Wesley Person

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For his son, the American basketball player, see Wesley Person Jr.

Wesley Person
Personal information
Born (1971-03-28) March 28, 1971 (age 53)
Brantley, Alabama, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High schoolBrantley (Brantley, Alabama)
CollegeAuburn (1990–1994)
NBA draft1994: 1st round, 23rd overall pick
Selected by the Phoenix Suns
Playing career1994–2005
PositionShooting guard
Number11, 1, 7, 10
Career history
1994–1997Phoenix Suns
1997–2002Cleveland Cavaliers
2002–2003Memphis Grizzlies
2003–2004Portland Trail Blazers
2004Atlanta Hawks
2004–2005Miami Heat
2005Denver Nuggets
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points8,192 (11.2 ppg)
Rebounds2,402 (3.3 rpg)
Assists1,234 (1.7 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  United States
FIBA U21 World Championship
Gold medal – first place 1993 Valladolid National team
FIBA U19 World Championship
Gold medal – first place 1991 Edmonton National team

Wesley Lavon Person (born March 28, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After his playing career, Person became a women's basketball assistant coach and then the head men's basketball coach at Enterprise-Ozark Community College.[1] He was fired from the latter position in 2010.[2]

Selected by the Phoenix Suns 23rd overall in the 1994 NBA draft out of Auburn University, Person played for seven teams throughout his career. He played three seasons for the Suns, five for the Cleveland Cavaliers, 82 games over two seasons for the Memphis Grizzlies, 33 games for the Portland Trail Blazers, nine games for the Atlanta Hawks, sixteen games for the Miami Heat and 25 for the Denver Nuggets. Person retired with career averages of 11.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. According to Complex Sports, Person is the 13th greatest three-point shooter of all time. Person was also the only person to set a net on fire, as made popular by the arcade game NBA Jam. [3]

NBA career[edit]

Phoenix Suns (1994–1997)[edit]

On June 29, 1994, the Phoenix Suns drafted Person with the 23rd overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft. Person played his first three seasons in Phoenix, where he averaged 12.2 points per game, 3.4 rebounds per game, and 1.5 assists per game in 240 games. He also had a 45.8% field goal percentage and a 40.7% 3-point percentage. Furthermore, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in his rookie season.[4]

Cleveland Cavaliers (1997–2002)[edit]

On October 1, 1997, Person was involved in a three-team trade in which he was traded with Tony Dumas to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Antonio McDyess was traded to the Suns, and three first-round draft picks were traded to the Denver Nuggets. where he would spend the majority of his career. In his first season with Cleveland, he led the NBA in three-pointers made. In five seasons with the franchise, he averaged 12.0 points per game, 3.6 rebounds per game, and 2.0 assists per game. He had a 46.1% field goal percentage and a 42.2 3-point percentage.[4]

Memphis Grizzlies (2002–2003)[edit]

On June 26, 2002, Person was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for Nick Anderson and Matt Barnes. He would average 11.0 points per game, 2.9 rebounds per game, and 1.7 assists per game in his first season with Memphis. During his second season with the franchise, he averaged 5.2 points per game, 1.1 rebounds per game, and 1.4 assists per game.[4]

Portland Trail Blazers (2003–2004)[edit]

On December 3, 2003, Person was traded, along with a 2004 1st round draft pick (Sergei Monia), to the Portland Trail Blazers for Bonzi Wells. In 33 games for Portland, he would average 6.5 points per game, 2.2 rebounds per game, and 1.2 assists per game.[4]

Atlanta Hawks (2004)[edit]

On February 9, 2004, Person was traded with Rasheed Wallace to the Atlanta Hawks for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Dan Dickau, and Theo Ratliff. His tenure with Atlanta was the shortest stint of his career, as he played only 9 games for the franchise. He averaged 4.4 points per game, 2.8 rebounds per game, and 0.6 assists per game while he was with the team.

