Tayshaun Prince
Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox basketball biography Tayshaun Durell Prince (born February 28, 1980)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> is an American professional basketball executive and former player for the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Template:Convert small forward graduated from Dominguez High School before playing college basketball for the University of Kentucky. He was drafted 23rd overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2002 NBA draft and went on to win a championship with the team in 2004.
Prince is most remembered for his performance with the Pistons in the 2004 NBA playoffs. During Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, with the Pistons leading 69–67, Prince prevented the game from potentially going to overtime by preventing a go-ahead transition layup by Reggie Miller, blocking the shot in a play known as "The Block".
In 2013, Prince was traded from the Pistons to the Memphis Grizzlies. In 2015, Prince was traded to the Boston Celtics before being traded back to the Pistons. Prince later became a free agent and played one season for the Minnesota Timberwolves before retiring in 2016.
Following his retirement, Prince ventured into executive leadership in the NBA. He currently serves as the Vice President of Basketball Affairs for the Grizzlies.
College careerEdit
Prince played four seasons (1998 to 2002) for the Kentucky Wildcats, averaging 13.2 points and 5.7 rebounds<ref>Template:Usurped, Databasebasketball.com. Retrieved February 18, 2007.</ref> as the Wildcats posted a 97–39 record<ref>Layout 1 Template:Webarchive</ref> and advanced to the NCAA Tournament each year. Prince won SEC Player of the Year in his junior season (2000–2001)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>—also leading the SEC in free throw percentage (84.3%)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>—and was named to the Associated Press All-SEC Teams in both his junior and senior years.<ref name="mbb_history_awards">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Kentucky won the SEC Tournament in 1999 and 2001, and Prince was awarded the 2001 tournament's Most Valuable Player award.<ref name="mbb_history_awards"/> He was a three-time team MVP with the Wildcats.
Notable individual performances included a 31-point, 11-rebound, four-assist, and four-steal effort in a 79–59 victory over North Carolina. In scoring Kentucky's first fifteen points, Prince made five consecutive three-point shots. Kentucky shooting guard Keith Bogans compared Prince's performance to "the Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan blistering Portland in the 1992 NBA Finals."<ref>Scout.com: Prince reigns as Cats crush Carolina Template:Webarchive</ref> In an 87–82 victory over Tulsa during the 2002 NCAA Tournament, Prince scored a career-high 41 points (along with nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks) to lead Kentucky to the Sweet 16.<ref>Scout.com: Prince reigns as Kentucky tops Tulsa Template:Webarchive</ref> He graduated from Kentucky in 2002 with a degree in sociology.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
College statisticsEdit
Template:NBA player statistics start |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1998–99 | style="text-align:left;"| Kentucky | 37 || 11 || 20.2 || .414 || .287 || .656 || 3.8 || 1.2 || .7 || .6 || 5.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 1999–00 | style="text-align:left;"| Kentucky | 32 || 32 || 34.0 || .423 || .307 || .705 || 6.0 || 1.8 || .8 || 1.3 || 13.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2000–01 | style="text-align:left;"| Kentucky | 34 || 34 || 32.9 || .495 || .358 || .843 || 6.5 || 2.9 || .7 || 1.1 || 16.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2001–02 | style="text-align:left;"| Kentucky | 32 || 32 || 33.3 || .467 || .340 || .703 || 6.3 || 1.6 || 1.1 || 1.3 || 17.5 |- |Career|| || 135 || 109 || 29.7 || .457 || .329 || .743 || 5.6 || 1.9 || .8 || 1.1 || 13.1 Template:S-end
College awards and honorsEdit
- SEC Player of the Year (2001)
- Consensus second team All-American (2001)
- NABC All-American Second Team (2002)
- AP All-American Third Team (2002)
- First Team All-SEC (2001, 2002)
- SEC Tournament MVP (2001)
- SEC All-Tournament Team (2001)
Professional careerEdit
Detroit Pistons (2002–2013)Edit
Rookie season and championship (2002–2004)Edit
In his rookie season under head coach Rick Carlisle, Prince was not a member of the team's playing rotation and appeared in just 42 of 82 regular-season games. However, in the first round of the 2003 NBA playoffs, Detroit trailed the Orlando Magic three games to one, forcing Carlisle to experiment with a different rotation. Prince was inserted into the lineup and received heavy minutes. He then became the only player in NBA history to score more points in the playoffs than in the regular season (137 in the season, 141 in the playoffs).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The Pistons rallied to win the series, and Prince had a breakout performance during the decisive seventh game, scoring 20 points in 24 minutes.<ref name="bio">Tayshaun Prince Info Page - Bio Template:Webarchive, NBA.com. Retrieved February 18, 2007.</ref> In the second round against the Philadelphia 76ers, Prince continued to see action and made several memorable plays, including a turnaround hook shot during the final seconds of Game 2, forcing an overtime period that the Pistons went on to win.<ref name="bio"/>
