Drew Gordon
Drew Gordon | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 July 1990 San Jose, California, U.S. |
| Died | 30 May 2024 (aged 33) |
| Occupation | Professional basketball player |
| Years active | 2008–2023 |
| Known for | International basketball career; NBA G League; Philadelphia 76ers player |
Drew Edward Gordon (July 12, 1990 – May 30, 2024) was an American professional basketball athlete whose career was predominantly established internationally across European leagues. He also competed in the NBA G League and had a brief tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Gordon began his collegiate basketball journey with the UCLA Bruins before transferring to the New Mexico Lobos during his sophomore year. At New Mexico, he secured several honors while serving as the starting center, anchoring the team's interior play. Additionally, he was the elder sibling of NBA forward Aaron Gordon.
Early life
Born on July 12, 1990, in San Jose, California, Gordon attended Archbishop Mitty High School in his hometown. There, he earned varsity letters all four years and was a three-time first-team selection in the West Catholic Athletic League (WCAL), guiding the Monarchs to three league titles.
In the 2004–05 season, as a freshman, he averaged 9.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 3.0 steals, and 4.5 blocks per game. His performance garnered him CIF Central Coast Section Freshman of the Year honors, along with first-team All-WCAL and second-team All-CCS distinctions.
During his sophomore campaign in 2005–06, Gordon posted averages of 14.7 points, 10.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 2.4 steals, and 3.9 blocks per contest. That season earned him the Cal State Sophomore Player of the Year award as well as selections to All-CIF third team, All-Northern California first team, All-Central Coast Section first team, and first-team All-WCAL.
In his junior year, he improved to averages of 15.1 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.3 steals, and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting an efficient 63.8% from the field and an impressive 50% from beyond the arc. Leading Archbishop Mitty to a 26–9 record and a No. 9 ranking in USA Today’s West Regional polls, Gordon received numerous accolades including San Jose Mercury News Player of the Year (2007), Cal-Hi Sports Athlete of the Year, second-team EA Sports All-American recognition, and first-team All-California State honors.
In his senior year, Gordon averaged 17.5 points and 10.5 rebounds over eleven games before an ankle injury curtailed his season. Despite this setback, he was selected for the prestigious 2008 Jordan Brand Classic and earned first-team Best in the West honors from Long Beach Press-Telegram as well as MVP recognition at the 2007–08 Les Schwab Invitational.
UCLA
On May 7, 2007, Drew Gordon committed to play under coach Ben Howland at UCLA, choosing the Bruins over other elite programs such as North Carolina, Duke, and Arizona. Regarded as a top-tier recruit ranked fifteenth among power forwards by Scout.com and Rivals.com alike, ESPN assigned him a rating of 96 out of 100 and projected him as a valuable bench player in their scouting report for the class of 2007.
Freshman (2008–2009)
During his freshman year at UCLA, Gordon participated in 34 out of 35 games; he missed only the opening round NCAA tournament game due to a concussion. He recorded his initial career double-double with a performance of 14 points and 11 rebounds against Wyoming. Averaging 3.6 points and playing approximately eleven minutes per game without starting any contests, he ranked third on the team for offensive rebounds (45), second for dunks (19), third for blocks (15), and led all teammates with a shooting efficiency of 56.5% from the field (52 made shots on 92 attempts).
Sophomore Year (2009–2010)
Following his freshman campaign, Gordon started in six games for UCLA, posting averages of 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest. Key outings featured 19 points and six boards in a victory over CSU Bakersfield, as well as 18 points alongside nine rebounds against Pepperdine. Nevertheless, during a stretch of five consecutive losses, Gordon and UCLA parted ways by mutual agreement, reportedly due to incompatibility with coach Howland’s system and behavioral concerns related to his temperament.
Junior Season (2010–2011)
Gordon transferred to the University of New Mexico, choosing the Lobos over offers from Notre Dame, San Diego State, and UNLV. He highlighted New Mexico’s style of play and coach Steve Alford’s reputation as decisive factors in his decision. After sitting out nine games in compliance with NCAA transfer regulations, Gordon started the remaining 19 contests, averaging 13.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. He led his team in rebounds on 21 occasions and reached double figures in scoring in 22 games. Standout performances included 23 points with 13 rebounds against #6 San Diego State, 16 points paired with 18 rebounds versus Wyoming, and an impressive 17 points alongside 23 rebounds against Utah. His efforts earned him Mountain West Conference Player of the Week honors twice, along with the distinctions of Mountain West Newcomer of the Year and Second-Team All-Mountain West in 2011.
Senior Year (2011–2012)
Regarded as a prospective NBA draft candidate, Gordon was ranked as the 26th best prospect by DraftExpress.com, projecting him as a late first-round pick. On October 3, 2011, he was included among the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 list as the sole representative from the Mountain West Conference. Bleacher Report identified him as a potential dark horse contender for the Naismith College Player of the Year award. On October 12, Gordon earned selection to the Mountain West Preseason All-Conference Team and was named Preseason Player of the Year. Rivals.com ranked him tenth nationally among power forwards—the highest placement for any player from a mid-major conference—and Ballin' is a Habit placed him ninth among centers nationwide. On November 4, he became one of thirty finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, which honors achievements in community service, academics, character, and athletic performance.
