Ben Gordon
From Hoopedia
| Name |
|---|
 |
| Position Shooting Guard |
| League NBA |
| Height 6 ft 3 |
| Weight 200 lbs |
| Team Chicago Bulls |
| Born April 4,1983 in London, England |
| College Connecticut |
| Drafted 3rd overall in 2004 by the Chicago Bulls |
| Pro Career 2004 - |
| Former Teams none |
Benjamin (Ben) Gordon (born April 4, 1983) is a NBA Shooting Guard for the Chicago Bulls. He played shooting guard for the University of Connecticut in college and grew up in Mount Vernon, New York.
Early Life
Ben Gordon was born in London, England to parents from the Caribbean and spent three weeks there before coming to the United States. He grew up in Mount Vernon, New York. Gordon played high school basketball for the Mount Vernon Knights, where he helped lead them to the 2000 New York State Public and Federation Championships. Gordon was an All-State player at Mount Vernon and a top 40 national recruit.
While playing college basketball with Connecticut, Gordon helped lead the Huskies to the 2004 NCAA Division I Men's Championship, along with Emeka Okafor, the second overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft. Gordon was picked 3rd overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 2004 NBA Draft and in the current 2006-07 season is leading the team in scoring.
In Gordon's hometown of Mount Vernon, there is an annual "Ben Gordon Day In The Park", which is sponsored by the city and the Mount Vernon Boys & Girls Club. Gordon hosts a basketball camp run by "Five Star Camp". Throughout his college and NBA career, Gordon has been given many nicknames including "Gentle Ben," "Madison Square Gordon" and "Air Gordon". Gordon also has an energy drink called "BG7", so named after his initials and number on his jersey.
Professional Career
Before the 2004 NBA Draft, Gordon thought that he would be drafted anywhere from 7th to 12th, but as the draft got closer he claimed to have an inkling that the Bulls might draft him third as they did Michael Jordan 20 years eariler in the 1984 NBA Draft. "I'm a guy who looks at the significance of numbers a lot. Before the draft, I had no idea I'd get drafted third. I thought I was going to go anywhere from 7th to 12th. As we started getting closer and I started to get an inkling that the Bulls could be a team that I could end up playing for, I started to look at the numbers. On draft night, people were saying 20 years ago this day, Michael Jordan was drafted by the Bulls and he was the third pick just like you. This has led to his nickname "Air Gordon." Gordon wore the number 4 on his jersey in high school and college, but has to wear the number 7 with the Bulls due to the number 4 being retired. "I wore No. 4 my whole career but, of course, Jerry Sloan already had that number beforehand (it has been since retired by the organization) so there wasn't much I could do about it. So all I did was just [put together] being the third pick with my old No. 4. That's why I wear No. 7."
In the 2004-05 season (Gordon's rookie year), Gordon showed a knack for coming through in the clutch, as he finished with the second most double-digit fourth quarter point performances in the NBA with 21 (just behind LeBron James's 22). He averaged 15.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game while only playing 24.2 minutes per game. Gordon helped lead the Bulls to their first playoff appearance since the Jordan era ended in 1998, he is sometimes called "Mr. 4th Quarter" due to his performances in the final period of play. After the 2004-05 NBA season he became the first rookie in NBA history to be awarded the NBA Sixth Man Award. Gordon was also the NBA's Eastern Conference Rookie of The Month three times (January, February, and March). Gordon was also voted onto the NBA "Got Milk All-Rookie Team."
Gordon had turnover problems (4.46 per 48 minutes; 6th in the league in 2004-05) and a lack of stamina: "More than anything, I just want to come back [in the fall] in better shape". "A lot of this game is about conditioning and how long you can give your best performance.". In his second season Gordon alternated between starting and coming off the bench for the bulls starting 47 games while coming off the bench for 35. It should be noted, that it was during the middle, and latter parts of the season that he earned his spot in the starting lineup. Gordon increased his minutes played per game and his scoring and assist averages. Gordon was selected to play for the Sophomore team in the Rookie Challenge held during the NBA All-Star Weekend, in which he scored 17 points in the game.
On April 14, 2006 in a Bulls win over the Washington Wizards, Gordon made nine consecutive three-pointers, tying the NBA record for consecutive threes in a game without a miss. Near the end of his second season in the NBA, Gordon revealed that he is in the process of making an energy drink called "BG7", named after his initials and jersey number. Gordon unveiled the drink at One Sixty Blue, a restaurant co-owned by Michael Jordan. The drink is made with white tea, which has a very high amount of antioxidants, and the most polyphenols of any tea.
Over the span of two weeks, Gordon scored at least 40 points in a game on two occasions. He later had a 48-point game on March 4, 2007, en route to a 126-121 overtime victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