After the Pistons were swept by the New Jersey Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals, Carlisle was fired and former Sixers coach Larry Brown took over as head coach. Under Brown, Prince became the Pistons' starting small forward and increased his scoring average to 10.3 points per game, up from 3.3 as a rookie.<ref name="bio"/> In that 2003–04 season, Prince was also selected to play for the Sophomores (second-year players) in the NBA Rookie Challenge.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In Game 2 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, Prince made a memorable defensive play.<ref name="bio"/> In the final minute of the game, Prince spectacularly blocked the ball from Pacers star shooting guard Reggie Miller; effectively ending the game. The Pistons went on to win the series and, eventually, the NBA championship. When the Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one in the NBA Finals, Prince's tough defense on Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was credited as a key factor in the Pistons' victory, holding Bryant to only 11 points in an 88–68 win in Game 3 of the 2004 NBA Finals.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
All-Defensive Team regular (2004–2008)Edit
Prince continued to show improvement in the 2004–05 season, setting career highs in scoring (14.7 points per game), rebounding (5.3 per game), assists (3.0) and blocks (0.9).<ref name="bio"/> He was selected for the NBA's NBA All-Defensive Second Team<ref name="bio"/> and was a candidate for the NBA Most Improved Player Award, where he came in third<ref name="bio"/> behind winner Bobby Simmons of the Los Angeles Clippers and Primož Brezec of the Charlotte Bobcats. Although he and the Pistons made it back to the NBA Finals in 2005, they lost to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games. During the Malice at the Palace brawl, Prince was the only player on either team who did not leave the bench during the entire incident.<ref name="mccosky20041129">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Prince's play was rewarded by the Pistons with a five-year contract extension worth $49 million on October 31, 2005.<ref>Tony Mejia, "Prince the Pistons' All-Star non-All-Star", CBS sports, February 15, 2006.</ref>
In the 2005–06 season, Prince played in all 82 regular season games, averaging 14.1 points and 4.2 rebounds a game.<ref name="stats">Tayshaun Prince Info Page - Career Stats and Totals Template:Webarchive, NBA.com. Retrieved February 18, 2007.</ref> In the playoffs, the Pistons were eliminated by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games, following the controversial decision by Flip Saunders to bench Ben Wallace in game 6 entire fourth quarter.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In Game 5 of that series, he scored a playoff career-high 29 points to go along with 7 rebounds in a 91–78 win.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In the 2006–07 season, Prince returned similar statistics to his 2004–05 campaign: 14.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game.<ref name="stats"/> In the playoffs the Pistons were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games as his point average are 14.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game as his struggle to defend LeBron James.
In the 2007–08 season, Prince played and started in all 82 regular season games, averaging 13.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game.<ref name="autogenerated1">NBA.com : Tayshaun Prince Info Page</ref> In the playoffs, Prince averaged 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists, but the Pistons were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Boston Celtics in game six as Prince's poor game play in game 6 along with Rasheed Wallace contributed the downfall of the team's demise.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
Later years in Detroit (2008–2013)Edit
Prince started the season off strong while averaging nearly 16 points and seven rebounds a game.<ref>NBA.com : Tayshaun Prince Bio Page Template:Webarchive</ref> As the season started to progress Prince's production started to slump and by the end of the season he averaged 14.2 points and 5.8 rebounds.<ref name="autogenerated1"/> Although his points per game average dropped, he averaged a career high in rebounds per game. Prince's effort helped push the Pistons to the playoffs as they gained the 8th seed with 39 wins.<ref>NBA.com - 2009-2010 Conference Regular Season Standings</ref> Although the Pistons made the playoffs, they were seeded against the top-seed Cleveland Cavaliers.<ref>NBA.com: PLAYOFFS 2009</ref> The Cavaliers swept the Pistons in four games, and Prince's production from the season dropped drastically, as he averaged only 3.8 points and 3.5 rebounds.<ref>NBA.com : Tayshaun Prince Info Page</ref>
Memphis Grizzlies (2013–2015)Edit
.jpg){kind=link}
On January 30, 2013, Prince and Austin Daye were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-team trade which sent Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi to the Toronto Raptors and José Calderón to the Pistons. The Grizzlies also received Ed Davis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Though Rudy Gay had been the longtime starting small forward in Memphis, Prince appeared to be a better fit with the team, as his style of play complemented the team's "Grit-N-Grind" mantra.<ref>Rudy Gay trade analysis: Why Memphis made out like bandits</ref><ref>The Memphis Grizzlies' Rudy Gay Trade Revisited, a GBB Retrospective</ref> The Grizzlies finished with their best record in franchise history at 56–26, and their first-ever appearance in the Western Conference Finals.