Miami Heat (2004–2005)[edit]

On August 11, 2004, Person signed with the Miami Heat as a free agent. In Miami, he would have the lowest points per game average of his career: 3.9. Person also averaged 1.4 rebounds per game and 0.7 assists per game. On March 1, 2005, he was waived by the team.[4]

Denver Nuggets (2005)[edit]

Two days after being waived, Person signed with the Denver Nuggets. His stint with the Nuggets would be his final NBA tenure. During his 25 games with Denver, he averaged 8.1 points per game, 2.4 rebounds per game, and 1.1 assists per game. During those 25 games, Person did not miss a single three pointer, and hit nothing but net 96.5% of those attempts.[4] Person retired at the end of the season.[5]

NBA career statistics[edit]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 *  Led the league

Regular season[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1994–95 Phoenix 78 56 23.1 .484 .436 .792 2.6 1.3 .6 .3 10.4
1995–96 Phoenix 82 47 31.8 .445 .374 .771 3.9 1.7 .7 .3 12.7
1996–97 Phoenix 80 42 29.1 .453 .413 .798 3.7 1.5 1.1 .3 13.5
1997–98 Cleveland 82* 82* 39.0 .460 .430 .776 4.4 2.3 1.6 .6 14.7
1998–99 Cleveland 45 42 29.8 .453 .375 .604 3.2 1.8 .8 .4 11.2
1999–00 Cleveland 79 38 26.0 .428 .424 .792 3.4 1.8 .5 .2 9.2
2000–01 Cleveland 44 22 21.8 .438 .405 .800 3.0 1.5 .6 .3 7.1
2001–02 Cleveland 78 78 35.8 .495 .444 .798 3.8 2.2 1.0 .5 15.1
2002–03 Memphis 66 44 29.4 .456 .433 .814 2.9 1.7 .6 .3 11.0
2003–04 Memphis 16 0 17.8 .308 .256 .750 1.1 1.4 .3 .1 5.2
2003–04 Portland 33 0 18.8 .476 .474 .760 2.2 1.2 .3 .2 6.5
2003–04 Atlanta 9 0 14.7 .333 .421 1.000 2.8 .6 .3 .1 4.4
2004–05 Miami 16 3 12.9 .439 .381 1.000 1.4 .7 .4 .0 3.9
2004–05 Denver 25 0 18.4 .485 .485 .556 2.4 1.1 .5 .2 8.1
Career 733 454 28.3 .457 .418 .778 3.3 1.7 .8 .3 11.2

Playoffs[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1995 Phoenix 10 10 24.7 .410 .378 .917 2.1 1.1 .3 .2 9.6
1996 Phoenix 4 4 45.8 .393 .310 .800 5.8 .8 .8 .3 14.3
1997 Phoenix 5 1 32.6 .472 .424 .778 6.6 1.2 .8 .6 15.6
1998 Cleveland 4 4 34.0 .379 .368 .750 2.3 2.5 .8 .0 8.0
2005 Denver 4 0 13.5 .429 .375 .000 .3 .3 .3 .0 3.8
Career 27 19 29.0 .417 .373 .821 3.2 1.1 .5 .2 10.3

Personal life[edit]

Born in Brantley, Alabama, Person is the younger brother of former NBA player Chuck Person,[1] and his son Wesley, Jr. played college basketball at Troy University[6] and was recently selected by the Maine Red Claws in the 2019 NBA G League Draft.[7] Wesley's nephew, Adrian Person, is a former nationally ranked JUCO basketball player who averaged a national best 31 points per game at Southern Union State Community College in Wadley, Alabama in 1997.[8]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "McMenamin: Person more than just a mentor". ESPN.com. June 12, 2010. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  2. ^ "Enterprise State fires former Auburn star Wesley Person as basketball coach". Al.com. July 29, 2010. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  3. ^ "The 25 Greatest Three-Point Shooters in NBA History". Complex.com. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Wesley Person Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  5. ^ "Wesley Person Player Profile, Denver Nuggets, NBA Stats, NCAA Stats, Game Logs, Bests, Awards". Basketball.realgm.com. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  6. ^ "Wesley Person - Basketball (M)". Troy University Athletics. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
  7. ^ Boston, Evans (October 26, 2019). "2019 NBA G League Draft RED CLAWS DRAFT FOUR, ANNOUNCE TRAINING CAMP ROSTER". NBA.com. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  8. ^ Loren Tate. "Tate: Juco guard real deal, coach says". The News-Gazette. Retrieved December 6, 2021.

External links[edit]

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