DeShawn Stevenson
Encyclopedia
DeShawn Stevenson is an American 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 who last played for the Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...

 of the NBA. Before his NBA career, he originally committed to play at the University of 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...

, but decided to enter the NBA directly from Washington Union High School
Washington Union High School
Washington Union High School is a high school in the rural community of Easton in Fresno County, California. It is one of the city's oldest public high schools, first accredited in 1965. It has a large and diverse population of students from the Fresno metropolitan area. Washington Union is one of...

 in his hometown of Fresno, California
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...

, and was picked by the Utah Jazz
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 with the 23rd selection of the 2000 NBA Draft
2000 NBA Draft
The 2000 NBA Draft was held on June 28, 2000 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Until 2011, it was the last draft held at the home arena of an NBA team; the following and subsequent drafts have all taken place at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. This draft is...

. He is well known for his defense and his athleticism.

Early life

DeShawn Stevenson was born in Fresno, California
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...

 to Genice Popps and Darryl C. Stevenson. A year after DeShawn's birth, Darryl Stevenson was hospitalized for threatening family members, allegedly attacking his brother with a butcher knife. Stevenson's parents never married, although when he was 3, his father signed a court order agreeing he had a duty to support his son. Two months after being released from a Fresno County
Fresno County, California
Fresno County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California, south of Stockton and north of Bakersfield. As of the 2010 census, it is the tenth most populous county in California with a population of 930,450, and the sixth largest in size with an area of . The county...

 mental health facility, Darryl Stevenson held up a gas station with an accomplice who held a knife to a woman's throat. Darryl was found incompetent to stand trial and wound up in Atascadero State Hospital
Atascadero State Hospital
Atascadero State Hospital is located on the central coast of California, in San Luis Obispo County, half-way between Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is an all-male, maximum-security facility, that has patients from all over the state...

. Psychiatrists diagnosed him as a paranoid schizophrenic. He eventually was placed on probation, but arrested again for kidnapping a woman in 1985 and jailed in April 1986. In 1993, when Stevenson was 12, his father Darryl murdered his own mother, Clara, by strangling her. Darryl Stevenson died in Corcoran State Prison of lung cancer at age 36 in 1999. Tattooed on his chest was one word: "DeShawn."

When Stevenson began his high school career, he lived with his godparents so he could establish residency in Easton
Easton, California
Easton is a census-designated place in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 2,083 at the 2010 census, up from 1,966 at the 2000 census...

 and play at the same school that his father had played at. Stevenson played varsity as a freshman and traveled in a summer league. College recruiters came to the farm town to see him play. In his junior year, Stevenson led the Division III team to a state championship. After he committed to play at Kansas, head coach Roy Williams
Roy Williams (coach)
Roy Williams is head coach of the men's basketball team at the University of North Carolina. After averaging nearly an 80% win percentage in 15 seasons at the University of Kansas, he became the eighteenth head coach at North Carolina when he replaced Matt Doherty in 2003...

 called him the "most gifted recruit ever". Stevenson averaged 30.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists a game his senior year. He led the West to a 146–120 win in the McDonald's All-American high school game in March with a game-high 25 points. He also won the slam-dunk crown. Stevenson flirted with skipping college and declaring his eligibility to go pro, a decision that upset his mother. The Jayhawks lost their future star when a surprisingly impressive jump in his SAT score caught the attention of the Educational Testing Service
Educational Testing Service
Educational Testing Service , founded in 1947, is the world's largest private nonprofit educational testing and assessment organization...

, which "red-flagged" it, making him temporarily ineligible to play. Stevenson could have appealed and explained how he had managed to improve his score from 450 as a sophomore to 1,150 as a senior. Instead, he took the SAT a second time and received less than a 650, well below the NCAA minimum of 820.

Utah Jazz

DeShawn Stevenson was picked by the Utah Jazz
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 with the 23rd selection of the 2000 NBA Draft
2000 NBA Draft
The 2000 NBA Draft was held on June 28, 2000 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Until 2011, it was the last draft held at the home arena of an NBA team; the following and subsequent drafts have all taken place at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. This draft is...

.

Stevenson appeared in 222 regular season games during his time with Utah. He averaged 5.9 ppg., 1.9 rpg. and 1.2 apg. in 16.7 minpg. during that time. Stevenson played in five career playoff outings. At 19 years old, he became the youngest player to ever play and start for the Jazz during the 2000–01 season. In 2001, Stevenson finished second in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest
Slam Dunk Contest
The Slam Dunk Contest is an annual National Basketball Association competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. The contest was inaugurated by the American Basketball Association at its All-Star Game in 1976 in Denver, the same year the slam dunk was legalized in the NCAA...

. Later that year, Stevenson pleaded no contest to having sex with a 14 year old girl.

