Joshua Aloiye Okogie (born 1 September 1998) is a Nigerian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Pacific Division (NBA), P ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA). He also represents the Nigeria national team.

Early life

Okogie emigrated with his family to the United States when he was three years old. The family settled in

Snellville, Georgia Snellville is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States, east of Atlanta. The population was 18,242 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the estimated population was 20,077. It is a developed suburb of Atlanta and a part of the Atlanta metro ...

, where Okogie started playing basketball for Shiloh High School.

College career

GT vs NC A&T basketball Dec 2016 - Josh Okogie

As a 6'4" shooting guard, he was not ranked by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

in the recruiting class of 2016. He signed with

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part o ...

and as a freshman, Okogie averaged 16.1 points 5.4 rebounds per game and was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team. He was a third team 2017–18 All-ACC selection as a sophomore. As a sophomore, Okogie led Georgia Tech in scoring with 18.2 points per game. After the season he declared for the

2018 NBA Draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inter ...

but did not hire an agent, thus leaving open the possibility of returning to school. However, he confirmed his intentions on entering the NBA Draft on May 21.

Professional career

Minnesota Timberwolves (2018–2022)

On June 21, 2018, the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

drafted Okogie with the 20th overall pick in the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inter ...

. On July 2, 2018, he signed with the Timberwolves. He participated in the

2018 NBA Summer League The 2018 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Sacramento Kings's California Classic Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. The Sacr ...

. After

Jimmy Butler Jimmy Butler III (born September 14, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Jimmy Buckets", he is a six-time NBA All-Star, a four-time All-NBA Team honore ...

was traded from Minnesota in early November, Okogie entered the starting lineup, averaging nearly 22 minutes a game on the season. After the season, he participated in the

2019 NBA Summer League The 2019 NBA Summer League was held at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It began on July 5 and ended on July 15. All 30 teams and two national teams, China and Cro ...

. On January 29, 2019, he was named a member of the World Team for the 2019

Rising Stars Challenge The Rising Stars Challenge is a basketball exhibition game held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) on the Friday before the annual All-Star Game as part of the All-Star Weekend. The current format to be used in 2022 includes first- and ...

Phoenix Suns (2022–present)

On July 2, 2022, Okogie signed with the

. On December 7, Okogie scored a career-high 28 points off the bench, leading both teams in scoring that night in a blowout loss to 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 league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

National team career

Okogie plays for the Nigerian national basketball team and participated in the

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup was the 18th tournament of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for men's national basketball teams. The tournament was hosted in China and was rescheduled from 2018 to 2019, becoming the first since 1967 that did not ...

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

, 74 , , 52 , , 23.7 , , .386 , , .279 , , .728 , , 2.9 , , 1.2 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , 7.7 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 62 , , 28 , , 25.0 , , .427 , , .266 , , .796 , , 4.3 , , 1.6 , , 1.1 , , .4 , , 8.6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 59 , , 37 , , 20.3 , , .402 , , .269 , , .769 , , 2.6 , , 1.1 , , .9 , , .5 , , 5.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 49 , , 6 , , 10.5 , , .404 , , .298 , , .686 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .5 , , .2 , , 2.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" , Career , 244 , , 123 , , 20.6 , , .403 , , .275 , , .758 , , 2.9 , , 1.1 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , 6.4

Playoffs

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, 1 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , — , , — , , — , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 1 , , 0 , , 2.0 , , — , , — , , — , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0

College

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, 37 , , 37 , , 30.8 , , .453 , , .384 , , .747 , , 5.4 , , 1.6 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , 16.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 24 , , 24 , , 36.4 , , .416 , , .380 , , .821 , , 6.3 , , 2.5 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , 18.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 61 , , 61 , , 33.0 , , .437 , , .382 , , .777 , , 5.8 , , 2.0 , , 1.5 , , .8 , , 16.9

References

External links

*
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bio NBA.com bio and statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okogie, Josh 1998 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup players African-American basketball players American men's basketball players American sportspeople of Nigerian descent Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball players Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks Minnesota Timberwolves players National Basketball Association players from Nigeria Nigerian men's basketball players Olympic basketball players of Nigeria People from Snellville, Georgia Phoenix Suns players Shooting guards Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Sportspeople from Lagos