Kahlil Ameer "Kay" Felder Jr. (born March 29, 1995) is an American 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 for the Criollos de Caguas of the

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. T ...

(BSN). Felder, 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 ...

, declared for the

2016 NBA draft The 2016 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2016, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN, and was live streamed for the first time in NBA draft history by The Vertical. National Basketball Association (NBA) ...

at the conclusion of his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

year at

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

, and was drafted in the second round. Felder is the

Horizon League The Horizon League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the league's eleven member schools are located in ...

career assists leader.

High school career

Felder attended

Pershing High School John J. Pershing High School is a four-year public high school in Detroit, Michigan. It is in Conant Gardens in proximity to the residential areas Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

where he was named

Public School League The Detroit Public School League (PSL) is a high school conference based in the city of Detroit, Michigan and is governed by Detroit Public Schools Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is a school district that serves Detroit, D ...

MVP his senior season. His senior year, he finished fourth in

Mr. Basketball of Michigan Each year the Hal Schram Mr. Basketball award is given to the person chosen as the best Secondary education, high school senior boys basketball player in the U.S. state of Michigan. The award is named in honor of the late Hal Schram, a sports wri ...

voting. He was not heavily recruited by high-major colleges and was noticed by Oakland assistant coach

Saddi Washington Saddi Washington (born July 30, 1975) is an American college basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as a men's basketball assistant coach for the Michigan State basketball team. He played college basketball at Western Michigan. ...

. Felder was also recruited by

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...

and

St. Bonaventure Bonaventure ( ; ; ; born Giovanni di Fidanza; 1221 – 15 July 1274) was an Italian Catholic Franciscan bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher. The seventh Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, he also serv ...

. Oakland offered Felder a scholarship when he was a sophomore and he committed prior to his senior season. To show their commitment to him, Oakland did not recruit a

the season before he arrived so Felder knew there would be no competition.

College career

In 2013–14, Felder was named the

Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore in 2014–15, Felder finished second in the

National Collegiate Athletic Association 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. ...

(NCAA) with 7.6 assists per game, two assists behind the leader,

Jalan West Jalan Dominique West (born April 12, 1993) is an American basketball player. He played college basketball at Northwestern State University where he was considered one of the top defenders in the Southland Conference, having been named to three a ...

Northwestern State Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSULA) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Johnson and Alexandria. It is a part of the Un ...

. He was also a finalist for the

Lou Henson Award The Lou Henson Award is an award given annually by Collegeinsider.com to the most outstanding mid-major men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award, established in 2010, is named for esteemed men's college basketball ...

, given to the "Mid-Major Player of the Year".

Junior year (2015–16)

As a junior in 2015–16, Felder was consistently being evaluated as an

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 ...

prospect, with professional scouts having attended Oakland's games. In December, playing against

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, then-No. 1

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

, and then-No. 5

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, Felder averaged 35 points, 7 assists and made 47.9% of his field goals. Oakland led at halftime of each of those games, beating Washington, but losing to Michigan State and Virginia. Felder scored 37 points with nine assists against Michigan State in a 99–93 overtime loss at

The Palace of Auburn Hills The Palace of Auburn Hills, commonly known as the Palace, was a multi-purpose arena located in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Opened in 1988, it was the home of the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Detroit Shock of the ...

. Felder was named a top-five finalist for the

Bob Cousy Award The Bob Cousy Award, sponsored by the College of the Holy Cross, is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate point guard. It is named after six-time National Basketball Assoc ...

, given to the top male point guard in Division I. He was also named the mid-season recipient of the

Lute Olson Award The Lute Olson Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award was established in 2010 and is named for former Arizona Wildcats head coach Lute Olson Robert Luth ...

, given annually to the most outstanding non-freshman men's college basketball player in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

. He was placed on the mid-season watch list for the

Naismith College Player of the Year The Naismith College Player of the Year is "the most prestigious national award presented annually to the men's and women's college basketball players of the year," as chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors. It is named in honor o ...

. Felder won the NCAA Player of the Week award on February 9, 2016. He also won six Horizon League Player of the Week awards during the season, tying the Horizon League record. Despite using only three of his four years of college eligibility, Felder broke the Horizon League career assists mark of 699, which was originally set by Ralph Lee of Xavier in 1986. Felder also set the Oakland school record for consecutive

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

s made, making 46 in a row with his last miss on January 29. Felder was named the Horizon League Player of the Year and earned All-Horizon League First Team honors. On April 5, 2016, Felder declared for the

, forgoing his final year of college eligibility.

College statistics

''Bold italics'' indicates led NCAA Division I

Professional career

Cleveland Cavaliers (2016–2017)

During the 2016 NBA Draft Combine, the Felder tied

Pat Connaughton Patrick Bergin Connaughton ( ; born January 6, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he primarily plays as a shooting guard. Connaughton previously played ...

for the second-highest maximum vertical leap recorded in draft combine history at . Despite his high marks in the draft combine, Felder was still projected to be a late-second-round draft pick, with the risk that he would perhaps not get drafted altogether. Felder was selected by the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

with the 54th overall pick. He was later traded to the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

on draft night, and in July 2016, he joined the Cavaliers for the

2016 NBA Summer League The 2016 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week ...

. On August 6, 2016, he signed a three-year, $2.4 million contract with the Cavaliers. He made his debut for the Cavaliers in their third game of the season on October 29, scoring two points in five minutes off the bench in a 105–99 win over the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

. On December 14, with

Kyrie Irving Kyrie Andrew Irving ( ; , ; born March 23, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named the Rookie of the Year after being selected by the Cleveland Cav ...

resting, Felder scored a season-high 14 in 23 minutes in a 93–85 loss to the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division of the ...

