Height: 6-2 / 1.88
Weight: 180 lbs. / 81.6 kg.
Prior to NBA / Country:Arizona / USA
Years Pro: 13
Jason Terry Biography Current News Profile Wife Fashion Wedding Weightloss Fashion Children Movies Relationships Twitter Imdb Family Facebook Myspace Pictures Wallpaper Online Video.Email Address Contact Birthday House Design Eye Hair Tatoo Childhood.He was the second of Andrea Cheatham’s 10 kids, by four different fathers, all united by her under one roof. Jason’s father was Curtis Terry.
Jason was a fan of all three Seattle sports teams—the Sonics, Mariners and Seahawks. He was also a gym rat. In a city where the outdoor courts are not always playable, kids hone their hoops skills in rec centers. Jason was well known on the South Side by the time he was 11. Still, no one saw the kind of talent it would take to fashion a pro career. When Jason was in 6th grade, his teacher told him his goal of playing in the NBA was a “foolish dream.”
ON THE RISE
In 1998-99, Jason finally got his chance to run the Arizona offense. It was no easy task. Three Wildcat starters were freshmen, and the fourth was senior center A.J. Bramlett, who was not an imposing post player. Of course, Jason was not regarded all that highly either. That began to change when he began dropping 20 and 30 points on Arizona’s opponents. When he burned third-ranked Stanford with a game-winning jumper with three seconds left, Jason had arrived.
As the season unfolded, he singlehandedly led the Wildcats into the Top 10 and paced the conference in scoring, assists and steals. Even Olson had to admit that, without Jason, Arizona would not have even been close to a .500 team. Sports Illustrated and a handful of other publications agreed, naming him its NCAA Player of the Year over the likes of Richard Hamilton, Andre Miller and Elton Brand.
That spring, in the 1999 NBA draft, Jason went at number 10 to Atlanta. The Hawks had finished the truncated 1998-99 NBA season with a fine 31-19 record, finishing second in the Central Division. They defeated the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs before bowing to the New York Knicks, who went on the NBA Finals.
For the 1999-2000 campaign, Atlanta’s plan was to mix Jason in with Bimbo Coles to trigger an offense that now focused on newcomers Jim Jackson and Isaiah Rider. The team’s coach was former Seattle legend Lenny Wilkens, a fellow left-handed point guard. His strategy never clicked. The Hawks were atrocious, finishing 28-54. The lone bright spots were veteran Dikembe Mutombo, who led the NBA in rebounding and finished second in shooting percentage and blocked shots, and Jason. He started their final 27 games and averaged 8.1 points and 4.3 assists on the year, making the second team All-Rookie squad.
The Hawks were a year older in 2000-01, but no better, despite a new coach, Lon Kruger. Mutombo missed almost half the year, and Atlanta lost 57 times. Jason emerged as the team’s best player, averaging 19.7 points and leading the club in steals, assists and free throws made. He played 3,089 minutes when no one else on the roster reached 2,000. Jason spent the first two weeks at the point, then moved over to shooting guard, where he carved up defenders and became a consistent perimeter threat. He netted 30 points 14 times.
The following season, Jason was teamed with Shareef Abdur-Rahim. The plan was to use Jacque Vaughn as the floor general, but by the end of January the Hawks had moved Jason back to the point. As in years past, Atlanta was simply rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, as the team sank out of playoff contention and wound up with only 33 wins. Jason averaged over 19 a game for the second year and started to get the hang of the point.Atlanta added a second scoring forward in 2002-03 inGlenn Robinson. Not surprisingly, Jason’s assist totals began to rise. He finished the season with 7.4 per game—seventh in the NBA. He also ranked seventh in three-pointers with 190.Jason averaged a respectable 17.2 points per game for another new coach, Terry Stotts. Again, however, the Hawks struggled. Their record, 35-49, wasn't nearly good enough for a playoff nod.
