Leon Powe

Leon Powe

Leon Powe during his tenure with the Boston Celtics.
Power Forward/ Center
Personal information
Date of birth	January 22, 1984 (age 27)
Place of birth	Oakland, California
Nationality	American
High school	Oakland Technical High School (Oakland, California)
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
College	California
NBA Draft	2006 / Round: 2 / Pick: 49th overall
Selected by the Denver Nuggets
Pro career	2006–present

Leon Powe, Jr. (pronounced /ˈpoʊ/; born January 22, 1984 in Oakland, California) is an American professional basketball player.

Personal life

Powe grew up in Oakland, California. His father left him when he was two years old. When he was seven years old, the family's house burned down and they were homeless for years. They moved more than twenty times within six years. He and his siblings were taken away from their mother by the state of California and put into foster care. Powe's mother died four days before he played in the state championship.His life was featured by ESPN in a segment during the 2008 NBA Finals.

Powe has a one year old son named Leon Powe III. The son's nickname is LP3.

High school career

Powe attended Oakland Technical High School, where he averaged 27.4 ppg, 14.2 rpg and 3.1 bpg as a senior. With Powe in the roster, Oakland Tech was able to win the CIF Oakland Section Championship and also reach the CIF State Championships in 2002 and 2003. He was named a first-team Parade All-American and the Gatorade California Player of the Year during his senior year. A highly rated prep star, Powe was selected to play in the McDonald's All-American game and became the first Oakland Tech athlete to have his number retired by the school.

College career

Powe played his college basketball for the California Golden Bears from 2003–2006. Although he was present for three seasons, he did not play in his sophomore year due to a serious knee injury. During his freshman season, he earned the PAC-10 freshman of the year, leading the conference in rebounding.

Questions abounded about whether Powe would be able to return to form following his knee surgery, but he worked hard and rehabilitated to become a dominant force on the interior as he continued to improve his game. He produced 20.5 PPG and 10.1 RPG while leading Cal to a 20–11 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Powe was named California's most valuable player during a banquet in April 2006. Powe, who also was selected Cal's MVP as a freshman in 2004, averaged 20.5 ppg and 10.1 rpg to become just the sixth player ever to pace the conference in both categories. Named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press, the U.S. Basketball Writers and ESPN.com, he was chosen to the All-Pac-10 team for a second time in 2006.

Professional career

After his junior year, Powe decided to enter his name in the 2006 NBA Draft. Powe was selected by the Denver Nuggets in the second round as the 49th overall pick. The Nuggets subsequently traded him to the Boston Celtics. After playing for the Celtics summer league team, Powe was signed by the team to a 3-year contract. Although Powe did not reach the sum of 14 in his per game points, rebounds, and assists necessary to guarantee the second year of his contract, that second year became guaranteed when Boston did not waive him by July 1, 2007. Powe had a similar hurdle of 16 for the sum of the three statistics to guarantee the third year of his contract (2008–09).

2006–07 NBA season

Powe played as a fourth string center behind Kendrick Perkins, Brian Scalabrine, and Michael Olowokandi in his rookie season. After a rash of injuries submarined Boston's playoff chances, Powe received a limited opportunity to showcase his skills. He proved himself a capable defender who can alter shots and provide interior rebounding. On January 12, 2007, Powe made the most out of his 25 minutes and registered a career-high 12 rebounds against the Toronto Raptors. On April 10, 2007, he scored 19 points against the Atlanta Hawks. Powe finished the 2006–07 campaign averaging 4.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in just over 11 minutes per game.

2007–08 NBA season

On January 29, 2008, Powe had a breakout performance that took place in Miami against the struggling Heat, as he effectively filled in the blank of the absent main contributors Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, scoring 25 points and grabbing 11 rebounds en route to a 117–87 blowout victory. He also scored his career-high 27 points in the last game of the season against the New Jersey Nets on April 16, 2008.

One of his most notable performances of the season came in Game 2 of the 2008 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers on June 8, 2008, as he scored 21 points, which included several dunks and 13 free throw attempts (the Lakers team only attempted 10 the entire game) in only 15 minutes of play in front of a crowd chanting his name en route to a 108–102 Celtics victory.

Powe during the 2008 Boston Celtics championship parade.

2008–09 NBA season

On March 13, 2009, Powe started in place of the injured Kevin Garnett, scoring a career-high 30 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking a career-high 5 shots, in a 102–92 Celtics victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Powe spent the end of the season attempting to recover from a right knee strain. He returned in time for the playoffs, only to tear the ACL and meniscus in his left knee in Game 2 of the first round against the Chicago Bulls. Powe continued to play on the torn ACL for three minutes before being taken out. Powe's season ended with the knee injury, and had successful surgery to repair the injury on May 5, 2009. On August 2, the Cleveland Cavaliers offered Powe an offer sheet worth two-year, $1.8 million. On August 11, 2009, Powe and the Cavaliers agreed in principle to the deal with an option on the second year. On August 12, 2009, he officially signed the deal.

2010-11 NBA season

On February 24, after two trades, the Cleveland Cavaliers needed to clear their roster capacity, and Leon Powe was waived. 

Career transactions

June 28, 2006: Drafted 49th overall by Denver Nuggets in 2006 NBA Draft.

June 28, 2006: Traded by Denver to the Boston Celtics for a future second-round draft pick.

August 12, 2009: Signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

February 24, 2011: Waived by the Cavaliers.

NBA career statistics

Legend

GP Games played GS Games started MPG Minutes per game

FG% Field-goal percentage 3P% 3-point field-goal percentage FT% Free-throw percentage

RPG Rebounds per game APG Assists per game SPG Steals per game

BPG Blocks per game PPG Points per game Bold Career high

Regular season

(Correct as of 23 January 2011)

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG

2006–07 Boston 63 2 11.4 .446 .000 .736 3.4 .2 .2 .3 4.2

2007–08 Boston 56 5 14.4 .572 .000 .710 4.1 .3 .3 .3 7.9

2008–09 Boston 70 7 17.5 .524 .000 .689 4.9 .7 .3 .5 7.7

2009–10 Cleveland 20 2 11.8 .429 .000 .587 3.0 .0 .3 .1 4.0

2010–11 Cleveland 14 3 13.4 .492 .000 .462 2.7 .1 .5 .2 5.0

Career 223 19 14.3 .516 .000 .687 4.0 .3 .3 .4 6.3

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG

2007–08 Boston 23 1 11.7 .493 .000 .667 2.7 .2 .0 .1 5.0

2008–09 Boston 2 0 12.0 .429 .000 .667 4.5 .0 .0 .0 5.0

2009–10 Cleveland 3 0 3.0 .250 .000 .750 .7 .0 .0 .0 1.7

Career 28 1 10.8 .476 .000 .671 2.6 .1 .0 .1 4.7

Career highs

Points: 30 vs. Memphis 03/13/09

Rebounds: 13 3 times

Assists: 3 3 times

Steals: 4 vs. Minnesota 02/01/09

Blocks: 5 vs. Memphis 03/11/09

(source:wikipedia)