No. 33–Oklahoma City Blue | |
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Position | Power forward |
League | NBA G League |
Personal information | |
Born | September 3, 1999 |
Nationality | American |
Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
Listed weight | 245 lb (111 kg) |
Career information | |
High school |
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College |
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NBA draft | 2023: undrafted |
Playing career | 2023–present |
Career history | |
2023–present | Oklahoma City Blue |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Kamarion "KJ" Williams (born September 3, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Oklahoma City Blue of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Murray State Racers and the LSU Tigers.
Williams began his high school career at East Side High School in Cleveland, Mississippi. As a junior, he helped the Trojans finish 22–12 and advance to the 3A State Basketball Championship game. Following his junior season, Williams entered Cleveland Central High School after it was formed by the merger of East Side and Cleveland High School. [1] As a senior, he posted a triple-double of 21 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks against Gentry High School and had a 27 point and 28 rebound game against West Tallahatchie High School. Williams averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds per game and helped the Wolves to a 22–9 record and a berth in the second round of the 5A State Basketball Playoffs. [2] In February 2018, Williams committed to playing college basketball for Murray State, choosing the Racers over offers from Western Kentucky and Southeastern Louisiana. [3]
As a freshman, Williams averaged 7.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. [1] He set the Murray State single-season field goal percentage record during his freshman season, connecting on 69 percent of his field goal attempts. [4] Following the season, he focused on improving his conditioning and adding to his mid-range game. [5] Williams averaged 12.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game as a sophomore, and was named to the First Team All-Ohio Valley Conference (OVC). [4] As a junior, Williams averaged 15.6 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. [6] He repeated as a First Team All-OVC selection. [7] On November 9, 2021, Williams scored 32 points in a 109–77 win against Cumberland. [8] On February 10, 2022, he scored a career-high 39 points in a 73–62 win against Tennessee State. [9] Williams had 30 points on 12-for-19 shooting and five rebounds on February 24, in a 76–43 win over Belmont to claim the OVC regular season title. [10]
At the close of the 2021–22 season, Williams was named first-team All-OVC for the third consecutive year, as well as OVC Player of the Year. [11] As a senior, he averaged 18 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.
On March 24, 2022, Williams declared for the 2022 NBA draft while maintaining his college eligibility and entered the transfer portal. [12] On May 5, 2022, he transferred to LSU for his final season of eligibility, following coach Matt McMahon from Murray State. [13] Williams scored 16 points in a 77–56 loss to Tennessee on January 21, 2023, and passed the 2,000-point mark. [14]
After going undrafted in the 2023 NBA draft, Williams joined the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 2023 NBA Summer League [15] and on October 18, 2023, he signed with them. [16] However, he was waived the next day [17] and on October 31, he joined the Oklahoma City Blue. [18]
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 |
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 | Murray State | 32 | 22 | 18.2 | .698 | .200 | .526 | 4.7 | .5 | .6 | .6 | 7.6 |
2019–20 | Murray State | 32 | 8 | 23.4 | .544 | .360 | .670 | 7.3 | 1.0 | 1.1 | .7 | 12.7 |
2020–21 | Murray State | 26 | 26 | 28.7 | .567 | .413 | .667 | 8.5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | .6 | 15.6 |
2021–22 | Murray State | 34 | 34 | 29.0 | .538 | .327 | .699 | 8.4 | .7 | 1.4 | .6 | 18.0 |
Career | 124 | 90 | 24.7 | .568 | .355 | .664 | 7.2 | .8 | 1.0 | .6 | 13.4 |
Williams is the son of Amie Williams, who played basketball at East Side High School, leading the team to the 1999 4A State Title game before playing collegiately at Jackson State, and LaMarcus Smith [1]
Robert E. Lee Pettit Jr. is an American former professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (1954–1965). In 1956, he became the first recipient of the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award and he won the award again in 1959. He also won the NBA All-Star Game MVP award four times. As of the end of 2022-2023 regular season, Pettit is still the only regular season MVP in the history of the Hawks. Pettit is the leader for most career rebounds (12,849), and most rebounds per game with 16.2 in Hawks franchise history.
The Murray State Racers are the athletic teams that represent Murray State University (MSU), located in Murray, Kentucky, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) since the 2022–23 academic year. The Racers previously competed in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) from 1948–49 to 2021–22; and in the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 1933–34 to 1947–48.
The Murray State Racers men's basketball program represents Murray State University in intercollegiate men's basketball. Murray State completed a 74-season run in the Ohio Valley Conference, a part of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), in 2021–22, and moved to the Missouri Valley Conference on July 1, 2022. The Racers have played home games at the CFSB Center on their campus in Murray, Kentucky since 1998. Murray State made its 18th appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2022. Five times the Racers advanced in the tournament, most recently by defeating the University of San Francisco in 2022. In 1988, Murray State defeated NC State in the first round but lost to eventual national champion Kansas in the second round. In 2010, 22 years to the date of the 1988 win, the Racers beat Vanderbilt and lost to eventual runner-up Butler in the second round.
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