 James with theNew York Knicks in 2007 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1975-11-17)November 17, 1975 (age 50) Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
| Listed height | 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) |
| Listed weight | 285 lb (129 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Pentecostal Church of God Christian Academy (Winter Haven, Florida) |
| College | Florida A&M (1995–1998) |
| NBA draft | 1998: 2nd round, 36th overall pick |
| Drafted by | Sacramento Kings |
| Playing career | 1998–2015 |
| Position | Center |
| Number | 53, 33, 13, 31 |
| Career history | |
| 1998 | Harlem Globetrotters |
| 1999 | Sacramento Kings |
| 2000–2001 | KK Budućnost |
| 2001 | ASVEL Villeurbanne |
| 2001–2005 | Seattle SuperSonics |
| 2005–2009 | New York Knicks |
| 2012 | Caciques de Humacao |
| 2015 | Atenienses de Manatí |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 1,540 (4.3 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 1,099 (3.1 rpg) |
| Blocks | 384 (1.1 bpg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Jerome Keith James (born November 17, 1975) is an American former professionalbasketball player. Originally fromTampa, Florida, James playedcollege basketball for theFlorida A&M Rattlers for three seasons and wasthe national leader in blocks per game in the 1997–98 season, his junior year. James declared for the1998 NBA draft after his junior year, and theSacramento Kings selected James in the second round of the draft. Over the course of his career, he has played for the Kings,Seattle SuperSonics andNew York Knicks. He has also played forKK Budućnost Podgorica and theHarlem Globetrotters.
James was born and raised in the neighborhood of Northview HillsTampa, Florida, one of ten children. His father Jessie was a Port Of Tampalongshoreman and his mother Ruth, a Hillsborough County school teacher. After graduating from the Pentecostal Church of God Christian Academy of Winter Haven in 1993, James worked driving delivery trucks for Sunny Florida Dairy and also part-time at a localfeed lot in the Tampa Bay Area and learned the meaning of hard work from his father. A friend of James's mother saw James playing pickup basketball at a community center and called Ron Brown, coach of theFlorida A&M UniversityRattlers basketball team. Brown came and saw James's basketball skills and immediately offered James an athletic scholarship to Florida A&M.[1]
Jamesredshirted the 1994–95 season and played for Florida A&M from 1995 to 1998. In an interview withThe Seattle Times, James said that meetingShaquille O'Neal at anOrlando Magic practice inspired him to pursue a professional basketball career.[1] With Florida A&M, James played 81 games with career averages of 16.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 4.48 blocks, with 49.5% on field goal attempts.[2] In his junior season (1997–98), James led NCAA Division I basketball with 4.63 blocks per game.[2] James was an All-MEAC selection in his sophomore and junior seasons.[2][3] One class short of apre-law degree, James declared for the1998 NBA draft after his junior season.[1]
TheSacramento Kings selected James in the second round as the 36th overall pick in the1998 NBA draft. Due to theNBA lockout, James played for theHarlem Globetrotters in the fall of 1998 in a nine-country tour ofEurope. James joined the Kings once the NBA lockout ended in 1999. Playing 16 games for the Kings as a reserve, James averaged 1.5 points and 1.1 rebounds. James sat out the entire1999–2000 season due to a knee injury.[2] The Kings waived James on October 20, 2000.[4]
For the 2000–01 season, James played 10 games forKK Budućnost of theYUBA League with 12.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and was part of the 2001 league championship team. James later signed withASVEL Basket of the FrenchLNB Pro A.[2] Competing with ASVEL in the LNB playoffs, James averaged 9.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2 blocks.[5]
On September 5, 2001, James returned to the NBA and signed with theSeattle SuperSonics. In the2001–02 season, James played 56 games with 40 starts and averaged 5.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 0.4 steals and scored on 49.1% of field goal attempts.[4] James also led the team in blocks with 86.[2]
James has averaged 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in 358 career games (180 games started). James played well for theSeattle SuperSonics during the2005 NBA playoffs, averaging 12.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 11 games against the Kings andSan Antonio Spurs.