Despite an injury sustained in pre-season, Prince still managed to start and play 76 games in 2013–14, averaging 6.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game—the second-lowest stat line of his career behind his rookie season. His 29% from the three-point line was also a career low.<ref>Tayshaun Price NBA & ABA Stats</ref>
Boston Celtics (2015)Edit
On January 12, 2015, Prince was traded to the Boston Celtics in a three-team deal involving the Memphis Grizzlies and the New Orleans Pelicans in which the Celtics also received guard Austin Rivers, who was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers 3 days later, and a first round draft pick. The Grizzlies received forward Jeff Green and guard Russ Smith in the trade. The Pelicans received forward Quincy Pondexter and a 2015 second round draft pick (forward Branden Dawson).<ref>Boston Celtics Complete Three-Team Trade</ref> On January 26, he made his debut for the Celtics, and in 30 minutes of action off the bench, he recorded 19 points and 5 assists to lead the Celtics to a 99–90 win over the Utah Jazz.<ref>Prince helps Celtics edge Jazz 99–90</ref>
Return to Detroit (2015)Edit
On February 19, 2015, Prince was traded by the Celtics back to the Pistons in exchange for Luigi Datome and Jonas Jerebko.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Minnesota Timberwolves (2015–2016)Edit
On August 20, 2015, Prince signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He made his debut for the Timberwolves in the team's season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 28, recording 2 points and 2 rebounds in a 112–111 win.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Prince's final NBA game was played on April 11, 2016, in a 105 - 129 loss to the Houston Rockets where he recorded 3 assists, 2 rebounds but no points in 13 minutes of playing time.
National team careerEdit
On August 20, 2007, Prince was selected to be a part of Team USA that competed at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, a qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympics.<ref>USA Men's Team Announced For FIBA Americas Championship Template:Webarchive</ref> With his defensive poise, he contributed in the USA's unbeaten record at the tournament held in Las Vegas, Nevada and earned a spot at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
On June 23, 2008, Prince was selected for the Olympic squad along with eleven others in the hope of fulfilling the ambition of winning their first gold medal since the 2000 Summer Olympics.<ref>USA Basketball Announces 12-Member 2008 Men's Senior National TeamTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Team USA went on to do exactly that, going unbeaten in the tournament with Prince coming off the bench and defeating 2006 World Champion Spain in the final, living up to their "Redeem Team" moniker.<ref>US hoops back on top, beats Spain for gold medal</ref> Prince was named as a member of the Class of 2025 Basketball Hall of Fame as a part of the 2008 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team. <ref>https://africa.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/44546358/bird-moore-anthony-howard-top-25-naismith-hall-fame-class</ref>
Executive careerEdit
On August 15, 2017, Prince joined the Memphis Grizzlies as special assistant to general manager.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On April 27, 2019, the Grizzlies promoted him to Vice President of Basketball Affairs.<ref name="PrinceVPBA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Honors and achievementsEdit
- 2004 NBA champion
- 2005–2008 NBA All-Defensive Second Team
- Gold medal with U.S. national team at 2007 FIBA Americas Championship and 2008 Summer Olympics
- 2022 - Selected for the 2022 Southern California Basketball Hall of Fame (SCBBHOF)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
NBA career statisticsEdit
Template:NBA player statistics legend
Regular seasonEdit
