Josh Childress

Joshua Malik Childress (born June 20, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player.

Childress played three seasons of college basketball with Stanford, where he was named an AP first team All-American, an All-American Consensus second team honoree, the Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year and the Pac-10 Conference tournament MVP as a junior in 2004.

He then declared for the 2004 NBA draft where he was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the sixth overall pick, becoming the highest Stanford player to be drafted in the NBA.

Childress was selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks.

During his rookie season in 2004–05, Childress emerged as one of two promising rookie talents for the Hawks, along with Josh Smith; as the season went on, the two showed improved play, minutes and production.

Childress ranked third among rookies in double-doubles in the 2004–05 season, behind only Emeka Okafor and Dwight Howard.

He was also voted to the NBA All-Rookie second team.

Over the next three seasons, Childress played a sixth man role for the Hawks, and in four total seasons for the franchise, he averaged 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds in 285 games with 67 starts.

In July 2008, Childress signed a three-year, $20 million contract with the Greek team Olympiacos Piraeus.

Because of tax breaks from playing overseas, however, his $20 million contract was equivalent to $32.5 million with an NBA team.

Childress also had the option to opt out of the contract after each year.

Childress also received a Greek Nike shoe contract after signing with Olympiacos, a Nike sponsorship club.

He had been offered a five-year, $33 million deal by the Atlanta Hawks, but he turned it down because it was significantly less money than what Olympiacos offered him.

During the 2008–09 EuroLeague season, he averaged 8.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

During the 2009–10 EuroLeague season, he averaged 15.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

An All-EuroLeague Second Team member in 2010, he played with the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, Brooklyn Nets and New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and Olympiacos Piraeus of the Greek Basket League and EuroLeague.

Childress grew up in Compton, California where he and his brother, Chris, played basketball and did their best to stay out of trouble.

The neighborhood they lived in was very tight and supportive, but they lived under constant threat of gangsters in the area.

Childress attended Mayfair High School in nearby Lakewood, overlapping with MLB All-Star Justin Turner.

Besides playing basketball in high school and being named a McDonald's High School All-American, he also played volleyball during his senior year.

He led his high school volleyball team, the Monsoons, to an undefeated record and he was voted to the All-League volleyball team.

Josh has his #22 jersey retired at Mayfair.

In June 2010, Childress parted ways with Olympiacos.

On July 13, 2010, Childress' rights were acquired by Phoenix Suns in a trade that also sent a 2012 second-round draft pick to the Atlanta Hawks.

Childress then signed a five-year deal with the Suns.

On July 15, 2012, after the Suns acquired the amnestied rights of Luis Scola, Childress was released by the Suns via the amnesty clause.

On September 13, 2012, Childress signed with the Brooklyn Nets.

On December 29, 2012, he was waived by the Nets.

On September 27, 2013, Childress signed with the Washington Wizards.

However, he was later waived by the Wizards on October 24, 2013.

On November 12, 2013, he signed with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Childress' final NBA game was played on December 6, 2013 in a 95 - 109 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Childress only played for a little over 2 minutes (being subbed in at the end of the 4th quarter for Eric Gordon) and recorded only 1 rebound and 1 assist.

On December 13, 2013, he was waived by the Pelicans.

On August 12, 2014, Childress signed with the Sydney Kings for the 2014–15 NBL season.

On October 28, he was handed a one-game suspension and a $7,500 fine for unduly rough play and bringing the game into disrepute.

The charges were laid over his strike to Perth Wildcats' forward Jesse Wagstaff on October 24; Childress was ejected from the game following the incident.

He went on to earn Player of the Week honors for Round 5 after scoring 18 points against the Wollongong Hawks on November 7, and 36 points against the Adelaide 36ers on November 9.

On December 5, he was named the NBL Player of the Month for November.

On January 28, 2015, Childress was ruled out for the rest of the season after scans revealed he required surgery for a torn pectoral muscle.