On February 19, 2004, Stevenson and a future second round draft pick were acquired by the Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...

 from the Utah Jazz
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 in exchange for guard–forward Gordan Giricek
Gordan Giricek
Gordan Giriček is a Croatian professional basketball player who is currently playing for Cibona Zagreb. Previously, he played in the NBA for the Memphis Grizzlies, Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Phoenix Suns...

.

Orlando Magic

Stevenson played with the Orlando Magic
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...

 for 2½ seasons. He had his best year during the 2005–06 season when he averaged 11.0 ppg, 2.9 rpg, and 2.0 apg. Stevenson opted out of the third and final year of his contract with Orlando and on August 3, 2006 he signed a two-year minimum contract with the Washington Wizards
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...

.

On the early morning of August 20, 2007, a 31-year-old man, Curtis Ruff, was shot and injured at Stevenson's home, following an argument with women that were invited from Destiny's Club in Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

. Circumstances of the incident remain unclear.

Washington Wizards

On August 5, 2006 Stevenson signed a two-year contract worth the NBA minimum salary. Stevenson then changed agents and agreed to the deal with the Wizards after opting out of his contract with Orlando. Stevenson quickly adjusted to coach Eddie Jordan
Eddie Jordan (basketball)
Edward Montgomery "Eddie" Jordan is a retired American professional basketball player and former coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Wizards and Sacramento Kings in the NBA.-Collegiate and pro career:...

's system, averaging 11.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg, and 2.7 apg in his first season with Washington. During the off-season he began working more on his three-point shot and attempted 483 three-pointers in 2007 as opposed to only 183 in 2006. In July 2007, Stevenson signed a 4-year deal with the Wizards for $15 million.

After Stevenson, with a sore knee, scored a career-high 33 points, including a game winning three-pointer as time expired in a February 25, 2008 victory over the New Orleans Hornets, Wizards coach Eddie Jordan described Stevenson by saying, "He's a warrior, man, a true warrior. His confidence is growing, he's making threes, he's just a true pro. This is a man's league and he is man. In the dictionary next to that word there is a picture of DeShawn Stevenson."

At the start of the 2008–09 season
2008–09 NBA season
The 2008–09 NBA season was the 63rd season of the National Basketball Association . The 1,230-game regular season began on Tuesday, October 28, 2008, and ended on Wednesday, April 15, 2009...

, Stevenson struggled and could not bring his offensive game to the level it was in 2007. As a result Stevenson's minutes dipped slightly with the development of second year shooting guard Nick Young
Nick Young (basketball)
Nick Young is an American professional basketball player with the Washington Wizards of the NBA at both the shooting guard and small forward positions.-High school career:...

 and former Maryland standout Juan Dixon
Juan Dixon
Juan Dixon is an American professional basketball player. Dixon led the University of Maryland Terrapins to their first NCAA championship in 2002 and earned Most Outstanding Player honors at the 2002 Final Four.-Early life:...

.

Dallas Mavericks

On February 13, 2010, Stevenson was traded to the Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...

 along with Caron Butler
Caron Butler
James Caron Butler, widely known as Caron Butler , is an American professional basketball player who most recently played at small forward for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks.-Early life:...

 and Brendan Haywood
Brendan Haywood
Brendan Todd Haywood is an American professional basketball player. The 7' 0", 263-lb. center currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association.-College:...

 for Josh Howard
Josh Howard
Joshua Jay Howard is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the NBA's Washington Wizards. At and , he plays as a small forward.-High school:...

, Drew Gooden
Drew Gooden
Andrew Melvin "Drew" Gooden is an American professional basketball player in the NBA who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks. Gooden is a 6'10", 250 lbs...

, James Singleton
James Singleton (basketball)
James Alexander Singleton is an American professional basketball player who formerly played in the NBA...

 and Quinton Ross
Quinton Ross
Quinton Lenord Ross is an American professional basketball player.-High school and college:Ross led Dallas's Justin F. Kimball High School to the state finals, but they lost in the championship game....

. He is the first player in NBA history to wear the number 92 on his jersey. Stevenson wears number 92 because he wore number 9 in Orlando and number 2 with Utah and Washington. He used his player option and will make $4.15 million during the 2010–11 NBA season
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...

. On June 12, 2011, Stevenson won the NBA Championship when the Mavericks beat the Miami Heat
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...

 105-95 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. In that game, Stevenson made three of five three point shots, resulting in 9 crucial points as Dirk Nowitzki
Dirk Nowitzki
Dirk Werner Nowitzki is a German professional basketball player who plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association...

 struggled with his shooting.