It was more of the same in 2003-04, as the Hawks failed to reach the 30-win plateau. Robinson was shown the door prior to the season, and Abdur-Rahim was traded after 53 games. Jason once again was the major bright spot for Atlanta fans. He teamed with newcomer Stephen Jackson, who inked a lucartive deal with the Hawks after reaching the 2003 NBA Finals with the San Antonio Spurs. The two were good for 30 to 40 a night and also gave the team some defensive credibility.
Miles Simon, 1997 Sports Illustrated
Jason was finally released from purgatory in August of 2004, when he was packaged with a first-round pick and traded to Dallasfor Antoine Walker and Tony Delk. The Mavs were a solid 50-win team built around multitalented Dirk Nowitzki and young defensive whiz Josh Howard. Jason was brought in to replace Steve Nash, who had left for Phoenix as a free agent. Dallas was coached by legendary Don Nelson and owned by passionate Mark Cuban. Every home game was a sellout. For Jason, it was like playing ball on another planet.The Mavs sputtered at times in Jason’s first year, and the Spurs opened up a healthy lead in the NBA’s new Southwest Division. He came off the bench the first two months before earning the starting point guard role. In a February tilt with the Sacaramento Kings, Jason went wild in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 points and winning the game with a bucket and a foul shot with a few seconds left.
In late March, Nelson announced that he was retiring and handed the coaching reins to Avery Johnson. AJ and JT connected immediately, and the Mavs ran off 16 wins in their final 18 games, nearly catching the Spurs in the process. Jason averaged 12.4 points and 5.4 assists as Dallas made the playoffs with 58 wins.
Jason upped his scoring in the playoffs, averaging 17.5 points in 13 games. The Mavs toughed out a seven-game series against Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets to move into the second round. There they fell to Nash and the Suns. The series was tied after four games, but Phoenix won at home and Dallas lost a heartbreaking Game 6 in overtime.
MAKING HIS MARK
In the offseason, the Mavs were forced to waive longtime star Michael Finley for salary cap reasons. Coach Johnson told Jason he needed him to become the team’s number-two scorer behind Nowitzki.
In 2005-06, however, the focus of the Mavericks was defense. The trade for Jason had been a part of that plan from the outset, and in his second season he found himself surrounded by aggressive young supporting players like Devin Harris, Adrian Griffin, Marquis Daniels and Desagana Diop. Dallas finished the year with 60 wins, second only to the Spurs. Jason averaged 17.1 points and shot 47 percent from the floor, leading a balanced attack that was often keyed by defensive stops and turnovers.
After defeating the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs, the Mavs and Spurs collided in an epic seven-game series. It went to overtime of the finale before Dallas prevailed 119-111. The team's next test was Phoenix. Nowitzki had a great series, and the Mavs won three of the first five games. The Suns responded with a great first half in Game 6, but Dallas turned up the defensive intensity and scored 40 in the final quarter to win its first Western Conference championship.
The Mavs faced the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, guaranteeing that the 2006 champion would be a first-timer. Early on it looked like Dallas would wear the crown. In Game 1, Jason was unconscious, canning 13 of 18 shots and abusing his ido Payton off the dribble. He finished with 32 points in a 90-80 victory. Dallas won Game 2 behind a great performance from Nowitzki.
Game 3 was also going the Mavs’ way when Udonis Haslem stole a pass from Jason with just over a minute left. When Dwyane Wade came alive, the Heat made key defensive stops and stole the victory. Despite a heroic 35-point effort from Jason in Game 4, Wade continued to control the series. When the Heat also took Game 5, the Mavs had their backs against the wall.
Game 6 was a nail-biter. Jason went ice-cold in the second half, as did Nowitzki, but the Mavs hung in. With Dallas own five points with 20 seconds left, Howard canned a pair of free throws to make the score 95-92. The Mavs were forced to foul Wade, who missed two free throws. It was time for a patented momentum-shifting three-pointer from Jason, but this time his long-range bomb did not fall. The Mavs, in turn, became only the third team to lose the NBA Finals after winning the first two games.
