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Nathan Knight

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Nathan Knight
Knight with William & Mary in 2020
No. 2 – Zhejiang Lions
PositionPower forward / center
LeagueCBA
Personal information
Born (1997-09-20) September 20, 1997 (age 27)
Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeWilliam & Mary (2016–2020)
NBA draft2020: undrafted
Playing career2020–present
Career history
2020–2021Atlanta Hawks
2021–2023Minnesota Timberwolves
2021–2022→Iowa Wolves
2023Maine Celtics
2023–2024Motor City Cruise
2024–presentZhejiang Lions
Career highlights and awards
  • Lou Henson Award (2020)
  • CAA Player of the Year (2020)
  • CAA Defensive Player of the Year (2020)
  • 2× First-team All-CAA (2019, 2020)
  • Second-team All-CAA (2018)
  • 3× CAA All-Defensive Team (2018–2020)
  • CAA All-Rookie Team (2017)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Nathan Solomon Kapahukula Knight (born September 20, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Zhejiang Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the William & Mary Tribe.

Early life

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Knight grew up in Syracuse, New York and attended Nottingham High School. As a freshman, he was a pitcher on the baseball team before deciding to focus on basketball after experiencing a growth spurt.[1] As a senior, he averaged 14.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and was named All-Central New York. Knight completed a postgraduate year at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire. In AAU play, he competed for Gym Ratz, coached by Billy Edelin. On October 5, 2015, he committed to William & Mary over offers from Temple, Duquesne, George Mason, and Canisius among others.[2] Knight appreciated the rich history of the college and felt at home on the campus, saying it was an easy decision to make.[1]

College career

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As a true freshman, Knight averaged 8.2 points and 4.4 rebounds per game in 31 games played (six starts).[3] Coach Tony Shaver praised his work ethic for losing 45 pounds before his sophomore season. As a sophomore, he averaged 18.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and two blocks per game and was named second team All-Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).[1] On February 9, 2019, Knight had a career-high 39 points to go with 14 rebounds at Hofstra. He followed that up with 35 points and 13 rebounds against Elon on February 16 and 30 points in a win over College of Charleston on February 21. Knight was named first team All-CAA as a junior after averaging 21 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.3 blocks per game. Knight became the first college basketball player since Tim Duncan at Wake Forest University in 1997 to average 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots per game, and his scoring average was the highest for a Tribe player since 1968. He also had 12 double-doubles. After entering the 2019 NBA draft, Knight withdrew from the draft before the deadline and decided to return to William & Mary for his senior season.[4]

Coming into his senior season, coach Shaver was fired and replaced by Dane Fischer while four players transferred, though Knight decided to stay on the team.[5] During his senior season, Knight put up 30-point games against Buffalo and Oklahoma.[6] On January 4, 2020, Knight hit a last-second shot in a 66–64 win against Northeastern and finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds.[7] On February 8, 2020, Knight passed the 2,000 career point mark by scoring 16 points while also grabbing 13 rebounds. He became the fourth player in program history to reach the milestone.[8] At the conclusion of the regular season, Knight was named CAA Player of the Year and CAA Defensive Player of the Year.[9] He became just the second men's basketball player in CAA history to earn both awards in the same season, joining George Mason's George Evans (1999, 2001).[9] Knight finished the season averaging 20.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, the fourth CAA player to average 20 points and 10 rebounds in a season.[10]

Professional career

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Atlanta Hawks (2020–2021)

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Knight was signed to a two-way contract by the Atlanta Hawks on November 19, 2020.[11] He played 33 games for the Hawks in the 2020–21 season, averaging 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. He did not appear for the Hawks' NBA G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks, as the team sat out the season due to the COVID pandemic.

Minnesota Timberwolves (2021–2023)

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For the 2021–22 season, Knight signed another two-way deal, this time with the Minnesota Timberwolves and their G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves.[12] In his first career NBA start on December 27, 2021, Knight recorded 20 points, 11 rebounds, one steal, and one block in a win against the Boston Celtics.[13] He averaged 3.7 points and 2.3 rebounds in 37 appearances.[14]

On July 23, 2022, Knight re-signed with the Timberwolves,[15] where he went on to average 3.7 points and 1.5 rebounds in 38 appearances.[14]

Maine Celtics (2023)

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On July 21, 2023, Knight signed a two-way contract with the New York Knicks,[16] but was waived on October 19.[17] Three days later, he signed a two-way contract with the Boston Celtics.[18] On December 12, Boston waived Knight.[19] He averaged 8.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks in 22.9 minutes in 12 games with the Maine Celtics.[20]

Motor City Cruise (2023–2024)

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On December 17, 2023, Knight was acquired by the Motor City Cruise after he had returned to Maine.[21]

Zhejiang Lions (2024–present)

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On August 3, 2024, Knight signed with the Zhejiang Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association.[22]

Career statistics

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Legend
  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

