A. J. Price
Encyclopedia
Anthony Jordan "A.J." Price (born October 07, 1986), is an American
professional basketball
player at point guard
for the Indiana Pacers
of the NBA
. He was born in Orange, New Jersey
and raised in East Massapequa, New York
. He is also the son of former NBA player Tony Price
.
, where he led the Warriors to three straight Long Island Championships and state titles in his sophomore and junior seasons. As a junior (2003) he averaged 25.4 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. His numbers continued to increase as a senior; he averaged 28.5 points and eight rebounds. He finished his three-year career with 130 career three-pointers and 1,394 career points. He was a two-time Newsday Suffolk County Player of the Year.
over Florida State
, Kansas
and St. John's. He missed his freshman (2004-2005) season after a life-threatening battle with AVM
, which caused bleeding in his brain. He underwent radio-surgery treatment in February 2005 and spent more than 14 months recovering from his illness. It was not until May 2006 that he received clearance from his doctors to return to the court.
However, Price was suspended by the university for the 2005-06 academic semester due to violations of the University Student Code of Conduct. He was arrested, along with fellow basketball player Marcus Williams in August 2005 on charges of trying to sell stolen laptops. Price was not permitted to take classes during the Fall 2005 semester, but returned to classes in the Spring 2006 semester.
He returned to the court for the 2006-2007 season as a sophomore. He appeared in all 31 games, starting at point guard in 23 contests. For the season he averaged 9.4 points per game with 113 assists and 37 steals to his credit in 23.9 minutes per game. In the 2007-2008 season, A.J. started all 33 games at point guard and was UConn's second leading scorer. He won many awards and was named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's All-America Team. He was also a unanimous selection to the First Team All-BIG EAST squad and selected as USBWA District Player of the Year and member of All-District First Team, named a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award, and was chosen as one of ten finalists for the USBWA Player of the Year Award, the Oscar Robertson Trophy and named to the NABC All-District 1 First Team. In the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament against San Diego A.J. played nine minutes before tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament
. The team would go on to lose the game by one point in overtime.
The next season 2008-2009 was the best season for A.J. Coming off the ACL injury he was the Huskies leading scorer with 14.7 points a game and was critical in their run to the final four. In a game vs. Gonzaga he hit a falling down three-pointer to force the game into overtime. In the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
he was named the most outstanding player in the West Region, but the Huskies fell in the semi-finals to the Michigan State Spartans. He was a liberal arts major at Connecticut.
at number 52 overall by the Indiana Pacers
on June 25, 2009.
Midway through the 2009-2010 season, Price, along with Earl Watson
, moved ahead of T.J. Ford on the team's depth chart. In December, Watson became the starter and Price became the primary backup point guard.
| style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10
| style="text-align:left;"| Indiana
| 56 || 2 || 15.4 || .410 || .345 || .800 || 1.6 || 1.9 || .6 || .0 || 7.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11
| style="text-align:left;"| Indiana
| 50 || 0 || 15.9 || .356 || .275 || .667 || 1.4 || 2.2|| .6 || .0 || 6.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| Career
| style="text-align:left;"|
| 106 || 2 || 15.7 || .384 || .313 || .731 || 1.5 || 2.0 || .6 || .0 || 6.9
| align="left" | 2010–11
| align="left" | Indiana
| 5 || 0 || 16.0 || .371 || .438 || .900 || 1.4 || 1.2 || .6 || .0 || 8.4
|-
| align="left" | Career
| align="left" |
| 5 || 0 || 16.0 || .371 || .438 || .900 || 1.4 || 1.2 || .6 || .0 || 8.4
, helping the team advance to the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
and eventually into the Final Four. Tony was the top scorer of the tournament with 142 points and earned a spot on the 1979 East Regional All-Tournament Team.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player at point guard
Point guard
Point guard , also called the play maker or "the ball-handler", is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position – essentially, he is expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that...
for the Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
of the NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
. He was born in Orange, New Jersey
Orange, New Jersey
The City of Orange is a city and township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 30,134...
and raised in East Massapequa, New York
East Massapequa, New York
East Massapequa is a hamlet located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 19,069 at the 2010 census.The hamlet lies in New York's 3rd congressional district...
. He is also the son of former NBA player Tony Price
Tony Price (basketball)
Anthony "Tony" Price is a former professional basketball player who played in the NBA. Price attended the University of Pennsylvania where he was a standout basketball player. In his senior season, Price won the Ivy League Men's Basketball Player of the Year award after averaging 19.8 points per...
.
High school
Price attended Amityville Memorial High SchoolAmityville Memorial High School
Amityville Memorial High School is a Public High School located in Amityville, New York on the South shore of Long Island. The high school is part of the Amityville Union Free School District, which includes the Village of Amityville and portions of North Amityville and East Massapequa...
, where he led the Warriors to three straight Long Island Championships and state titles in his sophomore and junior seasons. As a junior (2003) he averaged 25.4 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. His numbers continued to increase as a senior; he averaged 28.5 points and eight rebounds. He finished his three-year career with 130 career three-pointers and 1,394 career points. He was a two-time Newsday Suffolk County Player of the Year.
