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Antonio Blakeney
Antonio Davon Blakeney (born October 4, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and EuroCup. He played college basketball for the LSU Tigers. He played in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls. Early life and high school careerBlakeney was born in Watertown, New York, to Tequisha Blakeney.[1] He has two brothers, Tyrieke Blakeney and Dontrez Jones.[1][2] Blakeney attended and played basketball for Oak Ridge in Orlando, Florida.[1] In his senior year (2014-15) he averaged 29 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game.[1] He was a 2015 McDonald's All-American, 2015 Slam Magazine All-Americanm Florida's Mr. Basketball, Class 8A Player of the Year, and Orlando Sentinel 2015 all-area Player of the Year.[3][4][1] Blakeney was rated as a 5-star recruit by Rivals, ESPN, and 247 Sports. Rivals had him as the #13 overall recruit, while ESPN had him at #15, and 247 at #16. Both ESPN and 247 ranked him as the #3 SG in the nation.[5][6][7] College careerBlakeney initially gave a verbal commitment to the University of Louisville, but then he changed his mind about 10 days later and decommitted. Blakeney ended up committing to Louisiana State University, (LSU), where he majored in sports administration.[1] At LSU he was featured in 34 games as a freshman, playing alongside Ben Simmons. Behind Simmons and Keith Hornsby, Blakeney was LSU's third-leading scorer in 2015–16, averaging 12.6 points a contest,[8] hitting a team-best 52 three-point shots on the season.[1] The 2016–17 season saw him emerge as LSU's leading scorer, pouring in 17.2 points per contest, while corralling 4.8 rebounds a game and handing out 1.7 assists per outing. Blakeney took home an All-SEC Second Team selection that year.[9] In April 2017, he announced that he would forego the remaining two years of his college eligibility and declared for the 2017 NBA draft.[10] Professional careerChicago Bulls (2017–2019)After going undrafted, Blakeney joined the Chicago Bulls for the 2017 NBA Summer League.[11] Based on his performance there, Blakeney was signed to a two-way contract by the Bulls. Under the terms of the deal, he split time between the Bulls and their G League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls.[12] He made his professional debut with Chicago on October 19 against the Toronto Raptors. On November 21, 2017, Blakeney scored 15 points in 18 minutes off the bench in a 113–105 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.[13] He won the NBA G League Rookie of the Year Award for his time with the Windy City Bulls, with whom he averaged 32.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game, while shooting 86.2% from the free throw line3.[14] On July 19, 2018, Blakeney was signed to an NBA contract by the Bulls.[15] In the season opener on October 18, 2018, Blakeney scored 15 points off the bench in a 127–108 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.[16] In a 107–105 loss to the Indiana Pacers on November 2, 2018, Blakeney scored a career-high 22 points off the bench.[17] On September 9, 2019, Blakeney was released by the Bulls.[18] Jiangsu Dragons (2019–2020)In the 2019–2020 season, Blakeney played in China with the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He averaged 34.8 points (4th in the league), 8.0 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game, while shooting 50.0% from the field. Canton Charge (2021)For the 2020–21 season, Blakeney signed with the Canton Charge of the G League.[19] He averaged 15.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. In early 2021, Blakeney was arrested for armed robbery and bonded out of jail.[20] Al Ahli Club of Manama (2022)On Jan, 2022, Blakeney signed with the Al-Ahli of the Bahraini Premier League. On Jan 28, 2022, he scored game-high 32 points in the 1st round against Al-Najma. Hapoel Be'er Sheva (2022)On March 17, 2022, he signed with Hapoel Be'er Sheva of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.[21] He played four games for the team, in which he averaged 24.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game, while shooting 49.3% from the field.[22] Jiangsu Dragons (2022–2023)In the 2022–23 season, Blakeney played in China with the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He was the scoring leader of the league after averaging 32.1 points per game, and had 7.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, as he shot 82.8% from the free throw line.[23] Nanjing Monkey Kings (2023–2024)Blakeney joined the Nanjing Monkey Kings for the 2023–24 CBA season. On December 29, 2023, he scored 50 points in a 124–99 win over Shanxi Loongs, his fourth 50-point CBA game.[24] He averaged 30.5 points (2nd in the league), 7.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game, while shooting 49.7% from the field, 41.2% from three-point range, and 85.4% from the free throw line.[22] Hapoel Tel Aviv (2024–present)On October 21, 2024, Blakeney signed with the Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and EuroCup.[25] Career statistics
NBARegular season
College
References
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