Gordon opened his senior year with consistent double-double performances, recording eight games with double-digit points and rebounds within the first fourteen contests. Noteworthy outings included a game with 13 points and 20 boards against Oklahoma State during the All-College Basketball Classic, earning him Mountain West Player of the Week; another featuring 23 points and 19 rebounds versus New Mexico State; and a strong effort against Saint Louis that secured him a second Mountain West Player of the Week award—the fourth such honor in his collegiate career.
Professional Career
Although projected as a second-round selection, Gordon went undrafted in the 2012 NBA draft. He subsequently joined the Dallas Mavericks for the NBA Summer League that year. On August 20, 2012, he inked a one-year deal with Partizan Belgrade. After parting ways on March 26, 2013, he averaged 9.1 points and 7.5 rebounds across ten Euroleague games during the 2012–13 season. On April 3, 2013, Gordon signed with Italian club Dinamo Sassari, which was eliminated in the playoff quarterfinals by Cantù.
In July 2013, Gordon participated in summer leagues with both the Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings before signing with Turkish team Banvit B.K., where he posted averages of 3.6 points and three rebounds over five Turkish Basketball League appearances. He returned to Dinamo Sassari on December 28, 2013.
Gordon took part in the Philadelphia 76ers’ Summer League roster in 2014 and signed with them on October 7 but was waived later that month. In November, he joined their affiliate team Delaware 87ers before being re-signed by Philadelphia on November 10; he made his NBA debut three days later. After nine games with the Sixers, he was waived on December 5 but then reacquired by Delaware five days afterward.
On August 7, 2015, Gordon agreed to terms with French LNB Pro A club Champagne Châlons-Reims Basket for the upcoming season. Across thirty games there, he averaged a double-double with 14.0 points and 9.6 rebounds per outing along with 1.5 assists; he recorded thirteen double-doubles and led the league with an efficiency rating of 19.5. His strong play earned him "MVP de la quinzième journée" honors in December and selection to the LNB All-Star Game held at Paris’s AccorHotels Arena.
On August 30, 2016, Gordon signed with Lithuanian outfit Lietuvos rytas. Nearly a year later on July 11, 2017, he joined Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg. In October of the following year, he briefly signed with the Brooklyn Nets but was waived shortly after; he then competed for their G League affiliate Long Island Nets.
On September 3, 2019, Gordon committed to Polish side Stelmet Zielona Góra. On June 29, 2020, he transferred to Russian team Avtodor competing in the VTB United League before signing on January 26, 2021 with Lokomotiv Kuban where he posted averages of 13.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and two assists per game.
On August 9, 2021, Gordon joined Ukrainian club Budivelnyk amid ongoing conflict resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The following year in July (2022), he moved to Japan to play for Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka competing within Japan’s B.League.
On July 12, 2023, Gordon officially announced his retirement from professional basketball competition.
Regular season
|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 9 || 0 || 7.9 || .421 || .000 || .500 || 2.0 || 0.2 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 1.9 |- class=sortbottom |colspan=13 style="text-align: left;" | Source:[1]
Euroleague
|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2012–13 | style="text-align:left;"| Partizan | 10 || 9 || 28.8 || .434 || .111 || .621 || 7.5 || 1.5 || 1.1 || 1.1 || 9.1 || 12.8 |- class=sortbottom |colspan=14 style="text-align: left;" | Source:[2]
Regular season
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2014–15
| style="text-align:left;"| Delaware
| 41 || 40 || 32.9 || .533 || .294 || .631 || 10.6 || 1.8 || 1.0 || 0.6 || 13.0
|-
| style="text-align:left;"| 2018–19
| style="text-align:left;"| Long Island
| 35 || 2 || 16.2 || .498 || .156 || .603 || 6.8 || 0.9 || 0.4 || 0.4 || 7.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center" colspan="2"| Career
| 76 || 42 || 25.2 || .521 || .256 || .621 || 8.9 || 1.4 || 0.7 || 0.5 || 10.4
|- class=sortbottom
|scope=row colspan=14 style="text-align: left;" | Source:Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name
LNB Pro A
|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2015–16 | style="text-align:left;"| CCRB | 30 || 30 || 31.0 || .552 || .208 || .727 || 9.6 || 1.5 || 1.3 || 0.5 || 14.0 || 19.5 |- class=sortbottom |scope=row colspan=14 style="text-align: left;" | Source:[2]
College
|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008–09 | style="text-align:left;"| UCLA | 34 || 0 || 10.9|| .565|| .000|| .500||3.4||0.2||0.5||0.4||3.6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| UCLA |6||6||24.5||.569|| .000|| .643||5.3||0.8||0.5||2.0||11.2 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;" | New Mexico |26||19||28.0||.527||.000||.678||10.5||0.6||0.5||1.3||13.0 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 2011–12 | style="text-align:left;" | New Mexico |'35'|'34'|'30.8' |'.542' |'1.000' |'.752' |'11.1' |'1.2' |'1.1' |1.0 |'13.7' |- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center" colspan=2 | Career |101 |59 |23.0 |'.541' |'.500' |'.689' |8.0 |'.7' |'.7' |1.0 |10.0
|- class=sortbottom
|colspan=14 style="text-align: left;" | Source:[1]
Personal life and death
Gordon was a husband and father to three children.
At 33 years old, he passed away on May 30, 2024, in a traffic accident that occurred in an unincorporated region of Clackamas County, Oregon. While operating a Vanderhall Carmel three-wheeled autocycle, he veered across the center line and struck a pickup truck; the individuals in the truck suffered injuries that were not life-threatening. In tribute to his brother after this tragedy, Aaron Gordon switched his jersey number from 50 to 32.