Brandon Clarke
 Clarke with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2020 | |
| No. 15 – Memphis Grizzlies | |
|---|---|
| Position | Power forward |
| League | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | September 19, 1996 Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Nationality | Canadian / American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) |
| Listed weight | 215 lb (98 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Desert Vista (Phoenix, Arizona) |
| College |
|
| NBA draft | 2019 / Round: 1 / Pick: 21st overall |
| Selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder | |
| Playing career | 2019–present |
| Career history | |
| 2019–present | Memphis Grizzlies |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Brandon Clarke (born September 19, 1996) is a Canadian-American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs and San Jose State University Spartans men’s basketball team. He was drafted 21st overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2019 NBA draft and then immediately traded to the Grizzlies. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2020.
Early life and high school career[]
Clarke was born in Vancouver, British Columbia to a Canadian mother and Jamaican father. At age three, Clarke moved with his family to the U.S. city of Phoenix, Arizona; he is now a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S.[1][2] He attended Desert Vista High School in Phoenix.[3] He was named All-Arizona Division 1 honoree by the Arizona Republic after leading Desert Vista to the championship game in 2015.[4]
College career[]
He played two seasons for the San Jose State Spartans. As a freshman he was named Mountain West Six Man of the Year by the league's head coaches after putting up 10.1 points and 7.3 rebounds in conference play.
As a sophomore, he averaged 17.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.6 blocks, and 2.3 assists on route to being named All-Mountain West First Team and Mountain West All-Defensive Team. After the season he decided to transfer to Gonzaga, where he redshirted the 2017-18 season.[5]
In his junior season at Gonzaga, Clarke continued onward with his improvements to be named the West Coast Conference's Newcomer of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and be named a member of the All-WCC First Team. Clarke was the first player in WCC history to win both their Newcomer of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors in the same season.[6] He was also named to the All-American Third Team by the Sporting News. On March 23, 2019, Clarke recorded a career-high 36 points alongside 8 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 3 assists in a 83–71 win over #9 seeded Baylor. He became the third player in NCAA Tournament history to record a game of 35+ points alongside 5 blocks, joining Shaquille O'Neal and David Robinson as the only players to do so.[7] Clarke also broke a team record in points scored in an NCAA Tournament game, breaking a record previously set by Adam Morrison.[8]
Professional career[]
Memphis Grizzlies (2019–present)[]
Clarke was selected in the first round of the 2019 NBA draft with the 21st overall pick. On July 7, 2019, the Memphis Grizzlies announced that they had officially acquired the right to Clarke from the Oklahoma City Thunder for draft right to Darius Bazley and a future second round draft pick and signed Clarke to a two-year contract worth $5,081,760.[9] With four double-doubles, he was named the most valuable player (MVP) of the 2019 NBA Summer League, becoming the second non-American to win the award. He had 15 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks in the championship game to lead Memphis to the league championship, and earned game MVP honors as well, becoming the first non-American to win championship MVP and the first player in Summer League history to win both honors.[10] On October 23, 2019, Clarke made his debut in NBA, coming off from bench in a 101–120 loss to the Miami Heat with eight points, seven rebounds, an assist and a block.[11] On February 25, 2020, it was announced that Clarke would be sidelined because of a right quadricep injury.[12] On September 15, 2020, Clarke was named to the 2019–20 NBA All-Rookie First Team by the NBA.[13]
On December 16, 2020, the Memphis Grizzlies announced that they had exercised their team option on Clarke.[14]
On October 16, 2021, the Grizzlies exercised their team option on Clarke for the 2022-23 season.[15]
Career statistics[]
| 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 |
NBA[]
Regular season[]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–20 | Memphis | 58 | 4 | 22.4 | .618 | .359 | .759 | 5.9 | 1.4 | .6 | .8 | 12.1 |
| 2020–21 | Memphis | 59 | 16 | 24.0 | .517 | .260 | .690 | 5.6 | 1.6 | 1.0 | .9 | 10.3 |
| Career | 117 | 20 | 23.2 | .567 | .305 | .724 | 5.8 | 1.5 | .8 | .8 | 11.2 | |
Playoffs[]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Memphis | 2 | 0 | 4.5 | .500 | .000 | .000 | .5 | .0 | .0 | .5 | 1.0 |
| Career | 2 | 0 | 4.5 | .500 | .000 | .000 | .5 | .0 | .0 | .5 | 1.0 | |
College[]
| * | Led NCAA Division I |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–16 | San Jose State | 31 | 3 | 23.5 | .634 | .167 | .561 | 5.6 | 1.5 | .7 | 1.2 | 8.8 |
| 2016–17 | San Jose State | 30 | 30 | 31.9 | .592 | .333 | .572 | 8.7 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 17.3 |
| 2017–18 | Gonzaga |  Redshirt | ||||||||||
| 2018–19 | Gonzaga | 37 | 36 | 28.1 | .687* | .267 | .694 | 8.6 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 16.9 |
| Career | 98 | 69 | 27.8 | .639 | .250 | .618 | 7.7 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 14.5 | |
References[]
- ^ Crumpacker, John (December 14, 2018). "Brandon Clarke Bolstering Bulldogs". West Coast Conference. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
- ^ Gay, Carlan (July 16, 2019). "NBA Draft 2019: The world may not have known it, but Brandon Clarke has always been a proud Canadian". NBA.com. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
- ^ Prehm, Matt (August 24, 2017). "Oregon makes final three for big-time basketball transfer". 247Sports. Retrieved September 27, 2018.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "SJSUSpartans.com - Brandon Clarke Bio - San Jose State University Official Athletic Site Men's Basketball". SJSUSpartans.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
- ^ "Brandon Clarke -2017-18 Men's Basketball Roster - Gonzaga University". GoZags. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
- ^ "WCC Announces 2018-19 Men's Basketball All-Conference Team" (Press release). West Coast Conference. March 5, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
- ^ Faraudo, Jeff [@JeffFaraudo] (March 23, 2019). "Nice company: Brandon Clarke 1 of 3 players with 35 points and 5 blocked shots in an NCAA tournament game. The others: Shaquille O'Neal and David Robinson" (Tweet). Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2021 – via Twitter.
- ^ NCAA March Madness [@marchmadness] (March 23, 2019). "Brandon Clarke was UNSTOPPABLE! The junior set the Gonzaga record for most points in an NCAA Tournament game!