Tayshaun Prince
Prince with the Detroit Pistons in 2008
Memphis Grizzlies
PositionVice President of Basketball Affairs
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1980-02-28) February 28, 1980
Compton, California, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight212 lb (96 kg)
Career information
High schoolDominguez (Compton, California)
CollegeKentucky (1998–2002)
NBA draft2002: 1st round, 23rd overall pick
Selected by the Detroit Pistons
Playing career2002–2016
PositionSmall forward
Number22, 21, 12
Career history
2002–2013Detroit Pistons
2013–2015Memphis Grizzlies
2015Boston Celtics
2015Detroit Pistons
2015–2016Minnesota Timberwolves
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points11,272 (11.1 ppg)
Rebounds4,332 (4.3 rpg)
Assists2,406 (2.4 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2008 BeijingNational Team
FIBA Americas Championship
Gold medal – first place2007 Las VegasNational Team

Tayshaun Durell Prince (born February 28, 1980)[1] is an American professional basketball executive and former player. The 6-foot-9-inch (2.06 m) small forward graduated from Dominguez High School before playing college basketball for the University of Kentucky. He was drafted 23rd overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2002 NBA draft and went on to win a championship with the team in 2004.

College career

Prince played four seasons (1998 to 2002) for the Kentucky Wildcats, averaging 13.2 points and 5.7 rebounds[2] as the Wildcats posted a 97–39 record[3] and advanced to the NCAA Tournament each year. Prince won SEC Player of the Year in his junior season (2000–2001)[4]—also leading the SEC in free throw percentage (84.3%)[5]—and was named to the Associated Press All-SEC Teams in both his junior and senior years.[6] Kentucky won the SEC Tournament in 1999 and 2001, and Prince was awarded the 2001 tournament's Most Valuable Player award.[6] He was a three-time team MVP with the Wildcats.

Notable individual performances included a 31-point, 11-rebound, four-assist, and four-steal effort in a 79–59 victory over North Carolina. In scoring Kentucky's first fifteen points, Prince made five consecutive three-point shots. Kentucky shooting guard Keith Bogans compared Prince's performance to "the Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan blistering Portland in the 1992 NBA Finals."[7] In an 87–82 victory over Tulsa during the 2002 NCAA Tournament, Prince scored a career-high 41 points (along with nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks) to lead Kentucky to the Sweet 16.[8] He graduated from Kentucky in 2002 with a degree in sociology.[9]

College statistics

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1998–99 Kentucky 371120.2.414.287.6563.81.2.7.65.8
1999–00 Kentucky 323234.0.423.307.7056.01.8.81.313.3
2000–01 Kentucky 343432.9.495.358.8436.52.9.71.116.9
2001–02 Kentucky 323233.3.467.340.7036.31.61.11.317.5
Career13510929.7.457.329.7435.61.9.81.113.1

College awards and honors

Professional career

Detroit Pistons (2002–2013)

Rookie season and championship (2002–2004)

In his rookie season under head coach Rick Carlisle, Prince was not a member of the team's playing rotation and appeared in just 42 of 82 regular-season games. However, in the first round of the 2003 NBA playoffs, Detroit trailed the Orlando Magic three games to one, forcing Carlisle to experiment with a different rotation. Prince was inserted into the lineup and received heavy minutes. He then became the only player in NBA history to score more points in the playoffs than in the regular season (137 in the season, 141 in the playoffs).

The Pistons rallied to win the series, and Prince had a breakout performance during the decisive seventh game, scoring 20 points in 24 minutes.[10] In the second round against the Philadelphia 76ers, Prince continued to see action and made several memorable plays, including a turnaround hook shot during the final seconds of Game 2, forcing an overtime period that the Pistons went on to win.[10]

After the Pistons were swept by the New Jersey Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals, Carlisle was fired and former Sixers coach Larry Brown took over as head coach. Under Brown, Prince became the Pistons' starting small forward and increased his scoring average to 10.3 points per game, up from 3.3 as a rookie.[10] In that 2003–04 season, Prince was also selected to play for the Sophomores (second-year players) in the NBA Rookie Challenge.

In Game 2 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, Prince made a memorable defensive play.[10] In the final minute of the game, Pacers star shooting guard Reggie Miller took an outlet pass after an Indiana steal and sprinted up the right sideline for a seemingly uncontested basket that would have tied the score. Prince pursued from the left sideline. Miller, presumably thinking that Prince could not catch him, attempted a layup. At the last possible moment, Prince soared in from the other side of the basket and swatted the ball away; the ball landed in bounds and was scooped up by Pistons teammate Richard Hamilton, effectively ending the game. The Pistons went on to win the series and, eventually, the NBA championship. When the Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one in the NBA Finals, Prince's tough defense on Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was credited as a key factor in the Pistons' victory, holding Bryant to only 11 points in an 88–68 win in Game 3 of the 2004 NBA Finals.

