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Will Solomon

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Will Solomon
Solomon with Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2005
Personal information
Born (1978-07-20) July 20, 1978 (age 46)
Hartford, Connecticut
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolEast Hartford
(Hartford, Connecticut)
CollegeClemson (1998–2001)
NBA draft2001: 2nd round, 33rd overall pick
Selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies
Playing career2001–2019
PositionPoint guard / shooting guard
Career history
2001–2002Memphis Grizzlies
2002–2003Aris Thessaloniki
2003–2004Hapoel Jerusalem
2004–2005Efes Pilsen
2005–2006Maccabi Tel Aviv
2006–2008Fenerbahçe
2008–2009Toronto Raptors
2009Sacramento Kings
2009Fenerbahçe
2010–2011Hapoel Jerusalem
2011–2012Cherkaski Mavpy
2012–2013Mersin BB
2013–2017Shark Antibes
2018-2019AS Salé
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

William James Solomon (born July 20, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. Standing at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), he plays at the point guard and shooting guard positions. He played parts of three seasons in the NBA, and three seasons in the Israeli Basketball Premier League.[1]

Amateur career

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Solomon was first noticed at East Hartford High School in East Hartford, Connecticut. He held several records and is in several clubs in their schools basketball program, such as "1000 Career Points", "All State", "All Conference", and the only member of the "NBA Draft" club. He went to Clemson where he continued his basketball career. He was named first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) as a junior, and made the second team as a senior.

Professional career

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Solomon declared himself eligible for the 2001 NBA draft after his junior year at Clemson University. He was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies in the second round, with the 32nd overall pick. Solomon played for the Grizzlies in the 2001–02 season and averaged 5.2 points, 1.5 assists and 1.1 rebounds over 62 games.

After only one year in the NBA, Solomon decided to move to Europe and signed a contract with the Greek team Aris Thessaloniki in 2003. That year he won the FIBA EuroCup Challenge, 4th-tier European competition.

After a year in Greece, Solomon moved to Israel and played for Hapoel Jerusalem, with whom he won another European title, the ULEB Cup, 2nd-tier European competition. In Israel, he was often nicknamed "The Fish" (Ha-dag, הדג), as in Hebrew his last name resembles "Salmon" much more than King Solomon, which is pronounced "Shlomo."

For 2004–05, he moved to Turkey and was signed by Efes Pilsen. He then played for the first time in his career in the EuroLeague. With the help of Solomon, Efes Pilsen won the Turkish championship that year.

Solomon moved back to Israel the following season and was signed by Maccabi Tel Aviv, who were the European champions the previous two seasons and were close to winning a third consecutive EuroLeague title before losing in the final. After this, he returned to Istanbul and joined Fenerbahçe, that enjoyed a high budget and a EuroLeague spot after the Ülker Food Group decided to close their own team and move their entire support of funds and players to Fenerbahçe Ülker's basketball team. Nicknamed 'King Solomon'[2] by the Fenerbahçe fans, he helped the team win two championships.

Solomon also played point guard for the Washington Wizards summer league team in Las Vegas during the NBA's off-season in 2006.

On July 28, 2008, Solomon was signed by the Toronto Raptors.[3]

On February 19, 2009, Solomon was traded to the Sacramento Kings in a three-team deal that sent Patrick O'Bryant to the Raptors from the Boston Celtics and a conditional second round pick in 2014 to the Celtics.[4] Shortly after being traded to the Sacramento Kings, Will Solomon was waived.[5]

Solomon's final NBA game was played on April 3, 2009, in a 111 - 139 loss to the Phoenix Suns where Solomon recorded no stats in 3 minutes of playing time.

On April 9, 2009, the Turkish champions Fenerbahçe reached an agreement with him in order to bring him back to his former team,[6] but he was released from his contract on November 7, 2009.[6]

In August 2010, he returned to Israel and signed a one-year contract with pro club Hapoel Jerusalem.[7]

In the summer of 2011, he signed a contract with the Ukrainian team Cherkaski Mavpy.

In October 2012, he signed a contract with Mersin BB of the Turkish Basketball League for the 2012–13 season.

In November 2013, he signed with the French team Shark Antibes.[8]

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  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 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
2001–02 Memphis 62 4 14.1 .341 .284 .671 1.1 1.5 .6 .1 5.2
2008–09 Toronto 39 9 13.9 .436 .263 .833 1.1 3.2 .5 .1 4.9
2008–09 Sacramento 14 0 12.0 .406 .448 .500 1.5 .7 .5 .0 5.0
Career 115 13 13.8 .378 .298 .692 1.1 2.0 .5 .1 5.1

EuroLeague

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2004–05 Efes Pilsen 23 23 30.3 .433 .348 .785 2.4 2.6 2.0 .3 14.5 14.0
2005–06 Maccabi 25 23 32.2 .464 .386 .798 2.4 3.0 2.0 .2 15.0 13.6
2006–07 Fenerbahçe 11 10 32.1 .422 .388 .889 2.9 3.8 1.9 .3 13.6 11.6
2007–08 Fenerbahçe 21 21 31.1 .466 .378 .818 3.1 3.9 1.7 .1 17.9 18.0
2009–10 Fenerbahçe 2 2 26.3 .333 .250 .800 1.0 1.5 .5 .0 9.0 3.5
Career 82 79 31.2 .448 .370 .806 2.6 3.2 1.9 .2 15.3 14.4

References

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  1. ^ "ISRAEL BASKETBALL SUPER LEAGUE | Israel Basketball | 2010-11 Season | Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem | Will Solomon". basket.co.il.
  2. ^ "Yazarlar". Milliyet.
  3. ^ "Raptors Sign Free Agent Will Solomon". Toronto Raptors.
  4. ^ "KINGS ACQUIRE WILL SOLOMON IN THREE-TEAM TRADE" (Press release). Sacramento Kings. February 19, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
  5. ^ "Kings waive G Will Solomon". ESPN.com.
  6. ^ a b "Anasayfa - Fenerbahçe SK". www.fenerbahce.org.
  7. ^ "Hapoel Jerusalem brings back Solomon". Welcome to 7DAYS EuroCup. June 27, 2023.[dead link‍]
  8. ^ "Will Solomon pigiste médical de Trevor Huffman" (in French). sharks-antibes.com. Retrieved December 5, 2013.
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