College
Price chose UConnUniversity of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
over Florida State
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
, Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
and St. John's. He missed his freshman (2004-2005) season after a life-threatening battle with AVM
Arteriovenous malformation
Arteriovenous malformation or AVM is an abnormal connection between veins and arteries, usually congenital. This pathology is widely known because of its occurrence in the central nervous system, but can appear in any location. An arteriovenous malformation is a vascular anomaly. It is a...
, which caused bleeding in his brain. He underwent radio-surgery treatment in February 2005 and spent more than 14 months recovering from his illness. It was not until May 2006 that he received clearance from his doctors to return to the court.
However, Price was suspended by the university for the 2005-06 academic semester due to violations of the University Student Code of Conduct. He was arrested, along with fellow basketball player Marcus Williams in August 2005 on charges of trying to sell stolen laptops. Price was not permitted to take classes during the Fall 2005 semester, but returned to classes in the Spring 2006 semester.
He returned to the court for the 2006-2007 season as a sophomore. He appeared in all 31 games, starting at point guard in 23 contests. For the season he averaged 9.4 points per game with 113 assists and 37 steals to his credit in 23.9 minutes per game. In the 2007-2008 season, A.J. started all 33 games at point guard and was UConn's second leading scorer. He won many awards and was named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's All-America Team. He was also a unanimous selection to the First Team All-BIG EAST squad and selected as USBWA District Player of the Year and member of All-District First Team, named a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award, and was chosen as one of ten finalists for the USBWA Player of the Year Award, the Oscar Robertson Trophy and named to the NABC All-District 1 First Team. In the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament against San Diego A.J. played nine minutes before tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament
Anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament is a cruciate ligament which is one of the four major ligaments of the human knee. In the quadruped stifle , based on its anatomical position, it is referred to as the cranial cruciate ligament.The ACL originates from deep within the notch of the distal femur...
. The team would go on to lose the game by one point in overtime.
The next season 2008-2009 was the best season for A.J. Coming off the ACL injury he was the Huskies leading scorer with 14.7 points a game and was critical in their run to the final four. In a game vs. Gonzaga he hit a falling down three-pointer to force the game into overtime. In the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The first and second round games were played at the following sites:First and Second Rounds: Thursday and Saturday, March 19 and 21, 2009-Qualifying teams:-Brackets:Results to date * – Denotes overtime periodAll times in U.S. EDT....
he was named the most outstanding player in the West Region, but the Huskies fell in the semi-finals to the Michigan State Spartans. He was a liberal arts major at Connecticut.
Pro career
A.J. was selected in the second round of the 2009 NBA Draft2009 NBA Draft
The 2009 NBA Draft was held on June 25, 2009, the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur U.S...
at number 52 overall by the Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
on June 25, 2009.
Midway through the 2009-2010 season, Price, along with Earl Watson
Earl Watson
Earl Joseph Watson, Jr. is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association . Watson is a graduate of Washington High School in Kansas City, Kansas...
, moved ahead of T.J. Ford on the team's depth chart. In December, Watson became the starter and Price became the primary backup point guard.
Regular season
|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10
2009–10 NBA season
The 2009–10 NBA season was the 64th season of the National Basketball Association . The 1,230-game regular season began on Tuesday, October 27, 2009, and ended on Wednesday, April 14, 2010....
| style="text-align:left;"| Indiana
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
| 56 || 2 || 15.4 || .410 || .345 || .800 || 1.6 || 1.9 || .6 || .0 || 7.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11
2010–11 NBA season
The 2010–11 NBA season was the 65th season of the National Basketball Association . The 2011 NBA All-Star Game was played on February 20, 2011 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat in six games, 4 games to 2, to win their first NBA title, and...
| style="text-align:left;"| Indiana
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
| 50 || 0 || 15.9 || .356 || .275 || .667 || 1.4 || 2.2|| .6 || .0 || 6.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| Career
| style="text-align:left;"|
| 106 || 2 || 15.7 || .384 || .313 || .731 || 1.5 || 2.0 || .6 || .0 || 6.9
Playoffs
|-| align="left" | 2010–11
2011 NBA Playoffs
The 2011 NBA Playoffs was the postseason for the National Basketball Association's 2010–11 season. Eight teams from each of the league's two conferences qualified for the playoffs, all seeded 1 to 8 in a tournament bracket, with all rounds in a best-of-seven format. The 2011 NBA Playoffs began on...
| align="left" | Indiana
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
| 5 || 0 || 16.0 || .371 || .438 || .900 || 1.4 || 1.2 || .6 || .0 || 8.4
|-
| align="left" | Career
| align="left" |
| 5 || 0 || 16.0 || .371 || .438 || .900 || 1.4 || 1.2 || .6 || .0 || 8.4
Personal life
He is the older of two children born to Tony and Inga Price. His younger sister's name is Raven. His father Tony was a standout basketball performer at the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, helping the team advance to the 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1979 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 40 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 9, 1979, and ended with the championship game on March 26 in Salt Lake City, Utah...
and eventually into the Final Four. Tony was the top scorer of the tournament with 142 points and earned a spot on the 1979 East Regional All-Tournament Team.