All-Defensive Team regular (2004–2008)

Prince continued to show improvement in the 2004–05 season, setting career highs in scoring (14.7 points per game), rebounding (5.3 per game), assists (3.0) and blocks (0.9).[10] He was selected for the NBA's NBA All-Defensive Second Team[10] and was a candidate for the NBA Most Improved Player Award, where he came in third[10] behind winner Bobby Simmons of the Los Angeles Clippers and Primož Brezec of the Charlotte Bobcats. Although he and the Pistons made it back to the NBA Finals in 2005, they lost to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games. During the Malice at the Palace brawl, Prince was the only player on either team who did not leave the bench during the entire incident.[11]

Prince's play was rewarded by the Pistons with a five-year contract extension worth $49 million on October 31, 2005.[12]

In the 2005–06 season, Prince played in all 82 regular season games, averaging 14.1 points and 4.2 rebounds a game.[13] In the playoffs, the Pistons were eliminated by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games, following the controversial decision by Flip Saunders to bench Ben Wallace in game 6 entire fourth quarter.[14] In Game 5 of that series, he scored a playoff career-high 29 points to go along with 7 rebounds in a 91–78 win.[15]

In the 2006–07 season, Prince returned similar statistics to his 2004–05 campaign: 14.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game.[13] In the playoffs the Pistons were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games as his point average are 14.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game as his struggle to defend LeBron James.

Prince with the Pistons in April 2008

In the 2007–08 season, Prince played and started in all 82 regular season games, averaging 13.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game.[16] In the playoffs, Prince averaged 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists, but the Pistons were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Boston Celtics in game six as Prince's poor game play in game 6 along with Rasheed Wallace contributed the downfall of the team's demise.[16]

Later years in Detroit (2008–2013)

Prince started the season off strong while averaging nearly 16 points and seven rebounds a game.[17] As the season started to progress Prince's production started to slump and by the end of the season he averaged 14.2 points and 5.8 rebounds.[16] Although his points per game average dropped, he averaged a career high in rebounds per game. Prince's effort helped push the Pistons to the playoffs as they gained the 8th seed with 39 wins.[18] Although the Pistons made the playoffs, they were seeded against the top-seed Cleveland Cavaliers.[19] The Cavaliers swept the Pistons in four games, and Prince's production from the season dropped drastically, as he averaged only 3.8 points and 3.5 rebounds.[20]

Memphis Grizzlies (2013–2015)

Prince with the Grizzlies

On January 30, 2013, Prince and Austin Daye were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-team trade which sent Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi to the Toronto Raptors and José Calderón to the Pistons. The Grizzlies also received Ed Davis.[21] Though Rudy Gay had been the longtime starting small forward in Memphis, Prince appeared to be a better fit with the team, as his style of play complemented the team's "Grit-N-Grind" mantra.[22][23] The Grizzlies finished with their best record in franchise history at 56–26, and their first-ever appearance in the Western Conference Finals.

Despite an injury sustained in pre-season, Prince still managed to start and play 76 games in 2013–14, averaging 6.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game—the second-lowest stat line of his career behind his rookie season. His 29% from the three-point line was also a career low.[24]

Boston Celtics (2015)

On January 12, 2015, Prince was traded to the Boston Celtics in a three-team deal involving the Grizzlies and the New Orleans Pelicans.[25] On January 26, he made his debut for the Celtics, and in 30 minutes of action off the bench, he recorded 19 points and 5 assists to lead the Celtics to a 99–90 win over the Utah Jazz.[26]

Return to Detroit (2015)

On February 19, 2015, Prince was traded by the Celtics back to the Pistons in exchange for Luigi Datome and Jonas Jerebko.[27]

Minnesota Timberwolves (2015–2016)

On August 20, 2015, Prince signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.[28] He made his debut for the Timberwolves in the team's season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 28, recording 2 points and 2 rebounds in a 112–111 win.[29]

Prince's final NBA game was played on April 11, 2016, in a 105 - 129 loss to the Houston Rockets where he recorded 3 assists, 2 rebounds but no points in 13 minutes of playing time.

National team career

On August 20, 2007, Prince was selected to be a part of Team USA that competed at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, a qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympics.[30] With his defensive poise, he contributed in the USA's unbeaten record at the tournament held in Las Vegas, Nevada and earned a spot at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

On June 23, 2008, Prince was selected for the Olympic squad along with eleven others in the hope of fulfilling the ambition of winning their first gold medal since the 2000 Summer Olympics.[31] Team USA went on to do exactly that, going unbeaten in the tournament with Prince coming off the bench and defeating 2006 World Champion Spain in the final, living up to their "Redeem Team" moniker.[32]

Executive career

On August 15, 2017, Prince joined the Memphis Grizzlies as special assistant to general manager.[33] On April 27, 2019, the Grizzlies promoted him to Vice President of Basketball Affairs.[34]

Honors and achievements

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
 †  Won an NBA championship *  Led the league

