Justin Ray "J. R." Giddens (born February 13, 1985) 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. He was selected to the 2003 McDonald's All-American team, then initially played for the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

but transferred to the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

following his sophomore season. He was selected with the 30th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

, and played for various professional teams until 2019. Giddens is the former head coach of the women's basketball team at Northern New Mexico College.

College

Giddens accepted a scholarship offer from University of Kansas from then-head coach Roy Williams. After Williams left, Giddens was persuaded to stay by Williams' replacement Bill Self. In his first year at Kansas, Giddens earned All-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

Freshman honors while averaging 11

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 ...

per game. In May 2005 he was involved in a fight outside a bar in Lawrence and received a stab wound. He was later charged with battery for his role in the incident and left Kansas in a mutual agreement with Self.Ex-Jayhawk Giddens charged with battery – Men's College Basketball – ESPN
/ref> Giddens transferred to

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

and sat out the next season due to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

regulations. As a junior, he was suspended from the team in late February for disciplinary reasons and missed the team's summer trip to work on his academics. New Mexico hired head coach

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). ...

, who took a no-nonsense approach to discipline, and Giddens made a dramatic transformation. As a senior, he was named

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

Co-Player of the Year and Honorable Mention

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

following career highs in points (16.3 per game) and rebounds (8.8 per game).

Professional career

On June 26, 2008, Giddens was selected by the

with the 30th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft. He had worked out with the Celtics for three days, and received praises from head coach

Doc Rivers Glenn Anton "Doc" Rivers (born October 13, 1961) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An NBA player for 14 seasons, he was an NB ...

, who thought he could fight for minutes on the team right away. He was even mentioned as a possible replacement for

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in some sports leagues, such as the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), and National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the term ...

Tony Allen. Giddens was already familiar with Leon Powe and Kendrick Perkins, who were his teammates at the 2003

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 ...

Game. But on behalf of his agent Aaron Mintz, Giddens declined to work out at the Celtics' minicamp in early July, because he had not signed a contract yet. On November 15, 2008, Giddens was assigned to the Boston Celtics'

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, ...

affiliate team, the Utah Flash.Celtics Assign Giddens to Utah Flash , Celtics.com
/ref> He had played with the Celtics in the 2008–09 pre-season but had been on the inactive list for the first 10 games of the regular season. He was recalled by the Celtics from Utah Flash development team on February 8, 2009. Giddens started his first game for the Boston Celtics on January 2, 2010. On February 18, 2010, Giddens, Bill Walker and Eddie House were traded to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

for

Nate Robinson Nathaniel Cornelius Robinson (born May 31, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. Born in Seattle, Robinson played college basketball for the University of Washington in Seattle and was the 21st pick in the 2005 NBA draft. ...

and

Marcus Landry Marcus Landry (born November 1, 1985) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Goyang Orions of the Korean Basketball League. Landry attended Harold S. Vincent High School, Vincent High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and ...

. On October 13, 2010, Giddens's agent said that Giddens would spend the 2010–11 season with Asseco Prokom Gdynia in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, but Giddens left the team in December 2010 by mutual consent. In September 2011, Giddens signed with PAOK Thessaloniki of Greece. In September 2012, Giddens signed with Basket Brescia Leonessa, an Italian Legadue team. On June 30, 2014, he signed with

Vaqueros de Bayamón The ''vaquero'' (; , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in what what is today Mexico (then New Spain) and Spanish Florida from a method brought to the Americ ...

of Puerto Rico. On November 22, 2014, Giddens signed with Peñarol de Mar del Plata of Argentina. On March 10, 2015, he was waived by the Peñarol after appearing in seventeen LNB games. In January 2017, Giddens signed with Club Trouville of the

Liga Uruguaya de Basketball 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 ...

. The next month, he left the club after appearing in five games. On February 22, 2017, he signed with Mexican club Mineros de Parral. On March 22, 2018, Giddens signed with

Ferro Carril Oeste Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or familiarly, Ferro, is an Argentine sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Ferro is mostly known for its assoc ...

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 ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Stabbing incident

On May 19, 2005, Giddens was stabbed in his right calf in a bar fight in

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

, requiring 30 stitches.DraftExpress.com NBA Draft Prospect Profile: J.R. Giddens
/ref>

Personal

* Majored in university studies. *Cleared as a high jumper in high school. *His parents are Charles and Dianna, and he has two sisters, Breeanna and Portia. *Lists Steve Urkel and Mr. Rogers as his favorite television characters. * Has sixteen tattoos, including his first initial "J" on his left triceps and his last initial "G" on his right triceps, and the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

verse Philippians 4:13 – ''"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength"'' – on his right shoulder.Jeremy Fowler
Men's basketball: Lobo J.R. Giddens seeks to rise above the labels
, ''The

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

Tribune'', February 10, 2007.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

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, 21 , , 1 , , 4.7 , , .429 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , .2 , , .0 , , 1.1 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , New York , 11 , , 0 , , 12.7 , , .487 , , .000 , , .636 , , 2.8 , , .6 , , .5 , , .1 , , 4.1 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , , 38 , , 1 , , 6.5 , , .476 , , .000 , , .565 , , 1.4 , , .3 , , .3 , , .1 , , 1.9

References

External links

*
J. R. Giddens Euroleague.net Profile

J. R. Giddens Player Info
@ DraftExpress.com
J. R. Giddens – New Mexico Player Bio

@

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 ...

.com
Trying to get past his past
–

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...