NBA

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Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2020–21 Atlanta 33 0 8.5 .370 .182 .800 2.2 .2 .3 .3 3.8
2021–22 Minnesota 37 2 7.2 .511 .308 .733 2.3 .6 .2 .2 3.7
2022–23 Minnesota 38 0 7.7 .568 .364 .684 1.5 .3 .3 .2 3.7
Career 108 2 7.8 .476 .265 .738 2.0 .4 .2 .2 3.7

Play-in

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2023 Minnesota 2 0 3.1 .000 .000 – 1.5 .5 .5 .0 .0
Career 2 0 3.1 .000 .000 – 1.5 .5 .5 .0 .0

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2021 Atlanta 6 0 2.3 .286 .000 .000 1.0 .0 .0 .3 .7
2023 Minnesota 2 0 2.4 .250 .000 – .5 .0 .0 .0 1.0
Career 8 0 2.3 .273 .000 .000 .9 .0 .0 .3 .8

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17 William & Mary 31 6 17.2 .578 .167 .594 4.4 1.1 .4 1.3 8.2
2017–18 William & Mary 31 30 28.7 .575 .306 .769 7.3 2.2 .6 2.0 18.5
2018–19 William & Mary 31 30 30.6 .578 .244 .732 8.6 3.5 .4 2.3 21.0
2019–20 William & Mary 32 32 29.6 .524 .305 .773 10.5 1.8 .8 1.5 20.7
Career 125 98 26.6 .560 .283 .736 7.7 2.1 .5 1.8 17.1

Personal life

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Knight is the youngest of four children.[23] In December 2008, Knight's 18-year-old sister Yeisha Howard was stabbed to death in Syracuse. According to the prosecutor, it was part of a longstanding feud, and the perpetrator of the attack was sentenced to seven years in prison.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Doyle, Brendan (November 6, 2018). "For Nathan Knight, hard work pays off". The Flat Hat. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  2. ^ Waters, Mike (October 8, 2015). "Former Nottingham High School player Nate Knight announces college choice". The Post-Standard. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  3. ^ Tan, Victor (November 17, 2017). "Who's Next?: William & Mary Features Dominating Forward Nathan Knight". NewDayReview.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  4. ^ Brown, Mitch (May 29, 2019). "Nathan Knight returning to William & Mary after testing NBA Draft waters". WKTR.com. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  5. ^ Johnson, Dave (May 29, 2019). "Nathan Knight announces he'll return to William & Mary for senior season". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  6. ^ Bennett, Brian (December 9, 2019). "This Week in Mid-Major: William & Mary big man's steady dominance, WKU loses Bassey and Dayton aces a test". The Athletic. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  7. ^ Winkler, Adam (January 5, 2020). "Nathan Knight's last-second bucket sends W&M men's basketball to nation-leading seventh road win". WTKR.com. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  8. ^ Plain, Megan (February 9, 2020). "William & Mary men's hoops drops third straight, falls to UNCW 70-64". wtkr.com. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  9. ^ a b "CAA Basketball Announces Men's Basketball Postseason Accolades" (Press release). Colonial Athletic Association. March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  10. ^ "Tribe's Knight Tabbed AP Honorable Mention All-American". 13 News Now. March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  11. ^ Wojnarowski, Adrian (November 19, 2020). "Undrafted William & Mary center Nathan Knight is signing a two-way deal with the Atlanta Hawks, source tells ESPN". Twitter. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  12. ^ "Timberwolves Sign Nathan Knight and McKinley Wright IV to Two-Way Contracts". NBA.com. August 6, 2021. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  13. ^ "Timberwolves' Nathan Knight: Excels in first career start". CBS Sports. December 28, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Nathan Knight statistics". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  15. ^ "Nathan Knight re-signs with Timberwolves". Star Tribune. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  16. ^ "New York Knicks Sign Nathan Knight". NBA.com. July 21, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  17. ^ NY_KnicksPR [@NY_KnicksPR] (October 19, 2023). "Knicks waive Nathan Knight" (Tweet). Retrieved October 20, 2023 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ "Boston Celtics Sign Knight". NBA.com. October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  19. ^ Weiss, Jared [@JaredWeissNBA] (December 12, 2023). "Celtics announced they have waived two-way player Nathan Knight" (Tweet). Retrieved December 13, 2023 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Krivitsky, Bobby (December 12, 2023). "Evaluating Celtics' Options After Waiving Nathan Knight". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  21. ^ Blake [@blakesilverman] (December 17, 2023). "The @MotorCityCruise acquired Nathan Knight from the Maine Celtics in exchange for a 2024 first round draft pick. In a related move, the Cruise have waived Yor Anei. @detroitbadboys" (Tweet). Retrieved December 17, 2023 – via Twitter.
  22. ^ "公告|浙江广厦篮球俱乐部与内森·奈特签约". Weibo.com (in Chinese). Zhejiang Lions. August 3, 2024. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
  23. ^ Speed, Ashley (January 7, 2020). "A Knight Returns To W&M". William & Mary. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  24. ^ Ducibella, Jim (March 8, 2019). "A Knight's tale: Reaching for greatness". William & Mary. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
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