Jason Kapono

Jason Kapono

Kapono with the Miami Heat in February 2007
Personal information
Born (1981-02-04) February 4, 1981
Long Beach, California
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school Artesia (Lakewood, California)
College UCLA (1999–2003)
NBA draft 2003 / Round: 2 / Pick: 31st overall
Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers
Playing career 2003–2013
Position Small forward
Number 24, 72, 28
Career history
2003–2004 Cleveland Cavaliers
2004–2005 Charlotte Bobcats
2005–2007 Miami Heat
2007–2009 Toronto Raptors
2009–2011 Philadelphia 76ers
2011–2012 Los Angeles Lakers
2012–2013 Panathinaikos
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
FIBA U21 World Championship
2001 Saitama Team competition

Jason Alan Kapono (born February 4, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He is one of only two players in NBA history to have led the league in three-point field goal percentage in two consecutive seasons (the other being Kyle Korver), and he also won the Three-Point Shootout twice, and the only defending champion to had won for two franchises.

Kapono played college basketball at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He was the first player in the school's history to earn First Team All-Pac-10 honors for four years and was also the first UCLA player to lead the team in scoring four straight years. Kapono began his NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who drafted him in the second round of the 2003 NBA Draft. He later played for the Charlotte Bobcats, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA before joining Panathinaikos B.C. in Greece.

Early life

Kapono was born in Long Beach, California to Joe and Joni Kapono. Jason prepped at Southern California basketball powerhouse Artesia High School in Lakewood, California, where he was a McDonald's All-American and won several accolades and titles.[1] After a successful high school career, he enjoyed an outstanding college career at UCLA, where he finished as the third all-time leading scorer with 2,095 points, was the first Bruin to earn First Team All-Pac-10 honors all four years, and was the only UCLA player to lead the school in scoring four straight years.[2] He also set a school record for most three-pointers made in a game when he connected on 9 of 11 attempts against Washington State on January 4, 2003.[lower-alpha 1] Kapono graduated with a degree in history. He was a second-round draft choice of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft.[4]

Professional career

Kapono only played 41 games and started 3 in his first NBA season, although he led the team in three-point field goal percent at 47.7%. After his rookie season with Cleveland, he was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2004 expansion draft, where he increased his scoring average from 3.5 to 8.5 points per game. He also made the first block in Bobcats history. Later, he was signed as a free agent by the Miami Heat where he was part of the 2005–06 NBA championship team.

In the 2006–07 season, Kapono's points-per-game average and minutes played significantly increased, and he led the league in three-point percentage with .514, which is close to the all-time single-season three-point percentage record held by Kyle Korver (.536), and is the fourth best percentage in league season history. Kapono also won the Three-Point Shootout in the 2007 All-Star Weekend three-point shoot-out competition by defeating Dirk Nowitzki and Gilbert Arenas in the final round with a score of 24 points which tied Mark Price's record for most points in a final round of the three-point contest.

Kapono repeated the feat in 2008, having led the league in three-point percentage going into the All-Star weekend. In the final round of the contest, he scored 25 points, tying the all-time single round record set in 1986 and also setting a new finals record.[5] On December 14, 2007, he had a career-high 29 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. He also ended the 2007–08 season as the top three-point shooter in the league.[6] He was the first player in NBA history to have the highest three-point percentage in two consecutive seasons.[7] Kapono was later picked for the USA Basketball Select Team which trained with USA Men's Senior National Team in Las Vegas to assist in the buildup to the 2008 Summer Olympics.

On June 9, 2009, Kapono was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Reggie Evans.[8] The Sixers were victims of several starting lineup changes throughout the season. Kapono started the season with sparing minutes off the bench, but was later given the starting SF spot, near the end of the season. However, after losing his starting spot two games into the following season, Kapono was back to coming off the bench for sparing minutes. After the 2010-2011 NBA season came to an end, Kapono's contract with the 76ers expired and he became a free agent.[9]

On December 9, 2011, Kapono signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.[10]

On March 15, 2012, Kapono was traded along with Luke Walton and a 2012 first-round draft choice to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ramon Sessions and Christian Eyenga.[11] He was then waived by the Cavaliers on March 17.[12]

On November 15, 2012, he signed with Panathinaikos Athens, of the Euroleague and Greek League.[13] However, his arrival in Greece was delayed until December 11, as he remained in the United States, due to complications with his wife's pregnancy.[14][15] He won the Greek Cup with Panathinaikos in 2013.[16] In March, he decided to leave the team, due to limited playing opportunities.[17]

Kapono reportedly retired in May 2014.[18] However, on October 4, 2014, he signed with the Golden State Warriors.[19] He was later waived by the Warriors on October 24, 2014 after appearing in five preseason games.[20]

NBA record

At one point, Kapono was the most accurate three-point shooter in NBA history. On November 25, 2007, he made his 250th three-point shot, qualifying him for the NBA record in 3-point shooting accuracy. He immediately moved into first place with a .461 ratio of 3-point shots made to shots attempted, moving ahead of Steve Kerr, who had the previous lifetime best at .454. Kapono has since dropped behind Kerr and others.[21]