Regular season

|-
| align="left" | 2000–01
| align="left" | Utah
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...


| 40 || 2 || 7.3 || .341 || .083 || .684 || .7 || .5 || .2 || .1 || 2.2
|-
| align="left" | 2001–02
| align="left" | Utah
| 67 || 23 || 16.9 || .385 || .080 || .698 || 2.0 || 1.7 || .4 || .4 || 4.9
|-
| align="left" | 2002–03
| align="left" | Utah
| 61 || 8 || 12.5 || .401 || .333 || .691 || 1.4 || .7 || .4 || .1 || 4.6
|-
| align="left" | 2003–04
| align="left" | Utah
| 54 || 54 || 28.0 || .445 || .233 || .669 || 3.3 || 1.7 || .5 || .3 || 11.4
|-
| align="left" | 2003–04
| align="left" | Orlando
Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...


| 26 || 24 || 35.9 || .404 || .293 || .690 || 4.6 || 2.5 || .9 || .0 || 11.2
|-
| align="left" | 2004–05
| align="left" | Orlando
| 55 || 27 || 19.8 || .408 || .373 || .554 || 1.9 || 1.3 || .3 || .2 || 7.8
|-
| align="left" | 2005–06
| align="left" | Orlando
| 82 || 82 || 32.3 || .460 || .133 || .744 || 2.9 || 2.0 || .7 || .2 || 11.0
|-
| align="left" | 2006–07
| align="left" | Washington
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...


| 82 || 82 || 29.5 || .461 || .404 || .704 || 2.6 || 2.7 || .8 || .2 || 11.2
|-
| align="left" | 2007–08
| align="left" | Washington
| 82 || 82 || 31.3 || .386 || .383 || .797 || 2.9 || 3.1 || .8 || .2 || 11.2
|-
| align="left" | 2008–09
2008–09 NBA season
The 2008–09 NBA season was the 63rd season of the National Basketball Association . The 1,230-game regular season began on Tuesday, October 28, 2008, and ended on Wednesday, April 15, 2009...


| align="left" | Washington
| 32 || 25 || 27.7 || .312 || .271 || .533 || 2.4 || 3.1 || .7 || .1 || 6.6
|-
| 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....


| align="left" | Washington
| 40 || 13 || 15.4 || .282 || .177 || .720 || 1.6 || 1.1 || .3 || .1 || 2.2
|-
| align="left" | 2009-10
| align="left" | Dallas
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...


| 24 || 5 || 11.1 || .283 || .320 || .700 || 1.1 || .5 || .2 || .0 || 2.0
|-
| 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...


| align="left" | Dallas
| 72 || 54 || 16.1 || .388 || .378 || .767 || 1.5 || 1.1 || .3 || .1 || 5.3
|-
| align="left" | Career
| align="left" |
| 717 || 481 || 22.7 || .412 || .343 || .702 || 2.2 || 1.8 || .5 || .2 || 7.7

Playoffs

|-
| align="left" | 2000–01
2001 NBA Playoffs
The 2001 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 2000–01 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers winning their second consecutive championship by defeating the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers...


| align="left" | Utah
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...


| 1 || 0 || 8.0 || .500 || .000 || .000 || 1.0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 2.0
|-
| align="left" | 2002–03
2003 NBA Playoffs
The 2003 NBA playoffs was the postseason of the National Basketball Association's 2002-03 NBA season. This postseason was notable for being the first time all series were conducted in a best-of-7 format. It was also the only time in playoff history that no team was swept in a first-round series....


| align="left" | Utah
| 4 || 0 || 9.3 || .400 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.8 || 1.0 || .2 || .0 || 4.5
|-
| align="left" | 2006–07
2007 NBA Playoffs
The 2007 NBA Playoffs was the postseason to the National Basketball Association's 2006–2007 season.There were four rounds of postseason action, all of them in a best-of-seven format, with teams seeded on a bracket. The team with the better record wasn't necessarily the basis of seeding teams in...


| align="left" | Washington
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...


| 4 || 4 || 30.5 || .196 || .158 || .429 || 2.5 || 1.8 || .5 || .8 || 6.0
|-
| align="left" | 2007–08
2008 NBA Playoffs
The 2008 NBA Playoffs was the postseason for the National Basketball Association's 2007–08 season which ended with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers 4–2....


| align="left" | Washington
| 6 || 6 || 32.7 || .367 || .389 || .889 || 2.2 || 3.0 || 1.0 || .0 || 12.3
|-
| align="left" | 2009–10
2010 NBA Playoffs
The 2010 NBA Playoffs was the postseason for the National Basketball Association's 2009–10 season. The playoffs started on April 17, 2010 with ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, and NBA TV broadcasting the games in the United States...


| align="left" | Dallas
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...


| 2 || 0 || 3.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0
|-
| 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" | Dallas
| 21 || 18 || 15.8 || .349 || .397 || .750 || .9 || .6 || .5 || .1 || 4.5
|-
| align="left" | Career
| align="left" |
| 38 || 28 || 18.4 || .321|| .344 || .781 || 1.3 || 1.1 || .5 || .1 || 5.6

External links

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