Doron Perkins (born on May 6, 1983) is an American former 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 and currently an assistant coach for the

Cleveland 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 ...

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 ...

. Standing at 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) he can play as either a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

or a

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 basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

. He was the 2009

Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP The Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP, or Israeli Basketball Super League MVP, is an annual basketball award that is presented to the most valuable player in a given season of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, which is the top-tier level ...

, and the 2010 and 2011 Israeli Basketball Premier League Defensive Player of the Year.

College career

Perkins played two years of

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 ...

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

with the

Santa Clara Broncos The Santa Clara Broncos are athletic teams that represent Santa Clara University. The school colors are red and white. The nicknames for teams is The Broncos and the student fans are referred to as the "Ruff Riders". The Broncos compete in the ...

, playing in the WCC, where he was twice selected to the All-WCC First Team (2004, 2005). He also led the league in steals during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons.

Professional career

Perkins started his professional career in the 2005–06 season in the Japanese League, where he played for

Toyota Alvark Alvark Tokyo is a Japanese professional basketball team located in Tokyo. The team, which is sponsored by Toyota, currently plays in the Japanese B.League. Until 2000, the team was known as the Toyota Pacers. Founded as Toyota Pacers in 1948, ...

. He was named the

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

of the league, after leading his team to the championship. In the final game, Perkins had 19

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 ...

, 11

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

, and 6 assists. Perkins then signed with the German League club EWE Baskets Oldenburg for the 2006–07 season. He averaged 12 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in 27 minutes per game. In the 2007–08 season, Perkins led his team, Bree, to the Belgian League's final. He had an outstanding season. He finished the season averaging 15.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 3.1 steals in 31 minutes per game. For the 2008–09 season, Perkins signed with the Israeli Super League club Maccabi Haifa. He averaged 17 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 3 steals in 31 minutes per game. He had his best game against

Ashkelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city i ...

, finishing the game with 27 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 4 steals, and 2 blocks. He was rewarded for his efforts with the Super League's MVP award. Perkins was named the MVP of his league in two out of his first four pro seasons. In August 2009, Perkins was invited to join the senior men's Russian national team. As citizenship was a prerequisite to joining the team, Perkins was offered

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n citizenship. He decided however not to take Russian citizenship. He then returned to the Israeli Super League, and signed with the league's defending champions

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

. During the 2010–11 season, Perkins earned the nickname "who if not" ("מי אם לא"), due to his uncanny knack for coming up with loose balls, and for the way the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

speaking game announcers constantly used the phrase, "who if not, Doron Perkins". He was the 2010 and 2011 Israeli Basketball Premier League Defensive Player of the Year. On March 29, 2011, during game 3 of the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

playoff series between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Caja Laboral, for the ticket to the

EuroLeague Final Four The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, fo ...

, Perkins suffered an injury to his right knee. A medical examination later showed that he suffered two

tears Tears are a clear liquid secreted by the lacrimal glands (tear gland) found in the eyes of all land mammals. Tears are made up of water, electrolytes, proteins, lipids, and mucins that form layers on the surface of eyes. The different types of ...

in his Meniscus, in his ACL and MCL, and he subsequently underwent surgery to repair the damaged knee. A prognosis of nine months rehabilitation time was published in the media. In early February 2012, Perkins returned to the court, after nearly one year off from basketball. He signed with the Italian League club

Cantù Cantù (; Brianzöö: ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Como, located at the center of the Brianza zone in Lombardy. It is the second largest city in Brianza. History The name could stem from that of the Canturigi, a population of I ...

, and played in his first EuroLeague game against Spanish League power

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. Perkins finished the game with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Perkins was also named the player of the week in his second week in the Italian League. He then signed with the Ukrainian League club

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

. After playing in the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier men's professional basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

with Foshan Long Lions, Perkins joined the Greek League club

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

in February 2013. With Olympiacos, he won the 2012–13 season championship of the

. He was released by Olympiacos in May 2013. He signed a contract with Beşiktaş Integral Forex on September 30, 2013. On September 6, 2014, Perkins signed a one-year contract with the Spanish team Laboral Kutxa Vitoria. On December 12, 2014, he parted ways with Laboral. On January 27, 2015, he signed with Krasny Oktyabr of Russia for the remainder of the season. However the next month he was released, before making official debut for the team. In August 2015, Perkins signed with Turkish club Yeşilgiresun Belediye for the 2015–16 BSL season. On December 11, 2016, Perkins signed with Sanat Naft Abadan of the Iranian Super League. On August 18, 2017, Perkins signed with

Goyang Orions Goyang Sono Skygunners () is a professional basketball club based in Goyang, South Korea which plays in the Korean Basketball League. History Dayone Sports era (2022–2023) Rumours of Orion selling its stake in the club intensified in ear ...

of the

Korean Basketball League The Korean Basketball League () or simply KBL is a professional men's basketball league in South Korea which was established in 1997. The league consists of ten teams and each team plays a total of 54 games (27 home and 27 away) in the regular s ...

Coaching career

On October 24, 2023, Perkins was hired as an assistant coach by the

of the

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2", Maccabi , 20 , , 0 , , 21.7 , , .488 , , .342 , , .649 , , 5.0 , , 3.4 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 9.3 , , 12.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 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 ...

, 19 , , 19 , , 29.3 , , .401 , , .254 , , .646 , , 5.4 , , 3.6 , , 1.7 , , .5 , , 9.5 , , 13.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 0 , , 25.5 , , .368 , , .286 , , .667 , , 7.5 , , 5.5 , , 1.0 , , , , 10.0 , , 17.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#AFE6BA;", 2012–13† , style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 0 , , 5.4 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .4 , , .4 , , .2 , , , , 0.4 , , -1.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;", Baskonia , 9 , , 2 , , 10.8 , , .348 , , .357 , , .625 , , 2.3 , , 1.0 , , .7 , , , , 2.9 , , 5.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 55 , , 21 , , 21.2 , , .423 , , .289 , , .652 , , 4.4 , , 2.9 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 7.5 , , 10.5

Awards and achievements

Santa Clara University

*2x All-

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting o ...

First Team: (2004, 2005) * West Coast Conference tournament All-Tournament Team: (2004) *2x West Coast Conference Steals Leader: (2004, 2005)

Toyota Alvark

* Japanese League Champion: (2006) * Japanese League MVP: (2006) * Japanese League Assists Leader: (2006)

Bree

* Belgian League Assists Leader: (2008) * Belgian League Steals Leader: (2008)

Maccabi Haifa

* Israeli Super League MVP: (2009) * Israeli Super League Steals Leader: (2009)

Maccabi Tel Aviv

*2x Israeli Cup Winner: (2010, 2011) *2x Israeli Super League Defensive Player of The Year: (2010, 2011) * Israeli Super League Champion: (2011)

Olympiacos

Champion: (2013)

References

External links