Justin Jaymes Graham (born September 10, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the

Canterbury Rams The Canterbury Rams are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Christchurch. The Rams compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Cowles Stadium. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as Th ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL). 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

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

Early life and high school

As a youth, Graham befriended future college teammate Adrian Oliver. The two played basketball together throughout school and competed on the same

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU) team while in high school. As a junior at Ripon High School in 2004–05, Graham averaged 15.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. In November 2005, he signed a

National Letter of Intent The National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document used to indicate a student athlete's commitment to participating in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) colleges and universities in the United States. The NCAA Eligibility Center manag ...

to play

for

. As a senior at Ripon in 2005–06, Graham averaged 15.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 3.5 steals per game. His points, rebounds, assists and blocked-shot averages led the league. He was a two-time league MVP in high school, the Manteca Bulletin's "player of the year" and a Division IV all-state selection.

College career

After redshirting the 2006–07 season, Graham joined the

San Jose State Spartans The San Jose State Spartans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Mountain West Conference at the NCAA Division I level, with football competing in the Football Bowl S ...

as a freshman for the 2007–08 season. He averaged 2.9 assists per game in 2007–08, becoming the first San Jose State freshman in 13 years to lead the team in assists. He also averaged 10.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 26 games (25 starts). He played more minutes than any 2007–08 freshman in the

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

and led the Spartans in average minutes played per game (31.96). He also set a San Jose State freshman single-game scoring record with 29 points against

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

on January 5, 2008. Prior to the start of his sophomore season, coach

George Nessman George Raymond Nessman II (born March 22, 1959) is an American athletic administrator and former college basketball coach who is the current athletic director at Justin-Siena High School. Nessman coached at the high school and community college ...

felt that Graham had "a chance to develop into a major difference-maker." In 2008–09, Graham was the only San Jose State player to play and start in all 30 games. He led the team in assists (142) and steals (51), and became the first Spartan in nine seasons to record 100 assists in a season. He was also the first San Jose State player in 12 seasons to record at least 100 assists and 100 rebounds (112) in a season. He finished the season with averages of 8.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game. As a junior in 2009–10, Graham was one of two Spartans to start in all 31 games, and he had his best season in assists (149), rebounding (5.1 rpg) and field goal percentage (47.0). On November 28, 2009, he made the game-winning basket with 11 seconds to go against

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. He finished the season with averages of 9.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Graham completed his

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in communications from San Jose State in May 2010. As a senior in 2010–11, Graham averaged a career-high 14.2 points per game, in addition to 4.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game. On January 6, 2011, he scored a career-high 29 points and played all 60 minutes of the Spartans' 102–101 quadruple overtime home loss to

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

. With 50 seconds remaining in the second half, Graham hit a three-pointer and had San Jose State trailing 72–69; he then scored the tying jumper to force overtime. On February 23, he broke the school record for career assists to help the Spartans win their third straight game with a 72–70 overtime victory over

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

. At the season's end, he earned WAC All-Defensive Team and All-WAC Honorable Mention honors. Graham had also begun coursework that season for a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in kinesiology with a concentration in sport management, a degree he completed in May 2013.

Professional career

Vanoli Cremona (2011)

In August 2011, Graham signed with Italian club

Vanoli Cremona Guerino Vanoli Basket, also known as Vanoli Cremona, is a professional basketball team of the city of Cremona. The team played in the Lega Basket Serie A, LBA, the top Italian basketball league, for 12 years until 2021. From 1999 to 2011 the soci ...

for training camp. He later parted ways with Cremona in mid-September after appearing in two preseason games.

Bakersfield Jam (2011)

On November 3, 2011, Graham was selected by the

Bakersfield Jam Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

in the third round of the 2011 NBA Development League Draft. He played in two games for the Jam on November 25 and November 26, before an injury forced the team to waive him on December 2. He was reacquired by the Jam on December 14 and played in three more games, before being waived again on December 22.

