Position Shooting guard Name Ben McLemore Salary 3.157 million USD (2015) Listed weight 195 lb (88 kg) Nationality American | Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Height 1.96 m League NBA Role Basketball player | |
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Born February 11, 1993 (age 31)
St. Louis, Missouri ( 1993-02-11 ) High school Oak Hill Academy
(Mouth of Wilson, Virginia)
Christian Life Center
(Humble, Texas) NBA draft 2013 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7th overall Current team Sacramento Kings (#23 / Shooting guard) College Kansas Jayhawks Men's Basketball Similar People DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay, Nik Stauskas, Darren Collison, Nerlens Noel Profiles | ||
He Was Called the Next Ray Allen | What Happened to Ben McLemore's NBA Career?
Ben McLemore III (born February 11, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). McLemore played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks and was known for his athletic ability complemented by his outstanding jump shot. His size, style of play and unique set of abilities had garnered comparisons to NBA sharpshooter Ray Allen. He was the seventh pick in the 2013 NBA draft.
Contents
- He Was Called the Next Ray Allen What Happened to Ben McLemores NBA Career
- Early life
- High school career
- College career
- 201314 season
- 201415 season
- 201516 season
- 201617 season
- Memphis Grizzlies 2017present
- Personal Life
- References
Early life
McLemore was born in Wellston, Missouri to parents Ben McLemore II and Sonya Reid. He is the fourth of five children.
High school career
McLemore played high school basketball at Wellston High School in St. Louis, Missouri for three years, before his school was shut down in 2010. He then attended both Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia and Christian Life Center in Humble, Texas during his senior year of high school.
Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, McLemore was listed as the No. 9 shooting guard and the No. 34 player in the nation in 2011.
College career
After committing to Kansas, McLemore was deemed ineligible to play by the NCAA because he attended multiple high schools, resulting in his transcripts being "a little fuzzy". He was allowed to practice with the team and take part in team activities starting in the second semester of the school year.
At the beginning of his college career, McLemore was considered to be either a late first-round or early second-round prospect. However, during his first season as a redshirt freshman, McLemore averaged 16.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.0 assists, with 50.7% shooting from the field and 86.7% shooting from the foul line, and was named a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award.
After declaring for the 2013 NBA Draft, allegations arose that NBA agent Rodney Blackstock had given thousands of dollars in impermissible benefits to McLemore's AAU coach, Darius Cobb, in exchange for Cobb steering McLemore toward certain financial advisers and NBA agents. Lending credence to Cobb's allegations, McLemore had Blackstock on his guest pass list for at least three Kansas home games that season, and subsequently signed Blackstock as his NBA agent. This set of facts caused the launch of an NCAA investigation to determine whether or not Kansas will have to vacate the basketball games in which McLemore played.
2013–14 season
McLemore was selected with the seventh overall pick by the Sacramento Kings in the 2013 NBA draft. On July 13, 2013, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Kings and joined them for the 2013 NBA Summer League. He was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for November 2013.
In February 2014, McLemore was selected to participate in the 2014 Sprite Slam Dunk contest. In the Kings' final game of the regular season on April 16, McLemore scored a season-high 31 points in a loss to the Phoenix Suns. In his rookie season, he played all 82 games (55 starts), averaging 8.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 26.7 minutes per game.
2014–15 season
In July 2014, McLemore re-joined the Kings for the 2014 NBA Summer League where he helped them win the Summer League championship while averaging 12.6 points in seven games. On October 19, 2014, the Kings exercised their third-year team option on McLemore's rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2015–16 season. On March 11, 2015, he scored a season-high 27 points in a win over the Charlotte Hornets. He started in all 82 regular season games for the Kings in 2014–15 while averaging 12.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 32.6 minutes per game.
2015–16 season
On October 3, 2015, the Kings exercised their fourth-year team option on McLemore's rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2016–17 season. On December 5, he had a season-best game with 19 points and 9 rebounds in a loss to the Houston Rockets. On January 28, 2016, he scored a season-high 26 points in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. On February 1, McLemore missed his first game of his career due to a sprained right wrist, snapping his consecutive games streak at 211, which was the second-longest in the NBA behind Tristan Thompson (335). He later missed 10 games in March with a finger-tip injury.
2016–17 season
On February 10, 2017, McLemore had a season-high 22 points, helped by a career-best six three-pointers, in a 108–107 win over the Atlanta Hawks. On March 29, 2017, he tied a season high with 22 points in a 112–82 loss to the Utah Jazz.
Memphis Grizzlies (2017–present)
On July 7, 2017, McLemore signed a multi-year contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. On August 8, 2017, he was ruled out for approximately 12 weeks after fracturing his right foot in a pickup game.
Personal Life
On July 4, 2015, Wellston Avenue, the street on which McLemore grew up, was renamed Ben McLemore III Place in his honor. In March 2017, McLemore's fianceé gave birth to a daughter, Teagan.