After the 2004–05 season, James signed a 5-year, $30 million free-agent contract with the Knicks on the strength of an outstanding performance in the 2005 playoffs in which he greatly exceeded his regular-season statistics.[6] He arrived at his first training camp out of shape and in his first season he only averaged 3.1 points and 2.1 rebounds in 9 minutes per game. James missed much of the season due to injury and when he was not injured, he frequently played insignificant minutes. James was suspended on January 2, 2006, for not being prepared to practice.[7]
James is often cited as one of many questionable signings by Knicks general managerIsiah Thomas.[8] He is also sometimes cited as an example of the "contract year phenomenon", where an athlete with impending free agency plays at a higher level than he ever has before, only to return to his normal level of play once he signs a new long-term contract.[9] Chris Mannix ofSports Illustrated wrote "James was a chronic underachiever who cashed in on a brief moment of excellence".[10]
In the2007–08 NBA season he played in only two games (January 18 and 21) for a total of five minutes, while earning a salary of $5.8 million.[11] James made his onlyfield goal shot and twofree throws of the season at Washington. He played another 2 games the following season, scoring 6 points, but suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon injury.
On February 19, 2009, James was traded by the Knicks along withTim Thomas andAnthony Roberson to theChicago Bulls in exchange forLarry Hughes. James never played any minutes for the Chicago Bulls due to injury. He was waived by the Bulls shortly before the2010 playoffs.
James returned to professional basketball in 2012, signing with theCaciques de Humacao of the Puerto RicanBSN league on February 28.[12] In 7 games, James made 43% of field goal attempts and averaged 9.1 points and 7.4 rebounds.[13]
James returned to Puerto Rico in 2015, signing withAtenienses de Manatí. He was released by Atenienses on March 18[14] but stuck around with the club for a further three games pending the arrival ofEkene Ibekwe.
| 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 |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998–99 | Sacramento | 16 | 0 | 2.6 | .375 | .000 | .500 | 1.1 | .1 | .1 | .4 | 1.5 |
| 2001–02 | Seattle | 56 | 40 | 16.9 | .491 | .000 | .500 | 4.1 | .4 | .4 | 1.5 | 5.3 |
| 2002–03 | Seattle | 51 | 16 | 15.0 | .478 | .000 | .587 | 4.2 | .5 | .2 | 1.6 | 5.4 |
| 2003–04 | Seattle | 65 | 24 | 15.2 | .498 | .000 | .660 | 3.5 | .5 | .3 | .9 | 5.0 |
| 2004–05 | Seattle | 80 | 80 | 16.6 | .509 | .000 | .723 | 3.0 | .2 | .3 | 1.4 | 4.9 |
| 2005–06 | New York | 45 | 9 | 9.0 | .463 | .000 | .625 | 2.0 | .3 | .1 | .5 | 3.0 |
| 2006–07 | New York | 41 | 11 | 6.7 | .418 | .000 | .556 | 1.6 | .1 | .1 | .4 | 1.9 |
| 2007–08 | New York | 2 | 0 | 2.5 | 1.000 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.5 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 2.0 |
| 2008–09 | New York | 2 | 0 | 5.0 | .375 | .000 | .000 | 1.5 | .0 | .5 | .5 | 3.0 |
| Career | 358 | 180 | 13.3 | .485 | .000 | .617 | 3.1 | .3 | .3 | 1.1 | 4.3 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Sacramento | 1 | 0 | 4.0 | .500 | .000 | .750 | 2.0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 5.0 |
| 2002 | Seattle | 5 | 1 | 14.0 | .391 | .000 | .000 | 2.4 | .8 | .0 | 1.0 | 3.6 |
| 2005 | Seattle | 11 | 11 | 26.8 | .514 | .000 | .767 | 6.8 | .5 | .5 | 1.8 | 12.5 |
| Career | 17 | 12 | 21.7 | .493 | .000 | .722 | 5.2 | .5 | .4 | 1.5 | 9.4 | |
James's son Dallas James played basketball for four seasons atSouth Carolina State from 2020 to 2024, and transferred toIndiana University for the 2024–25 season.[15][16]
· Basketball Reference