Ty Lawson

Lawson was voted to the All-ACC First Team his junior year and was named the ACC Player of the Year, the first time a point guard had won the ACC's highest honor since fellow Tar Heel Phil Ford won the award in 1978.

Lawson was also a consensus second-team all-American as a junior, making him eligible to have his jersey honored in the rafters of the Smith Center at the conclusion of his college career.

Tywon Ronell Lawson (born November 3, 1987) is an American professional basketball who is currently a free agent.

Lawson attended Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland from 2003 to 2004.

He later transferred to and graduated from Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, where he was a first-team USA Today and Parade All-American.

He participated in the McDonald's All-American Game, Jordan Classic and the Nike Hoop Summit.

During Lawson's senior year at Oak Hill Academy, he averaged 23.8 points, 9.1 assists and five steals.

His highest scoring game in high school was 55 points.

Lawson began playing for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2006–07 season.

In 38 games, he led the Tar Heels with 5.6 assists per game and was fourth with 10.2 points per game, during which time he helped the Tar Heels win a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title, as well as the ACC tournament.

During his sophomore year, he averaged 12.7 points and 5.3 assists per game, although he saw much less playing time due to an ankle sprain that kept him out much of the season.

In spite of this nagging injury, he eventually returned to help Carolina repeat as both ACC regular season and tournament champions and ultimately earn a berth to the Final Four.

He was charged with driving after drinking on June 6, 2008 by a police officer who felt that Lawson's music was too loud.

He was not charged with a DWI because he was below the legal limit of .08 BAC, but still received misdemeanors due to state law prohibiting anyone under the age of 21 from driving after drinking any amount of alcohol.

He was also charged for driving with a suspended license.

On the day of the deadline to withdraw from the June 16 2008 NBA draft, Lawson decided to return to North Carolina for his junior season, along with Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and All-American Tyler Hansbrough, who all spurned the NBA draft to return to UNC, leaving the starters for the 2007–08 season intact for the 2008–09 season.

He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels where he won the 2009 national championship his junior year.

Lawson was selected with the 18th overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves and was immediately traded to the Denver Nuggets.

He played six seasons for the Nuggets and later played for the Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and the Washington Wizards.

Lawson played three seasons in the CBA for the Shandong Golden Stars and Fujian.

Lawson attended sixth and seventh grade at Gwynn Park Middle School in Prince George's County, Maryland.

In the eighth grade, he was recruited to the Newport School in Kensington, Maryland.

In 2009, Lawson also won the Bob Cousy Award that honors the best collegiate point guard.

During the 2009 NCAA Tournament championship game, he also set a record with 8 steals against Michigan State, giving him the most steals of any player in an NCAA championship game and helping lead the Tar Heels to a national title.

On April 23, 2009, Lawson announced his decision to forgo his senior season and enter the 2009 NBA draft.

Due to concerns of his height and his often-sprained ankle, Lawson slipped to 18th in the 2009 NBA draft, where he was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

However, they had already drafted two point guards, making Lawson expendable.

This gave the Denver Nuggets an opportunity to get a quality player as they traded their future draft pick to Minnesota in exchange for Lawson.

Lawson served as a backup to Chauncey Billups for one and a half seasons until Billups was traded to the New York Knicks on February 22, 2011 as part of a trade which also sent star forward Carmelo Anthony to New York.

On April 9, 2011, Lawson became the first player in NBA history to make his first 10 three-point attempts to start a game.

He went 10-of-11 from behind three-point range and finished the game with a career-high 37 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.

On August 15, 2011, Lawson signed a one-year contract with Žalgiris Kaunas.

The deal included an out-clause that allowed him to return to the Denver Nuggets when the 2011 NBA lockout ended.

Lawson played seven Euroleague games during his stint in Kaunas, averaging 7.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists.

In 2012–13, the Nuggets finished with a franchise-best record of 57-25 and earned the third seed in the Western Conference.

However, they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Golden State Warriors.

Lawson led Denver in both scoring and assists for the series with averages of 21.3 points and 8.0 assists.

In 2013–14, with Danilo Gallinari out injured with a torn ACL, Lawson led the team in points, assists and steals.

The Nuggets' 2014–15 season took a turn for the worse with their record dropping to a dismal 30-52, good for the ninth-worst win–loss record in Nuggets history, and had a coaching change mid-season with Brian Shaw being replaced by Melvin Hunt.

Despite the turmoil, Lawson managed to have a solid season with 15.2 points and a career-high 9.6 assists per game.