D. J. Stephens

For the American football player, see D. J. Stephens (American football).
D. J. Stephens
Budivelnyk
Position Shooting guard / Small forward
League Ukrainian SuperLeague
Personal information
Born (1990-12-19) December 19, 1990
Killeen, Texas
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 188 lb (85 kg)
Career information
High school Harker Heights
(Harker Heights, Texas)
College Memphis (2009–2013)
NBA draft 2013 / Undrafted
Playing career 2013–present
Career history
2013–2014 Ilysiakos
2014 Milwaukee Bucks
2014 Anadolu Efes
2014–2015 Zenit Saint Petersburg
2015–2016 Canton Charge
2016 Iowa Energy
2016–present Budivelnyk
Career highlights and awards
  • C-USA Defensive Player of the Year (2013)
  • Third-team All-C-USA (2013)
  • C-USA All-Defensive Team (2013)

Dalenta Jameral "D. J." Stephens (born December 19, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for Budivelnyk of the Ukrainian SuperLeague. He played college basketball for the University of Memphis, where he played four years for the Tigers basketball team.

College career

Stephens was not a highly regarded recruit out of Harker Heights High School when he was offered a scholarship by Memphis coach Josh Pastner. By his senior year at Memphis, however, he had become a crowd favorite for his spectacular dunking and blocking abilities. In 2011–12, he won the Intersport's Dunks of the Year title for a dunk against Xavier on February 4, 2012.[1] In his senior year at Memphis, Stephens became a starter and earned the Conference USA defensive player of the year award. Stephens earned national attention in the 2013 NCAA tournament after demonstrating his leaping ability against St. Mary's and Michigan State.

In a four-year career at Memphis, Stephens played a total of 129 games while averaging 4.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 13.2 minutes per game.[2]

Professional career

2013–14 season

During the 2013 pre-draft workouts at the NBA Draft Combine, Stephens recorded the highest standing vertical leap (40 inches) and the highest running vertical leap (46 inches) ever recorded by the NBA.[3] He also had the fastest time at the 2013 Combine in the three-quarter court sprint.[4]

After going undrafted in the 2013 NBA draft, Stephens joined the Miami Heat for the Orlando Summer League and the Dallas Mavericks for the Las Vegas Summer League. On August 13, 2013, he signed with Ilysiakos B.C. of Greece for the 2013–14 season.[5] In early March 2014, he left Greece and returned to the United States.[6]

On March 26, 2014, Stephens signed a 10-day contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.[7] On March 29, 2014, he made his NBA debut. In just under 12 minutes of action, he recorded five points and four rebounds in a loss to the Miami Heat.[8] On April 5, 2014, the Bucks did not offer him a second 10-day contract after his first 10-day contract expired.[9] On April 10, 2014, he signed with Anadolu Efes of Turkey for the rest of the 2013–14 season.[10]

2014–15 season

On October 1, 2014, Stephens signed with the New Orleans Pelicans.[11] However, he was later waived by the Pelicans on October 24, 2014.[12] On December 2, 2014, he signed with Zenit Saint Petersburg of Russia for the rest of the season.[13] In 21 league games for Zenit in 2014–15, Stephens averaged 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

2015–16 season

On September 28, 2015, Stephens signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.[14] However, he was later waived by the Cavaliers on October 23 after appearing in four preseason games.[15]

On October 30, 2015, Stephens was acquired by the Canton Charge of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of the Cavaliers.[16] On November 14, he made his debut for Canton in a 106–99 loss to the Maine Red Claws, recording 10 points, six rebounds, one assist, one steal and two blocks in 25 minutes.[17] In 27 games for the Charge, he averaged 8.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 19.8 minutes per game.[18]

On March 5, 2016, Stephens was traded to the Iowa Energy in exchange for a 2016 fifth-round draft pick.[18] The next day he made his debut for Iowa in a 109–104 loss to the Delaware 87ers, recording three points and four rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench.[19] On March 28, he was named NBA Development League Performer of the Week after averaging 24.7 points on 61.4 percent shooting to go with 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals while connecting 11-of-18 three-point attempts in three games from March 21 through March 27.[20]

2016–17 season

On August 8, 2016, Stephens signed with the Memphis Grizzlies,[21] but was waived on October 22 after appearing in five preseason games.[22] On November 21, 2016, he signed with Ukrainian club Budivelnyk for the rest of the season.[23]

NBA career statistics

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

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2013–14 Milwaukee 3 0 5.0 .429 .000 1.000 1.7 .0 .0 .0 2.3
Career 3 0 5.0 .429 .000 1.000 1.7 .0 .0 .0 2.3

Personal life

Stephens is the son of Will Stephens and Dorothea Love. He and his partner, Stacie Payne, have a daughter.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "30 D.J. Stephens". GoTigersGo.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  2. ↑ "D.J. Stephens Stats". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  3. ↑ Busbee, Jay (March 23, 2013). "NBA Draft: DJ Stephens records the highest vertical leap ever measured by the NBA". Yahoo.com. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  4. ↑ "A Closer Look at the Draft Combine". NBA.com. May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Ilysiakos signs rookie DJ Stephens". Sportando.com. August 13, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  6. ↑ "DJ Stephens reportedly leaving Ilysiakos to sign in the NBA". Sportando.com. March 14, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Bucks Sign Free-Agent Guard/Forward D.J. Stephens". NBA.com. March 26, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Notebook: Heat 88, Bucks 67". NBA.com. March 29, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Bucks Won't Sign D.J. Stephens To 2nd 10-Day Contract". realgm.com. April 5, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  10. ↑ "DJ Stephens lands in Istanbul to join Anadolu Efes". Sportando.com. April 10, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Pelicans Add D.J. Stephens to Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. October 1, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Pelicans Request Waivers on Jones and Stephens". NBA.com. October 24, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Zenit St. Petersburg announces DJ Stephens". Sportando.com. December 2, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Cavaliers Announce 2015-16 Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. September 28, 2015. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Cavaliers Waive Four Players". NBA.com. October 23, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
  16. ↑ "D-League Draft on Saturday as Charge finalize training camp roster". CantonRep.com. October 30, 2015. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Red Claws Avoid Canton's Charge". NBA.com. November 14, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  18. 1 2 "Iowa Energy Acquire Former NBA Player D.J. Stephens". OurSportsCentral.com. March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  19. ↑ "Smith Scores 50 To Spark 87ers". NBA.com. March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Iowa's D.J. Stephens Named NBA Development League Performer of the Week". OurSportsCentral.com. March 28, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Grizzlies sign Wayne Selden Jr., D.J. Stephens, Troy Williams and Tony Wroten". NBA.com. August 8, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Grizzlies waive JaKarr Sampson, Wayne Selden Jr. & D.J. Stephens". NBA.com. October 22, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Будивельник подписал Ди Джея Стивенса!". budivelnyk.ua (in Ukrainian). November 21, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
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