MCAP Auto #12 - Ben Gordon
2011-12 Panini Preferred - Silhouettes 09/25
Born in London, England to American parents, Gordon relocated back to the States as an infant. A talented player Gordon was ranked as a top 40 recruit coming out of high school and elected to attend UConn.
Gordon spent 3 years at UConn, improving each year. In his junior and final year he set the Big East Tournament Record with 81 total points and was named the tournaments Most Outstanding Performer. He would also go on to lead the field as the leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament (127 total points) as the Huskies would be named National Champions in 2004. Following this success he nominated for the 2004 NBA Draft.
Gordon, would be selected 3rd in the Draft by the Chicago Bulls, behind Dwight Howard (1st) and college teammate Emeka Okafor (2nd). He helped the Bulls overcome a horrible 3-14 start to finish 4th in the Eastern Conference. In his rookie year, he came off the bench averaging 15.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg and 2.0 apg whilst earning All-Rookie 1st Team honours and well as the Eastern Conference's Rookie of the Month three times. Most impressively he won the NBA's Sixth Man Award, the first rookie ever to do so mainly thanks to him scoring double figures in the last quarter 21 times during the season (2nd in the NBA behind LeBron James with 22). Chicago would go on to lose in their first playoff series post Michael Jordan 4-2 to the Washington Wizards.
Starting only 3 games in his rookie year, Gordon started just over half of Chicago's games in his second season and continued his upward trajectory. In increased minutes he averaged 16.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg and 3 apg, as well as shooting a career best 43.5% from deep including tying the NBA record for most consecutive three pointers made in a game with 9. Chicago once again made the playoffs and once again were bounced in the first round in 6 games, this time to eventual champions, the Miami Heat. Gordon started hot in the playoffs, putting up 35 points in Game 1 but he cooled for the remainder of the series, still managing to average 21 ppg in the process.
The shooting guard made a leap in his third season in the league, putting up 21.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg & 3.6 apg, although turnovers continued to plague him (as they did throughout his career). Gordon managed to score a career high 48 points in a game during this season and the Bulls once again went back to the playoffs. Once again they would meet the Miami Heat, however the result would be different this time as the Bulls swept Miami for their first playoff series win since 1998. Their sweep of the Heat saw them become the first team in NBA history to sweep the defending champs in the first round. Gordon would average over 25 ppg for the series, however this dropped to 17 ppg as they were eliminated by the Pistons in 6 games.
Before the start of the 2007-08 season Gordon turned down a contract extension with the Bulls believing he could make more in free agency. With high expectations after two straight playoff appearances, the Bulls spluttered to a 33-49 record with Gordon putting up 18.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg & 3.0 apg. The franchise then received a gift, winning the NBA Draft lottery with just a 1.7% chance however the news would not be necessarily good for Gordon with questions being raised as to how he would fit in around the score first PG draft pick Derrick Rose. Gordon would also have to settle for a 1 year $6.4m qualifying offer as he was unable to secure the contract he was looking for.
Led by Rose & Gordon the Bulls went on a late run to finish 41-41 and sneak into the playoffs as the 7th seed, matched up against the defending champion Boston Celtics in one of the most memorable first round matchups in recent history. The Bulls pushed the Celtics to 7 games in a series that featured 7 OT periods and 5 games decided by a bucket. Gordon went off for 42 in Game 2 (a game that did not feature OT) and led the Bulls in playoff scoring.
Coming off the back of the series, Gordon signed a 5 year $58m deal with the Detroit Pistons in a 6th man role and his career would never recover. Gordon would average only 13.8 ppg (less than his rookie year) and his three point shooting fell off a cliff. Having previously never shot below 40%, it fell to 32.1% as the Pistons struggled.
His deep shot returned above 40% the following seasons in Detroit but his scoring averages continued to fall to new lows as the Ben Gordon/Charlie Villanueva experiment went badly wrong in the Motor City. After 3 seasons in Detroit, the Pistons traded Gordon with a future 1st round pick to Charlotte for a washed up Corey Maggette.
Gordon came exclusively off the bench for the Bobcats. In his first year in Charlotte he averaged 11.2 ppg, shooting 38.7% from deep, however the following season it fell to 5.2 ppg & 27.6% and he was waived in March after 19 games. The following season the Magic signed Gordon to a 2 year, $9m deal but was waived after 1 season. The Warriors then picked him up but he was once again waived after 2 pre-season games, ending his NBA career.
Overall he averaged 14.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.5apg, 2.1 turnovers pg and a career average of 40.1% from deep.
Sadly Gordon has gone further down hill post-NBA career. Despite finally representing Great Britain in the 2017 EuroBasket qualifiers and also playing in the D League for the Texas Legends his story is since marred with incidents. In June 2017 he was arrested in his Los Angeles apartment after pulling several firearms. Later that year in October, police were called to his business for an altercation with a woman and found the woman in tears and shaking whilst Gordon was spotted holding a boxcutter. Gordon was not arrested but was hospitalised for psychiatric evaluation. The following month Gordon was once again arrested on a felony robbery charge as Gordon allegedly punched his apartment manager, as well as pulling a knife and taking money from him, which Gordon claims was his security deposit. A week previous he was arrested in Manhattan for driving with a forged license plate.
In 2020, Gordon disclosed being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and suffering with his mental health, including a suicide attempt in an article he penned on The Players Tribune entitled
"Where is My Mind?".
Let's hope Ben Gordon continues to work through his issues and the dark times of the recent past, are just that, the past.