Inter Bratislava (2012–2014)

In September 2012, Graham signed Slovakian club

Inter Bratislava FK Inter Bratislava () is a football club based in Bratislava, Slovakia, temporarily playing its home matches in Štadion Pasienky. History Inter Bratislava was founded in 1940 by the Apollo refinery (later renamed Slovnaft). Following the end o ...

for the 2012–13 season. In just his fourth games for Bratislava, in a 102–88 win over SKP Banská Bystrica on October 20, 2012, Graham scored a season-high 29 points, helping the team start the season 4–0. He went on to help the club reach the 2013

Slovak Extraliga The Slovak Extraliga, known as the Tipsport liga since the 2025–26 season for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Slovakia. From 2018–19 to 2020–21, the league included one or two teams from Hungary. Teams fro ...

Finals series, where Bratislava won 4–3 despite losing the series' first two games to

MBK Rieker Komárno MBK or mbk may refer to: *MBK (Scooter manufacturer), a European company, the successor to Motobécane *MBK Entertainment, a South Korean entertainment agency/record label, formerly known as Core Contents Media *MBK Center, a large shopping mall in ...

. In the Game 7 series-clinching win, Graham scored 10 points. He appeared in 44 games (29 regular season, 15 playoff) for Bratislava in 2012–13, starting in 18 and averaging 9.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Graham returned to Inter Bratislava for the 2013–14 season, recording a season-best game with 29 points and 10 rebounds on January 25, 2014, against Levice, and helped the club make it back to the Finals series. There they swept the series 4–0, defeating

Prievidza Prievidza (; , ) is a city in the western Slovakia. With approximately 46,000 inhabitants it is the second biggest municipality in the Trenčín Region and 11th List of cities and towns in Slovakia, largest city in Slovakia generally. Name The ...

to claim back-to-back championships. Graham appeared in 42 games (32 regular season, 10 playoff) for Bratislava in 2013–14, starting in 22 and averaging 13.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game.

Zalakerámia-ZTE KK (2014)

In August 2014, Graham signed with Hungarian club Zalakerámia ZTE. He left the club in late November after appearing in seven games. In those seven games, he averaged 9.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game.

Second Inter Bratislava stint (2014–2015)

On December 6, 2014, Graham signed with

for the rest of the 2014–15 season, returning to the club for a second stint. He helped the club win the 2015 Slovakian Cup title, but they could not overcome eventual champions

in the playoffs. In 26 games for the club in 2014–15, he averaged 10.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.2 steals per game.

Canterbury Rams (2016)

On March 25, 2016, Graham signed with the

as injury replacement for Jamie Adams. He made his debut for the Rams later that day, recording 13 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in 31 minutes of action as a starter in a 98–94 win over the Southland Sharks. On April 25, in his ninth game for the Rams, Graham was forced to hobble off the court with a knee injury after just three minutes and did not return. Four days later, he was ruled out for three weeks with a medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprain to his knee. He returned to the line-up on May 25, winning the battle over Jamie Adams for the Rams' second import spot for the NBL playoffs. The Rams finished the regular season in first place with a 13–5 record. In their semi-final match-up with the fourth-seeded

Super City Rangers The Super City Rangers were a New Zealand basketball team based in Auckland. The Rangers competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) and played their home games across multiple venues in Auckland. Team history The Waitakere Rangers debut ...

, the Rams were outclassed and heavily defeated 104–85. In 11 games for the Rams, he averaged 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game.

Personal life

Graham's father, Steve Graham played two seasons of college basketball for Cal State Stanislaus (1986–88) and averaged in double-figure scoring each season. His mother, Shari Hernandez, also played basketball for Cal State Stanislaus. Graham's separated when he was four years old. His sister, Jessica, played basketball for the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

, another WAC school. Graham is also the step-grandson of former Phoenix Suns center

Neal Walk Neal Eugene Walk (July 29, 1948 – October 4, 2015) was an American college and professional basketball player who was a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eight seasons during the late 1960s and 1970s, playing overseas af ...

, the second pick in the

1969 NBA draft The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college ba ...

behind UCLA's Lew Alcindor.

References

External links

Justin Graham
at fiba.com
Justin Graham
at sjsuspartans.com
Justin Graham
at sportstg.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Justin 1988 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Hungary American expatriate basketball people in New Zealand American expatriate basketball people in Slovakia Bakersfield Jam players Basketball players from Stanislaus County, California BK Inter Bratislava players Canterbury Rams players Guards (basketball) People from San Joaquin County, California Sportspeople from Turlock, California San Jose State Spartans men's basketball players ZTE KK players American men's basketball players