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
† Denotes season in which Kapono won an NBA championship
Led the league

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003–04 Cleveland 41 3 10.4 .403 .477 .833 1.3 .3 .3 .0 3.5
2004–05 Charlotte 81 14 18.4 .401 .412 .824 2.0 .8 .5 .1 8.5
2005–06† Miami 51 2 13.0 .446 .396 .848 1.4 .7 .1 .1 4.1
2006–07 Miami 67 35 26.4 .494 .514 .892 2.7 1.2 .6 .0 10.9
2007–08 Toronto 81 7 18.9 .488 .483 .860 1.5 .8 .4 .0 7.2
2008–09 Toronto 80 12 22.9 .432 .428 .810 2.0 1.3 .3 .0 8.2
2009–10 Philadelphia 57 12 17.1 .419 .368 .600 1.2 .7 .4 .1 5.7
2010–11 Philadelphia 24 2 4.7 .250 .125 .500 .5 .2 .1 .0 .7
2011–12 L.A. Lakers 27 0 10.0 .382 .296 1.000 .5 .4 .1 .0 2.0
Career 509 87 17.8 .442 .434 .835 1.7 .8 .4 .0 6.7

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2006† Miami 1 0 2.0 .000 .000 .000 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0
2007 Miami 4 1 19.3 .471 .500 1.000 1.3 .5 .5 .0 5.0
2008 Toronto 5 0 30.4 .585 .542 .750 2.6 .8 .4 .0 15.6
Career 10 1 23.1 .557 .536 .833 1.8 .6 .4 .0 9.8

Personal life

Kapono is of Hawaiian and Portuguese descent.[22] On August 28, 2004, he married Ashley Kapono (née Cline) and together they have two children. He has a sister Jillian, his father-in-law Tony Cline played football at the University of Miami and in the NFL for the Oakland Raiders, while his brother-in-law Tony Cline Jr. played football at Stanford University and with the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers.[4]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The record was tied by Bryce Alford when he made 9 of 11 on March 19, 2015.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Player Bio: Jason Kapono". UCLABruins.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2014.
  2. ↑ "UCLA Bruins in the NBA (2011)". UclaBruins.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011.
  3. ↑ "No. 14-seed UAB (20-15) vs. No. 11-seed UCLA (21-13)" (PDF). UCLA Sports Information. March 21, 2015. Archived from the original on March 22, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "2010–11 Sixers Media Guide" (PDF). NBA.com. Philadelphia 76ers. 2010. pp. 71–3. Archived from the original on January 17, 2014.
  5. ↑ McMenamin, Dave, "Kapono Lights Up Saturday Night", nba.com, February 17, 2008, accessed February 18, 2008.
  6. ↑ 2007–08 THREE POINTERS LEADERS: 3-Point FG Percentage, nba.com, accessed August 26, 2008.
  7. ↑ Herring, Chris (December 18, 2012). "Offense? Yes. Defense? Not So Much". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on December 18, 2012.
  8. ↑ Philadelphia 76ers Acquire Forward Jason Kapono From Toronto, nba.com accessed June 15, 2009.
  9. ↑ Smith, Brian (June 21, 2011). "Offseason shopping list: Thunder". FOXSportsSouthwest.com. Retrieved July 7, 2011. Jason Kapono is by far the best shooter in the free agent bunch, making treys at a 44 percent clip during his NBA career.
  10. ↑ Lakers sign Kapono
  11. ↑ "Cavaliers Acquire 2012 First Round Pick, Kapono, Walton and Right To Swap 2013 First Round Picks From Lakers". NBA.com. March 15, 2012. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Cavaliers Announce Player Transactions". NBA.com. March 17, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  13. ↑ "PANATHINAIKOS lands shooter Jason Kapono". euroleague.net. November 15, 2012. Archived from the original on November 15, 2012.
  14. ↑ "Jason Kapono expected to join Panathinaikos next week". sportando.net. November 29, 2012. Archived from the original on November 29, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Kapono: Defense, offense and a smart game". Panathinaikos BS. December 11, 2012. Archived from the original on December 18, 2012.
  16. ↑ "KAPONO, JASON". euroleague.net. Archived from the original on March 7, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Without Kapono". Panathinaikos BC. March 4, 2013. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
  18. ↑ Jason Kapono retires at 33
  19. ↑ Warriors Sign Jason Kapono to Contract
  20. ↑ "Warriors Waive Craft, Kapono, Kilpatrick, Mcadoo and Watt". NBA.com. October 24, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  21. ↑ All Time Leaders: Three Point Field Goal Percentage, nba.com, accessed January 31, 2008.
  22. ↑ "Q&A". UCLABruins.com. Retrieved January 17, 2014. And no I'm not Italian. I have no Italian in me. I have some Hawaiian and Portuguese, but no Italian.
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