Antoine Wright
From MavsWiki
 Antoine Wright | |
| Position: | Guard, Forward |
|---|---|
| Height: | 6'7" |
| Weight: | 215 lb |
| Nationality: | American |
| Born: | 2/6/84 |
| Birthplace: | West Covina, California |
| Draft: | 15th overall |
| Drafted By: | New Jersey |
| College: | Texas A&M |
| NBA Career: | 2005-Present |
| Mavs Tenure: | 2008-2009 |
Antoine Wright (born February 6, 1984 in West Covina, California) was acquired by the Dallas Mavericks along with Jason Kidd and Malik Allen on February 19, 2008 in exchange for Devin Harris, Trenton Hassell, Keith Van Horn, Maurice Ager, DeSagana Diop and two first round draft choices
Wright attended Lawrence Academy Prep School in Groton, Massachusetts scoring over 1800 points with 500 rebounds, 350 assists, 200 blocks and 170 steals during his years there.
He earned All-ISL and team MVP honors in 1999-2000 as a sophomore. The following year, he led Lawrence to a 23-2 record and was named MVP of the 2001 playoffs while earning All-ISL and All-Scholastick honors.
As a senior, Wright averaged 26.5 points and again repeated as MVP of the playoffs with All-ISL and All-Scholastic honors. He was named third-team Parade All-American and ranked Number 1 Prep shooting guard by ESPN.com, who also ranked him as the Number 4 overall prospect.
Wright played for the USA Basketball Junior World Championship Qualifying team in 2002 leading the squad to a 4-1 record and earing a Bronze Medal and a berth in the 2003 FIBA Junior World Championships where they lost in the semifinals to Venezuela.
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[edit] College Career
Despite being highly recruited, Wright chose to attend Texas A&M (where coach Melvin Watkins had been the first to show interest in him) and was the consensus Big 12 Freshman Of The Year in 2002-2003, averaging 14.5 points and leading the team in rebounds (6.6 rpg), blocks (0.7 bpg) and steals (1.3 spg).
In his sophomore year, despite the Aggies losing all 16 conference games, Wright was an honorable mention all-Big 12 selection. He led A&M with 13.5 points, including a career-high 32 points against Grambling.
2004-2005 was Wright's breakthrough year under new coach Billy Gillespie as the Aggies advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT Tournament. He became the first-ever Aggie to be named to the Associated Press All-Big 12 First Team, finishing fourth in the league in scoring (17.8 ppg) and leading the league in 3-point field goal percentageat .447. He tied a career-high in points with 32 in a game against Colorado, including 11-for-11 from the free throw line and scored 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting in A&M's NIT loss to St. Josephs's.
[edit] NBA Career
[edit] New Jersey Nets
Declaring for the NBA draft after his junior year, Wright left school as Texas A&M's tenth all-time leading scorer with 1,138 points. He became the first Aggie drafted in the first round since Sonny Parker in 1976 and only the third Aggie drafted in the previous 29 seasons, when the New Jersey Nets took him with the 15th overall pick.
Wright made his NBA debut on November 23, 2005 in a game against the Sacramento Kings. For the year he played in 39 games, averaging 1.8 points in just over 9 minutes a game. He had a season-high 7 points off the bench against Milwaukee on March 7, 2006.
In his second season, he appeared in 63 games for the Nets including 23 starts after Richard Jefferson went down with an ankle injury. He averaged 4.5 points and 2.8 boards for the season in just 18 minutes per game. Wright had his first double-double with 11 points and 11 boards at Seattle on November 20, 2006.
Playing in 56 games his third year in the league, Wright averaged career highs in points (6.2), minutes (22.0) and FT% (.687). He scored a career-high 21 points against the Chicago Bulls on October 31, 2007.
[edit] Dallas Mavericks
On February 9, 2008, Wright was traded, along with Jason Kidd and Malik Allen to Dallas in exchange for Maurice Ager, DeSagana Diop, Devin Harris, Trenton Hassell, Keith Van Horn and two first round draft picks. In 15 games with the Mavs, he averaged 3.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 11.7 minutes per game.
Wright re-signed with the Mavs on July 11 and earned a starting role in training camp as shooting guard sharing the backcourt with Jason Kidd.
He named Grant Hill as his favorite player growing up and says the award that he's most proud of is the "Dare Award" which was given to him after talking with a group of grade schoolers in Ramsey, New Jersey.