. During his rookie season, he had multiple assignments with the

Canton 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 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, ...

. On October 14, 2017, Felder was traded, along with

Richard Jefferson Richard Allen Jefferson Jr. (born June 21, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played small forward. He played for eight teams in his 17-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jefferson playe ...

, two future second-round draft picks and cash considerations, to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the rights to Sergiy Gladyr and

Dimitrios Agravanis Dimitrios Agravanis (alternate spelling: Dimitris) (; born December 20, 1994) is a Greek professional basketball player for Tindastóll of the Úrvalsdeild karla. He is a tall power forward, who can also play as a center. Early life Agravani ...

. He was immediately waived by the Hawks.

Chicago Bulls (2017)

On October 16, 2017, Felder was claimed off waivers 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 Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

. He was waived by the Bulls on December 19, 2017. He appeared in 14 games for Chicago and averaged 3.9 points, 1.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 9.6 minutes. He also played in three games for the

Windy City Bulls The Windy City Bulls are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, and are affiliated with the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls play their home games at Now Arena, from Chicago. It became the thirte ...

and averaged 17.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists, while shooting 45.2 percent from the field (19-of-42).

Detroit Pistons (2018)

On January 15, 2018, Felder signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

with the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

, thus splitting his time between the Pistons and their

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 ...

affiliate, the

Grand Rapids Drive The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anahe ...

Raptors 905 (2018)

On August 21, 2018, Felder signed with the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

. On October 12, 2018 Felder was waived by the Raptors, just before the start of the regular season. He was then added to the Raptors' G League affiliate, the

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fine Foods ...

. On December 3, 2018, Felder was waived by the Raptors 905 released after his arrest over a charge of domestic violence.

Xinjiang Flying Tigers (2019–2020)

On March 25, 2019, Felder signed with the

Xinjiang Flying Tigers The Xinjiang Flying Tigers () is a professional basketball team based in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, China. The team plays its home games at the Urumqi Olympic Sports Center, which has a capacity for 12,000 spectators. The club joined the Chinese Bas ...

. He was replaced by Ian Clark on January 14, 2020.

Zhejiang Guangsha Lions (2021)

Felder joined the

Zhejiang Guangsha Lions The Zhejiang Guangsha Lions () are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, which plays in the North Division of the Chinese Basketball Association. Guangsha is the name of the club's corporate sponsor, but to prevent con ...

for the 2020–21 season. He averaged 13.1 points, 5.9 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game.

Shanxi Loongs (2021–2023)

In 2021, Felder signed with the

Shanxi Loongs The Shanxi Loongs, also known as Shanxi SDIC Raptors Club or Shanxi Fenjiu Shares are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Taiyuan, Shanxi, which plays in the Northern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). The Shanxi Fen ...

of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Beijing Royal Fighters (2023–2024)

In 2023, Felder joined the

Beijing Royal Fighters The Beijing Royal Fighters () are a Chinese professional men's basketball team which is based in Beijing and plays in the Northern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Beijing BG (known in Chinese as 北京控股) is the club' ...

Nanjing Monkey Kings (2024)

On October 21, 2024, Felder signed with

Nanjing Monkey Kings The Nanjing Monkey Kings () are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Nanjing, Jiangsu, which plays in the Southern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CB ...

of 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 ...

(CBA).

Career statistics

NBA Regular season

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

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, 42 , , 0 , , 9.2 , , .392 , , .318 , , .714 , , 1.0 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , .2 , , 4.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 14 , , 0 , , 9.6 , , .303 , , .222 , , .971 , , 1.0 , , 1.4 , , .2 , , .1 , , 3.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, 2 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .250 , , .000 , , .000 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 1.0 , - ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 58 , , 0 , , 9.2 , , .363 , , .268 , , .754 , , 1.0 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , .1 , , 3.9

CBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" ,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, align="left" ,

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

, 14 , , 4 , , 28.4 , , .408 , , .298 , , .966 , , 4.5 , , 5.9 , , 1.8 , , 0.1 , , 13.1 , - , align="left" , 2021–22 , align="left" ,

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

, 35 , , 34 , , 31.9 , , .444 , , .335 , , .886 , , 6.5 , , 10.0 , , 2.6 , , 0.2 , , 24.7 , - , align="left" ,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, align="left" , Shanxi , 41 , , 35 , , 29.9 , , .457 , , .350 , , .875 , , 1.8 , , 8.7 , , 1.8 , , 0.3 , , 21.4

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 2 , , 0 , , 28.3 , , .444 , , .444 , , .833 , , 5.0 , , 4.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 23.0 , - , align="left" , 2021–22 , align="left" ,

, 5 , , 5 , , 28.2 , , .423 , , .378 , , .815 , , 5.4 , , 10.0 , , 1.5 , , 0.2 , , 23.6 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" , Shanxi , 2 , , 1 , , 29.0 , , .405 , , .200 , , .000 , , 2.5 , , 10.0 , , 1.5 , , 0.5 , , 18.0 Source: ''basketball-stats.de'' (date: March 26, 2022)

Personal life

Felder's father, Kahlil Felder Sr., played basketball at

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

from 1990 to 1992. Felder is the cousin of former NBA player Steve Smith.

References

External links

Kay Felder
at goldengrizzlies.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Felder, Kay 1995 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in China American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks draft picks Basketball players from Detroit Beijing Royal Fighters players Canton Charge players Chicago Bulls players Cleveland Cavaliers players Detroit Pistons players Grand Rapids Drive players Nanjing Monkey Kings players Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's basketball players Point guards Raptors 905 players Pershing High School alumni Shanxi Loongs players Windy City Bulls players Xinjiang Flying Tigers players Zhejiang Lions players