: (2017) ;BG Göttingen *

ProA Proas are various types of multi-hull outrigger sailboats of the Austronesian peoples. The terms were used for native Austronesian ships in European records during the Colonial era indiscriminately, and thus can confusingly refer to the ...

: (

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

) ;Tsmoki-Minsk *

Belarusian Premier League The Belarusian Premier League or the Vyšejšaja Liha or the Vysheyshaya Liga ( be, Вышэйшая ліга, russian: Высшая лига, "Top League") is the top division of professional football in Belarus, and is organized by the Belarus ...

: (2013) * Belarusian Cup: (2013) ;SPU Nitra * Slovakia Cup: (2012)

International

;Lebanon *

Arab Basketball Championship The Arab Basketball Championship for Men ( ar, البطولة العربية لكرة السلة للرجال) or simply ABC is a regional basketball tournament which takes place every two years between men's national teams of the members of the ...

gold medal: (

)

Individual

* BAL Defensive Player of the Year: (

) *

All-BAL First Team The All-BAL First Team is an annual Basketball Africa League The Basketball Africa League (BAL) is Africa's premier men's basketball league. The league consists of twelve teams, each qualified through their domestic competition, similar to the ...

: (

) * BAL All-Defensive Team: (

) *

Best Foreign Player: (

) * 3× Chinese NBL Defensive Player of the Year: (2016, 2018, 2019)

References

External links