Avery Bradley

BIOGRAPHY

Avery Antonio Bradley Jr. was born on November 26, 1990, in Tacoma, Washington. He is a shooting guard in the NBA. 

He played college basketball for Texas before being drafted 19th overall by the Boston Celtics in the 2010 NBA draft. With the Celtics, he was twice recognized as an NBA All-Defensive Team member. Bradley has also played for the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers.

He has two older brothers, one older sister, and one younger brother. His mother worked in a welfare office, while his father had a 22-year military career. After the two divorced in 2001, Bradley lived with his mother but maintained a strong relationship with his father, whose career took him all over the country. He became a Texas fan when his family lived in Arlington, Texas from 2001 to 2004. He and his family moved back to Tacoma in the summer of 2004, prior to his eighth grade year. Bradley was AAU teammates with future Boston Celtics teammate Isaiah Thomas.

Bradley was ranked as one of the top high school basketball players in the class of 2009. He was rated #1 in the ESPNU100, #4 by rivals.com, and #5 by scout.com. Bradley led Findlay College Prep to the National High School Basketball championship against Oak Hill Academy, and won 56–53. After leading Findlay to the championship, Bradley was named National High School Basketball Player of the Year by Parade Magazine. He played in the 2009 McDonald's All-American Game and won the 2009 McDonald's High School All-American Dunk Contest. Before transferring to Findlay Prep for his senior season, Bradley was a three-year starter at Bellarmine Preparatory School in Tacoma, Washington, and along with University of Washington recruit Abdul Gaddy, led Bellarmine Prep to the Class 4A state semi-finals with a 25–4 mark as a junior.

Bradley attended the University of Texas at Austin. Bradley found the Texas Longhorns basketball program appealing in part because he had spent parts of his childhood in Arlington, where he became a fan of T. J. Ford.

As a freshman in 2009–10, Bradley averaged 11.6 points for the Longhorns and established himself as one of the top defensive guards in the country. He subsequently earned Big 12 All-Rookie Team and All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors. In April 2010, Bradley declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final three years of college eligibility. 

Bradley was selected with the 19th overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. On July 2, 2010, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Celtics. In the one Celtics game of Bradley's rookie season in which he played more than 15 minutes, Bradley scored 20 points to go with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. During the 2011–12 NBA season, Bradley enjoyed much more playing time and was promoted to a starting role following an injury to Ray Allen. Bradley's scoring output increased significantly during the season, and he managed a career-high 28 points against the Atlanta Hawks on April 20, 2012. He also received praise for his tremendous hustle and defense.

 Bradley's sixth NBA season was both an individual and team success, capped off when he was included in the NBA All-Defensive First Team.

On July 7, 2017, in a bid to clear enough cap space to sign star free agent Gordon Hayward, as well as an attempt to increase the size of their perimeter defenders, the Celtics traded Bradley and a 2019 second-round draft pick to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Marcus Morris. On January 29, 2018, Bradley, along with Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanović, a future protected first-round draft pick and a future second-round draft pick, was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Blake Griffin, Willie Reed and Brice Johnson.On February 7, 2019, Bradley was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for JaMychal Green and Garrett Temple. On February 12, Bradley led Memphis with a career-high 33 points in a 108–107 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

On July 8, 2019, Bradley signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.