P. J. Tucker

Anthony Leon "P. J." Tucker Jr. (born May 5, 1985) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Regarded as a reliable perimeter defender all throughout his career, Tucker helped the Milwaukee Bucks win an NBA championship in 2021.

He played college basketball for the Texas Longhorns.

Tucker attended William G. Enloe High School in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he was named North Carolina Player of the Year in 2003 and his jersey number was later retired.

In three seasons at the University of Texas at Austin, he scored 1,169 points, including a career-high 594 in the 2005–06 season.

He also had 714 rebounds, 170 assists (including 107 in 2005–06), and 116 steals throughout his career with the Longhorns.

After being unable to play most of his sophomore season due to poor academics, Tucker was named a second-team All-American and the Big 12 Player of the Year in his junior year.

Tucker was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the 35th pick in the 2006 NBA draft and signed a two-year deal with them on July 26, 2006.

Colorado, led by head coach Joe Wolf, had been designated as Toronto's D-League affiliate for the 2006–07 season.

On January 5, 2007, the Raptors announced that Tucker had been sent to the Colorado 14ers of the NBA Development League.

On February 6, 2007, the Raptors recalled Tucker to the NBA.

On March 6, 2007, Tucker was sent back to the 14ers.

On March 24, 2007, Tucker was waived by the Raptors in order to free a roster spot for Luke Jackson.

He played a total of 83 minutes during his rookie season with the Raptors.

In the offseason, Tucker joined 2007 Summer League roster for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In the 2007–08 season with Hapoel Holon from Israeli Premier League, Tucker won the MVP trophy and led his team to the league title.

Holon broke Maccabi Tel Aviv's 14-year streak as Israeli champions.

Outside his NBA career, he was also the 2008 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP, and Israeli Basketball Premier League Finals MVP and also won championships overseas in the Israeli Super League in 2008 with the Hapoel Holon, the German League and the German Cup in 2012 with Brose Bamberg.

He was the 2008 Israeli Basketball Premier League Finals MVP.

For the 2008–09 season, Tucker signed with a BC Donetsk team that was just promoted to the Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague.

He led the team to a current third place in the league at its first appearance there, as well as become a Ukrainian SuperLeague All-Star.

A season ending knee injury didn't prevent Tucker from finishing the season with the highest average of points per game in the league.

On October 7, 2009, Tucker renewed his contract with Donetsk for the 2009–10 season.

After Donetsk bankrupted, Tucker returned to Israel in March 2010 and signed for Bnei HaSharon until the end of the season.

In August 2010, Tucker signed with Aris BC for the 2010–11 season, but he was released in March 2011.

In April 2011, Tucker signed with Sutor Basket Montegranaro in Italy.

In July 2011, Tucker signed a one-year deal with Brose Baskets Bamberg of Germany.

He went on to help Brose Baskets win the 2012 championship; he also won the Finals MVP award.

During the summer of 2012, Tucker signed a contract to play for Spartak St. Petersburg of Russia, but he soon opted out of it to play for the Phoenix Suns' NBA Summer League team, and on August 1, 2012, he signed a two-year deal with the Suns, with a team option in his second year.

In his first game back in the NBA, Tucker recorded 10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block in an 87–85 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

On November 23, 2012, he scored a then-career-high 15 points in a 111–108 overtime win over the New Orleans Hornets.

Tucker made his first start for the Suns on December 31 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, as he started the majority of the Suns' games for the rest of the 2012–13 NBA season.

On February 8, 2014, Tucker recorded 16 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and 4 steals in a 122–109 win over the Warriors, becoming the first Suns player to have 15 points, 15 rebounds and 4 steals in a game since Shawn Marion in 2007.

On February 25, he tied his career high with a 15-rebound effort against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

On April 6, Tucker scored a career-high 22 points in a 122–115 win over the Thunder.

On June 27, 2014, the Suns extended Tucker a qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent.

On July 23, he re-signed with the Suns to a three-year, $16.5 million contract.

In August 2014, he was suspended for the first three games of the 2014–15 season without pay for pleading guilty to driving while under the extreme influence in May 2014.

He returned from suspension on November 4, 2014, to face the Los Angeles Lakers.

On December 31, 2015, Tucker tied his then-career high of 22 points in a loss to the Thunder.