Stephen Graham (born June 11, 1982) 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 coach. Graham's twin brother,

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horace ...

, was his college teammate and has also played in the NBA.

High school and college career

Born in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, Graham played competitively at

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

's Brandon High School, and was team captain his senior year in which he averaged 16 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists per game; in that year, he and his brother Joey led Brandon to the state finals. Graham was named to Hillsborough County's All-Conference team his junior year and to the All-State team his senior season. He played in the AAU's Junior Olympics National Game and was named an All-American. He was a member of both

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

's championship AAU Sunshine State Games' team, and Nike's traveling Florida team. He was recruited by South Florida, Richmond, Florida State and Florida. Graham spent his freshman and sophomore

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 ...

seasons (2000–01; 2001–02) with the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

Knights A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

, then transferred to Oklahoma State University for his junior year (2002–03) in which he redshirted. In his first season with the Cowboys in 2003–04, he only twice scored 12 points, his season-high. He averaged a mere 2.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game overall, but he was named first-team Academic All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate 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, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

for his academic achievements. A highlight in his senior season in 2004–05 was leading the Cowboys with 22 points in a 78–75 home loss to Gonzaga on December 28, 2004. For his second and final season for Oklahoma State, he averaged 6.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

Professional career

After playing through his senior year with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, Graham declared for the 2005 NBA draft. However, he was not selected. He played for the

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

in the Las Vegas Summer League, and then for 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 ...

during the 2005 preseason, but was not offered a longer contract by either team. He then joined the CBA, a minor league, signing with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Graham was signed by the

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 ...

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

on December 10, 2005, but was cut on December 29 after playing in six games. After returning to the Skyforce in the interim, he signed a 10-day contract with 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 ...

on January 17, 2006. He played his first game in a Bulls uniform three days later against the Rockets. However, Graham saw limited playing time with the Bulls and his contract was not extended when it expired. On February 6, Graham was signed to a 10-day contract by 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 February 20, he was signed to a second 10-day contract, then for the rest of the season. He spent the first two months of the

2006–07 NBA season The 2006–07 NBA season was the 61st season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The San Antonio Spurs were crowned the champions after sweeping the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. Notable occurrences *The first NBA draft und ...

with the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

, but was waived on January 2, 2007, playing with an old acquaintance, the Skyforce in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

, who were now a part of the D-League. In July 2007, he signed with the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. He signed with the Charlotte Bobcats in September 2009. On September 15, 2010, Graham signed with the

New Jersey Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

. The Nets waived Graham on December 22, 2011, following the lockout. On March 13, 2012, Graham was acquired by the

Fort Wayne Mad Ants The Noblesville Boom are an American professional basketball team based in Noblesville, Indiana that competes in the NBA G League. The Boom are the affiliate team of the NBA's Indiana Pacers and, since 2025, they have played their home games at ...

. On September 30, 2013, Graham signed with the

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

. However, he was waived on October 26. On December 21, 2013, Graham signed with Guaros de Lara. Graham competes for the Ants Alumni in

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-invitation, single-elimination tournament, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States, with the stakes being a cash prize (the most recent tournament in The Basketball Tournam ...

. He was a forward on the 2015 team who made it to the semifinals, falling 87–76 to Team 23.

Coaching career

On October 21, 2015, he was hired by the

to work as an assistant coach. He was announced as a player development coach for the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

for the 2016–17 season. On May 30, 2025, it was announced that Graham and the Nuggets would be parting ways.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

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New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

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Playoffs

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2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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References

External links

*
Luke Winn
on the Graham brothers' career at Oklahoma State
An article concerning the influence of Graham's family on him
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Stephen 1982 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen American men's basketball players Basketball players from Wilmington, Delaware Charlotte Bobcats players Chicago Bulls players Cleveland Cavaliers players Denver Nuggets assistant coaches Fort Wayne Mad Ants coaches Fort Wayne Mad Ants players Guaros de Lara players Houston Rockets players Indiana Pacers players New Jersey Nets players Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball players Portland Trail Blazers players Shooting guards Sioux Falls Skyforce (CBA) players Sioux Falls Skyforce players Small forwards American twins UCF Knights men's basketball players Undrafted NBA players