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2002–03 Detroit 42515.4.449.426.6471.1.6.2.33.3
2003–04† Detroit 828032.9.467.363.7664.82.3.8.810.3
2004–05 Detroit 8282*37.1.487.341.8075.33.0.7.914.7
2005–06 Detroit 82*82*35.3.455.350.7654.22.3.8.514.1
2006–07 Detroit 82*82*36.6.460.386.7685.22.8.6.714.3
2007–08 Detroit 82*82*32.9.448.363.7684.93.3.5.413.2
2008–09 Detroit 82*82*37.3.450.397.7785.83.1.5.614.2
2009–10 Detroit 494934.0.486.370.7145.13.3.7.413.5
2010–11 Detroit 787832.8.473.347.7024.22.8.4.514.1
2011–12 Detroit 636333.1.421.356.7744.52.4.4.512.7
2012–13 Detroit 45*4532.4.444.434.7964.62.5.5.311.7
2012–13 Memphis 37*3631.7.429.366.5954.22.3.7.38.8
2013–14 Memphis 767625.6.407.290.5673.11.6.5.36.0
2014–15 Memphis 26924.2.410.455.8333.21.4.3.27.3
2014–15 Boston 9022.0.559.625.8333.32.0.6.28.4
2014–15 Detroit 23724.8.431.423.6604.21.7.7.37.3
2015–16 Minnesota 774419.0.445.174.6841.91.0.5.22.9
Career 1,01790231.0.455.367.7564.32.4.6.511.1

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2003 Detroit 15325.5.426.292.7633.81.5.5.99.4
2004† Detroit 232334.6.410.265.7456.02.31.11.39.9
2005 Detroit 252540.9.433.367.8006.33.31.0.413.4
2006 Detroit 181841.4.459.457.8295.73.0.7.816.4
2007 Detroit 161641.6.415.409.7596.43.8.9.314.1
2008 Detroit 171739.5.481.320.7945.53.2.8.513.8
2009 Detroit 4432.3.259.200.0003.51.3.3.03.8
2013 Memphis 151530.3.355.263.6093.81.9.5.37.0
2014 Memphis 7616.1.385.250.0001.4.9.1.03.0
Career 14012735.6.427.343.7745.22.6.8.611.4

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Tayshaun Prince Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
  2. ↑ Tayshaun Prince Past Stats, Playoff Stats, Statistics, History, and Awards Archived February 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Databasebasketball.com. Retrieved February 18, 2007.
  3. ↑ Layout 1 Archived August 26, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "SEC coaches tab Kentucky guard player of year". CNN.
  5. ↑ http://www.secsports.com/doc_lib/bkc_through_the_years.pdf
  6. 1 2 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 21, 2007. Retrieved November 9, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ↑ Scout.com: Prince reigns as Cats crush Carolina Archived November 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ Scout.com: Prince reigns as Kentucky tops Tulsa Archived November 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ "Tayshaun Prince bio". NBA. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved January 11, 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Tayshaun Prince Info Page - Bio Archived December 1, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, NBA.com. Retrieved February 18, 2007.
  11. ↑ McCosky, Chris (November 20, 2004). "Pistons-Pacers brawl spills into the stands". USA Today. Archived from the original on April 11, 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  12. ↑ Tony Mejia, "Prince the Pistons' All-Star non-All-Star", CBS sports, February 15, 2006.
  13. 1 2 Tayshaun Prince Info Page - Career Stats and Totals Archived February 16, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, NBA.com. Retrieved February 18, 2007.
  14. ↑ "Sheridan: Ben Ben flips script on Saunders". October 5, 2006. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Miami Heat at Detroit Pistons Box Score, May 31, 2006". Basketball-Reference. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  16. 1 2 3 NBA.com : Tayshaun Prince Info Page
  17. ↑ NBA.com : Tayshaun Prince Bio Page Archived December 1, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ NBA.com - 2009-2010 Conference Regular Season Standings
  19. ↑ NBA.com: PLAYOFFS 2009
  20. ↑ NBA.com : Tayshaun Prince Info Page
  21. ↑ "Grizzlies acquire Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye, Ed Davis and 2013 second round draft pick in three-team deal". NBA.com. January 30, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  22. ↑ Rudy Gay trade analysis: Why Memphis made out like bandits
  23. ↑ The Memphis Grizzlies' Rudy Gay Trade Revisited, a GBB Retrospective
  24. ↑ Tayshaun Price NBA & ABA Stats
  25. ↑ Boston Celtics Complete Three-Team Trade
  26. ↑ Prince helps Celtics edge Jazz 99–90
  27. ↑ "Detroit Pistons Acquire Tayshaun Prince From Boston". NBA.com. February 19, 2015. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  28. ↑ "Timberwolves Sign Tayshaun Prince". NBA.com. August 20, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2015.
  29. ↑ "Wolves edge Lakers 112-111 in first game since Flip's death". NBA.com. October 28, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  30. ↑ USA Men's Team Announced For FIBA Americas Championship Archived January 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  31. ↑ USA Basketball Announces 12-Member 2008 Men's Senior National Team
  32. ↑ US hoops back on top, beats Spain for gold medal
  33. ↑ Tillery, Ronald (August 15, 2017). "Grizzlies hiring Tayshaun Prince for front office job". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved September 12, 2017.
  34. ↑ "Memphis Grizzlies promote Tayshaun Prince to Vice President of Basketball Affairs". Memphis Grizzles. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  35. ↑ Geoghegan, Zack. "Tayshaun Prince selected for Southern California Basketball Hall of Fame". On3+. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
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