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Zeke Nnaji - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zeke Nnaji
No. 22 – Denver Nuggets
Nnaji with Arizona in 2020
Position	Power forward / center
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	(2001-01-09) January 9, 2001 (age 23) Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High school	Lakeville North (Lakeville, Minnesota) Hopkins (Minnetonka, Minnesota)
College	Arizona (2019–2020)
NBA draft	2020: 1st round, 22nd overall pick
Selected by the Denver Nuggets
Playing career	2020–present
Career history
2020–present	Denver Nuggets

Career highlights and awards
NBA champion (2023) First-team All-Pac-12 (2020) Pac-12 Freshman of the Year (2020) Pac-12 All-Freshman team (2020)

Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Ezekiel Tobechukwu "Zeke" Nnaji (/ˈnɑːdʒi/ NAH-jee;^[1] born January 9, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Arizona Wildcats and was drafted 22nd overall by the Nuggets in the 2020 NBA draft.

Early life

Nnaji was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He played baseball and soccer before starting basketball due to his height. He has played the piano since first grade. Nnaji composes his own music.^[2]

High school career

Nnaji started playing high school basketball for Lakeville North High School in Lakeville, Minnesota, before transferring to Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota. As a senior, he averaged 24.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game and led Hopkins to a Minnesota 4A state title over Lakeville North.^[3] Nnaji had 14 points and 12 rebounds in the championship game. He played for the Adidas-sponsored D1 Minnesota club alongside Matthew Hurt. Nnaji was invited to the Iverson Classic game. Nnaji was ranked 22nd in his class and a five-star recruit by Rivals but was considered a four-star recruit by most other recruiting services.^[4] He committed to play college basketball for Arizona over offers from Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, and UCLA.^[5]

College career

On November 6, 2019, Nnaji made his college debut, scoring 20 points in 21 minutes to help Arizona defeat Northern Arizona, 91–52.^[6] Five days later, he was named Pac-12 Conference Freshman of the Week.^[7] Nnaji won the same award in the following week, most notably posting 26 points and 11 rebounds in an 87–39 win over San Jose State.^[8] He became the first Arizona player to score 20 points and collect 10 rebounds in his first three games since Brandon Ashley did so against Long Beach State in the 2012–13 season.^[9] At the conclusion of the regular season, Nnaji was named first-team All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.^[10] Nnaji averaged 16.1 points per game on 57 percent shooting and grabbed 8.6 rebounds per game as a freshman. Following the season, he declared for the 2020 NBA draft.^[11]

Professional career

Denver Nuggets (2020–present)

Nnaji was selected with the 22nd pick in the 2020 NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets.^[12] On December 1, 2020, Nnaji signed his rookie scale contract with the Nuggets.^[13] Nnaji became an NBA champion when the Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in five games in the 2023 NBA Finals.

Career statistics

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
†	Won an NBA championship

NBA

Regular season


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2020–21	Denver	42	1	9.5	.481	.407	.800	1.5	.2	.2	.1	3.2
2021–22	Denver	41	1	17.0	.516	.463	.631	3.6	.4	.4	.3	6.6
2022–23^†	Denver	53	5	13.7	.561	.262	.645	2.6	.3	.3	.4	5.2
2023–24	Denver	58	0	9.9	.463	.261	.677	2.2	.6	.3	.7	3.2
Career		194	7	12.4	.512	.370	.662	2.5	.4	.3	.4	4.5

Playoffs


Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2021	Denver	5	3.5	.500	.429	.500	.4	.4	.2	.0	2.4
2022	Denver	2	4.3	1.000	1.000	—	.0	.0	.0	.0	1.5
2023^†	Denver	5	2.4	.500	.333	—	.4	.0	.2	.0	1.0
2024	Denver	3	4.7	.667	—	.500	.7	.0	.0	.3	1.7
Career		15	3.5	.563	.455	.500	.4	.1	.1	.1	1.7

College


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2019–20	Arizona	32	32	30.7	.570	.294	.760	8.4	.8	.7	.9	16.1

Personal life

Nnaji's father is from Nigeria and his mother is from Minnesota. His younger sister, Maya, played college basketball at Arizona for two years before quitting to pursue her education.^[14] His uncle, Obiora Nnaji, played center at the University of Florida from 1997 to 1999. His cousin, Elvis Nnaji, plays for the George Mason Patriots.^[15]

References

^ "2023-24 start of season NBA pronunciation guide" (Press release). National Basketball Association. October 24, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
^ Max, Mike (December 28, 2018). "Top High School Basketball Player Doubles As Concert Pianist". WCCO-TV. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
^ Pascoe, Bruce (March 23, 2019). "Minnesota's Zeke Nnaji is third Arizona Wildcats recruit to win state title". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
^ Pascoe, Bruce (November 20, 2019). "How Arizona's Zeke Nnaji slipped under the radar and became one of college basketball's early-season stars". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
^ Geary, Molly (November 23, 2018). "Arizona Moves to No. 1 in 2019 Recruiting Class Rankings With Commitment of Zeke Nnaji". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
^ Pascoe, Bruce (November 7, 2019). "Freshman Zeke Nnaji's special debut calls to mind memories of D-Will, other Wildcats standouts". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
^ Scheer, Jason (November 11, 2019). "Zeke Nnaji named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week". 247Sports.com. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
^ Pedersen, Brian J. (November 18, 2019). "Zeke Nnaji wins second straight Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award". Arizona Desert Swarm. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
^ Pascoe, Bruce (November 16, 2019). "Freshman Zeke Nnaji could help bust zones thrown at Arizona Wildcats basketball". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
^ "Pac-12 announces 2019-20 Men's Basketball annual major awards". pac-12.com. March 9, 2020. Archived from the original on March 26, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
^ Helin, Kurt (March 29, 2020). "Arizona's Zeke Nnaji, DePaul's Paul Reed declare for NBA draft". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
^ Scheer, Jason (November 18, 2020). "Zeke Nnaji drafted by the Denver Nuggets". 247 Sports. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
^ "Denver Nuggets sign Zeke Nnaji, R.J. Hampton to rookie contracts". NBA.com. December 1, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
^ Pascoe, Bruce (September 14, 2019). "Here's why Sean Miller says Zeke Nnaji, Arizona's bulked-up, piano-playing freshman, can do big things". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved November 27, 2019.
^ "Elvis Nnaji - Men's Basketball - George Mason University Athletics". George Mason Athletics. Retrieved January 21, 2024.

External links

v t e Denver Nuggets roster
0 Braun 1 Porter 3 Strawther 4 Westbrook 5 Tyson 6 Jordan 8 Watson 9 Šarić 13 Hall (TW) 14 Holmes 15 Jokić 21 Jones (TW) 22 Nnaji 23 Alexander (TW) 24 Pickett 27 Murray 31 Čančar 32 Gordon
Head coach: Malone Assistant coaches: Adelman Beckett Bowen Jones Klask Saunders Stojaković Valcarcel

2020 NBA draft

First round

Second round

v t e Denver Nuggets 2022–23 NBA champions
0 Braun 1 Porter 5 Caldwell-Pope 6 Jordan 7 Jackson 8 Watson 10 White 11 Brown 13 Bryant 14 Smith 15 Jokić (Finals MVP) 21 Gillespie 22 Nnaji 27 Murray 31 Čančar 32 Green 50 Gordon
Head coach Malone
Assistant coaches Adelman Beckett Bowen Jones Klask Saunders Stojaković
Regular season Playoffs

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