Template:NBA player statistics start |- | style="text-align:left;"| Template:Nbay | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 42 || 5 || 15.4 || .449 || .426 || .647 || 1.1 || .6 || .2 || .3 || 3.3 |- | style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;"| Template:Nbay† | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 82 || 80 || 32.9 || .467 || .363 || .766 || 4.8 || 2.3 || .8 || .8 || 10.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Template:Nbay | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 82 || style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 37.1 || .487 || .341 || .807 || 5.3 || 3.0 || .7 || .9 || 14.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Template:Nbay | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 35.3 || .455 || .350 || .765 || 4.2 || 2.3 || .8 || .5 || 14.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Template:Nbay | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 36.6 || .460 || .386 || .768 || 5.2 || 2.8 || .6 || .7 || 14.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Template:Nbay | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 32.9 || .448 || .363 || .768 || 4.9 || 3.3 || .5 || .4 || 13.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Template:Nbay | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 37.3 || .450 || .397 || .778 || 5.8 || 3.1 || .5 || .6 || 14.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Template:Nbay | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 49 || 49 || 34.0 || .486 || .370 || .714 || 5.1 || 3.3 || .7 || .4 || 13.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Template:Nbay | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 78 || 78 || 32.8 || .473 || .347 || .702 || 4.2 || 2.8 || .4 || .5 || 14.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Template:Nbay | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 63 || 63 || 33.1 || .421 || .356 || .774 || 4.5 || 2.4 || .4 || .5 || 12.7 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2| Template:Nbay | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | style="background:#cfecec;"| 45* || 45 || 32.4 || .444 || .434 || .796 || 4.6 || 2.5 || .5 || .3 || 11.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis | style="background:#cfecec;"| 37* || 36 || 31.7 || .429 || .366 || .595 || 4.2 || 2.3 || .7 || .3 || 8.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Template:Nbay | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis | 76 || 76 || 25.6 || .407 || .290 || .567 || 3.1 || 1.6 || .5 || .3 || 6.0 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan=3| Template:Nbay | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis | 26 || 9 || 24.2 || .410 || .455 || .833 || 3.2 || 1.4 || .3 || .2 || 7.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Boston | 9 || 0 || 22.0 || .559 || .625 || .833 || 3.3 || 2.0 || .6 || .2 || 8.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 23 || 7 || 24.8 || .431 || .423 || .660 || 4.2 || 1.7 || .7 || .3 || 7.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Template:Nbay | style="text-align:left;"| Minnesota | 77 || 44 || 19.0 || .445 || .174 || .684 || 1.9 || 1.0 || .5 || .2 || 2.9 |- class="sortbotttom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 1,017 || 902 || 31.0 || .455 || .367 || .756 || 4.3 || 2.4 || .6 || .5 || 11.1 Template:S-end
PlayoffsEdit
Template:NBA player statistics start |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2003 | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 15 || 3 || 25.5 || .426 || .292 || .763 || 3.8 || 1.5 || .5 || .9 || 9.4 |- | style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"| 2004† | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 23 || 23 || 34.6 || .410 || .265 || .745 || 6.0 || 2.3 || 1.1 || 1.3 || 9.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005 | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 25 || 25 || 40.9 || .433 || .367 || .800 || 6.3 || 3.3 || 1.0 || .4 || 13.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006 | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 18 || 18 || 41.4 || .459 || .457 || .829 || 5.7 || 3.0 || .7 || .8 || 16.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007 | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 16 || 16 || 41.6 || .415 || .409 || .759 || 6.4 || 3.8 || .9 || .3 || 14.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2008 | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 17 || 17 || 39.5 || .481 || .320 || .794 || 5.5 || 3.2 || .8 || .5 || 13.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009 | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit | 4 || 4 || 32.3 || .259 || .200 || .000 || 3.5 || 1.3 || .3 || .0 || 3.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2013 | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis | 15 || 15 || 30.3 || .355 || .263 || .609 || 3.8 || 1.9 || .5 || .3 || 7.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2014 | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis | 7 || 6 || 16.1 || .385 || .250 || .000 || 1.4 || .9 || .1 || .0 || 3.0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 140 || 127 || 35.6 || .427 || .343 || .774 || 5.2 || 2.6 || .8 || .6 || 11.4 Template:S-end