Malaki Lamar Branham (born May 12, 2003) 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

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

of the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

(NBA). 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 the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

Early life

Branham was raised in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. Starting in 5th grade, he trained under Jason Dawson in Columbus. He moved to

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

where he attended high school at St. Vincent–St. Mary High School. At St. Vincent-St. Mary, he won two state championships in 2018 and 2021. He was named first team All-Ohio in his junior and senior seasons. As a senior, Branham averaged 21.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game. In his senior season, he was named Ohio Mr. Basketball and made the

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, which was not played due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Branham was a consensus four-star recruit and ranked as the best player in Ohio. On July 22, 2020, Branham committed to playing college basketball for

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

over offers from teams such as

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, Baylor, and

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

College career

Branham started his college career off the bench, but quickly became a regular starter. He scored a career-high 35 points in a 87–79 overtime win against

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

after a nearly month-long COVID pause. In a three-game stretch in February, he scored 22, 27, and 31 points. As a freshman, he averaged 13.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and two assists per game. Branham was named

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

Freshman of the Year as well as Third Team All-Big Ten. On April 1, 2022, Branham declared for the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New ...

while maintaining his college eligibility. He later signed with an

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...

, forgoing his remaining eligibility. He was projected as a potential lottery pick in the draft.

Professional career

San Antonio Spurs (2022–2025)

Branham was selected with the 20th overall pick by the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in the

. Branham joined the Spurs'

2022 NBA Summer League The 2022 NBA Summer League, also branded as the NBA 2K23 Summer League 2022, was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) primarily at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the cam ...

team. In his Summer League debut, Branham scored fifteen points in a 99–90 loss 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 July 8, 2022, Branham signed a rookie-scale contract with the Spurs.

Washington Wizards (2025–present)

On July 9, 2025, Branham was traded to the

Career statistics

NBA

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San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

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, 75 , , 29 , , 21.3 , , .432 , , .347 , , .873 , , 2.0 , , 2.1 , , .4 , , .1 , , 9.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 47 , , 0 , , 9.1 , , .458 , , .405 , , .818 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .2 , , .0 , , 5.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 188 , , 61 , , 19.0 , , .439 , , .336 , , .843 , , 2.0 , , 1.7 , , .4 , , .1 , , 8.5

College

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, 32 , , 31 , , 29.6 , , .498 , , .416 , , .833 , , 3.6 , , 2.0 , , .7 , , .3 , , 13.7

References

External links

*
Ohio State Buckeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Branham, Malaki 2003 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players Austin Spurs players Basketball players from Columbus, Ohio Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players San Antonio Spurs draft picks San Antonio Spurs players Shooting guards