Dirk Nowitzki, 2005 SI for Kids
For some players, the lingering memory of that missed trey would follow them like a black cloud. Jason, however, would gladly have taken that shot again, fully expecting to make it. He liked the challenge, embraced the responsibility, and accepted the consequences. That was a big reason why the Mavs re-signed him less than a day after he became a free agent in the summer of 2006. Jason kept his numbers up in 2006–07 and provided leadership and scoring. The Mavs finished first in the Southwest Division with 67 wins, but they fell in the playoffs to the lowly Golden State Warriors. It ranked as one of the greatest first-round upsets in NBA history.
In 2007–08, Johnson began tweaking the Dallas lineup. Harris became the starting point guard, and Jason spent much of the year coming off the bench. He played this role to near perfection, especially after the Mavs acquired Jason Kidd at midseason. JT averaged 15.5 points a game and led the team’s guards in shooting from the field. Yet once again the Mavs fell in the first round of the postseason, this time to Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets. A second-straigh playoff upset ended Johnson’s coaching reign in Dallas.
His replacement, Rick Carlisle, decided that one of the things that was working for the Mavs was Jason off the bench. In 2008–09, he made 74 appearances—all but 11 as a sub. Jason provided instant offense, nearly matching his career-high with 19.6 points per game. He was also second on the team in assists. Jason was named Sixth Man of the Year. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do about yet another playoff swoon. After defeating the Spurs in the opening round, Dallas lost to the Denver Nuggets in five games.
The Mavs began retooling in 2009–10. Cuban had come to the conclusion that the club needed more veteran talent. Too often, the younger players just watched Nowitzki do his thing. Over the next two seasons, the Mavs brought in Caron Butler, Shawn Marion, Brendan Haywood, DeShawn Stevenson and Tyson Chandler. Jason, meanwhile, continued to thrive in his bench role.
The 2010 playoffs ended for the Mavs again without the franchise’s first NBA championship. Not surprisingly, they entered the 2011 playoffs with low expectations. They had been down this road before, without much success. Jason and Dirk were the only holdovers from the 2006 NBA Finals.
The Mavs opened the postseason in solid fashion, defeating the Portland Trailblazers in six games. That set up a meeting with the Lakers. No one was expecting what happened next—a sweep of Los Angeles that suddenly put Dallas in position to return to the championship round. In Game 4 Jason torched rhe Lakers, hitting nine of 10 shots from behind the arc.
Next up for the Mavs were the talented but inexperienced Oklahoma City Thunder. Jason hit for 24 in the opener. He added six assists in a Game 3 win and 20 points in Game 4, helping Dallas to a commanding series lead. The Mavs then won Game 5 and prepared to meet the Heat in a Finals rematch.
Jason Terry, 2005 SP Authentic
Of course, this time Miami had LeBron James and Chris Bosh in addition to Wade. After falling behind two games to one, Dallas came roaring back to take the series. Jason scored in double figures in all six games and also contributed eight steals and 19 assists. His 8-of-12 shooting in Game 5 gave Dallas its first lead in the series. His 27 points in Game 6 led both teams in the finale. As injuries bit the Mavs, Jason’s relentless movement kept the Heat from relaxing.
By winning their first title, the Mavs shed the label of a weak team that folded in crunch time. Jason bolstered his reputation as well. Known mostly for his ability to trash talk, he has proven that he is a champion and a leader. Boy, will Jason ever have fun now telling opponents what he really thinks of them.
JASON THE PLAYER
Jason has demonstrated the qualities that every NBA team looks for in a guard. He is both comfortable and effective playing the point, running the wing, or coming off the bench. He can nail three-pointers or take defenders off the dribble. He is quick and fast and relentless at both ends of the court. In short, Jason is one of the most complete all-around backcourt men in the league.
Jason’s leadership is unquestioned. On losing teams, he stayed positive, but could only do so much to turn things around. Once he moved to a winning club and understood the role he was expected to play, he took to it quickly. Having led teams to championships in high school and college, and having helped the Mavericks to capture an NBA title, his resume is complete.Jason Terry Biography Current News Profile Wife Fashion Wedding Weightloss Fashion Children Movies Relationships Twitter Imdb Family Facebook Myspace Pictures Wallpaper Online Video.Email Address Contact Birthday House Design Eye Hair Tatoo Childhood.
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