Kendrick Nunn
Kendrick Melvin Nunn is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. Nunn played three seasons at the University of Illinois, where he was named to the 2013–14 Big Ten All-Freshman team. He was dismissed from the Illini basketball team following the 2015–16 season, and had to sit out a season after transferring to Oakland University due to National Collegiate Athletic Association transfer rules. He won the 2018 Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Year award at Oakland after leading the nation in three point shots made per game.
High school career
Nunn attended high school at Simeon Career Academy in Chicago. As a freshman, he received his first basketball scholarship offer from the late Rick Majerus, when he was still the head coach at Saint Louis University. He listed among the schools he was considering Illinois, Marquette, Memphis, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, and UCLA.During his senior season, Simeon honored his contribution by retiring his jersey, No. 20, along with that of fellow senior standout Jabari Parker, No. 22. Nunn and Parker thus joined Derrick Rose, Bobby Simmons, and Benji Wilson as the only other Wolverine basketball players to have their jersey numbers retired. Over his high school career, Nunn helped lead Simeon to as many as four Illinois High School Association state titles.
Initially, he had verbally committed to Texas A&M before his junior year in August 2011; about two months later, however, he announced his de-commitment from that school and intent to re-open his recruiting process. His father, Melvin, further explained that Kendrick felt he had committed too prematurely in the process and that he wished to explore all of his options.
After his official visit to Illinois, Nunn committed to play for the program under head coach John Groce on September 15, 2012.
College career
As a freshman, Nunn played for the Fighting Illini in all 35 games of their 2013–14 season and started in the last 12; he debuted as a starter on February 9, 2014, against Penn State, finishing the contest with 19 points and helping the team snap an eight-game losing streak. Nunn tied his career-high on February 19, with 19 points, to lead the Illini to a 62-49 victory at Minnesota; for this performance, he was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week five days later. On the heels of wins over Nebraska and Michigan State, in which Nunn averaged 10.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists, he repeated as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on March 3. At season's end, Nunn made the Big Ten All-Freshman Team selected by the coaches.Nunn was dismissed from the Illinois basketball team on May 24, 2016, after pleading guilty to a charge of misdemeanor battery two months earlier. About a month later, he transferred to Oakland University, where he had the opportunity to revitalize his career with the Golden Grizzlies. As required by NCAA transfer rules, Nunn sat out his first year there, relegated to the bench for the 2016–17 season. While playing in the Golden Grizzlies' 2017–18 campaign, Nunn earned Horizon League Player of the Week on November 13 and did so again on December 18 and January 22.
As a senior, Nunn led the NCAA Division I in three-point shooting, with an average of 4.47 three-point field goals made per game; and he finished second in scoring to Trae Young, with 25.9 points per contest. On February 28, 2018, Nunn was voted the Horizon League Player of the Year and also earned First Team All-League honors.
Professional career
Santa Cruz Warriors (2018–2019)
After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft, Nunn signed a partially guaranteed contract with the Golden State Warriors; it guaranteed him at least a spot on their Summer League roster and an invitation to their fall camp, as well as some money. The Warriors would ultimately decline to take him on however, releasing him on October 12. He was subsequently added to the roster of their G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors. In his November 4 professional debut for the team, Nunn recorded 15 points in a 118-108 win versus the Northern Arizona Suns. On November 10, he scored 32 points off the bench against the Iowa Energy. Despite only starting in one of 49 games played for the team, he averaged 19.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.3 blocks across 29 minutes per contest.Miami Heat (2019–present)
The Miami Heat announced that they had signed Nunn on April 10, 2019. On October 18, Nunn made a significant impression during the preseason finale against the Houston Rockets by posting 40 points, the highest score by a Heat player in a preseason game in the last 20 years. On October 23, Nunn made his NBA debut when he started in a 120–101 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies; he would finish the season-opener with 24 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. After his first week in the NBA, his three-game average of 22.3 points earned him an NBA player of the week nomination. Through his first five games, Nunn posted 112 points to break the record for the most points scored in as many games by an undrafted player. The previous record was set by Connie Hawkins with 105 points in 1969. The 112-point tally was also the most recorded by a rookie in his first five games since Kevin Durant scored 113 in 2007. On December 3, he was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month after having averaged 16.4 points, 3.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game. On December 10, Nunn put up a career-high 36 points during a 135–121 overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks. After scoring 504 points in his 31st career game, Nunn became the fastest rookie to reach 500 points in franchise history. On January 2, Nunn became the first undrafted player in NBA history to win multiple Rookie of the Month awards and joined Caron Butler as the only Heat players with multiple awards. He won the Rookie of the Month award for a third time for his January performance. He was named to the Rising Stars Game at the 2020 NBA All-Star Game, where he scored 16 points for Team USA.National team career
In March 2011, Nunn was among the 24 high school players invited to the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to try out for the FIBA Americas Under-16 Championship. Nunn was one of four Chicago talents to make it past the 27-man tryouts and join the 12-man national team. He went on to win a gold medal with Team USA in the 2011 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship in Cancun, Mexico. The team, coached by Don Showalter of Mid-Prairie High, scored over 100 points in each victorious matchup.Nunn, along with teammate Jabari Parker of Simeon and rival Jahlil Okafor of Whitney Young high school, was selected to play in the 2012 FIBA Under-17 World Championship held in Kaunas, Lithuania, from June 29 to July 8, 2012. As with the 2011 FIBA Under-16 Americas Championship, Nunn once again helped Team USA capture a gold medal.