Watching NBA games from your home or on the field live is one of the most recognizable parts of USA folklore. Weekends are periods when members of the family have time to spend on mutual interests. The high-quality way to create a deeper bond in the majority of cases is witnessing the fixtures of their favorite player or team.
One of those guys was Justin Dentmon, ex Dallas, San Antonio, and Toronto player. Justin’s persistence and willpower to prove himself have followed him in his career. So let’s look how the Dentmon’s road has been like.
What did his high-school career look like?
Throughout his senior season in high school, 19 year old Justin was a leader of the Carbondale Community High School team.
Dentmon was the best scorer in a competition held in Peoria, Illinois city, in 2004. Justin’s 78 points in only three fixtures seriously shocked the high school basketball circles. He averaged 22.1 points per game during his senior year which was a remarkable individual result.
Following devoting himself to playing basketball at Illinois State University in the city Normal, Dentmon decided to represent the Winchendon School in Massachusetts for one additional year. Some procedures and rules kept him out of court for a whole season in Normal, so the decision was easy to make for Justin.
What happened to Dentmon in his college career?
After assigning to the University of Washington in 2005, Dentmon started one of the most successful individual seasons in the history of this university. This point guard, even not the typical one, was the best player of the Huskies both in steals and free throw percentage helping the team to achieve a 26-7 score.
The first two years were excellent for Justin as he was named into the Pac-10-all freshman team in 2006. Following the weaker junior season, Dentmon got again the role of shooting guard. Scoring 14.4 points per game contributed to the Huskies winning the school’s first outright Pac-10 regular-season championship.
What was the first club in Justin’s professional career?
Following his college career, Justin Dentmon was signed by the Israelian club Hapoel Afula in 2009.
Instead of thriving in an NBA, the road took the hero of our paragraph to Israel in something which turned out to be a good move. The player personally was suspicious of how his adaptation to the new environment will look like, but the 36 percent shooting from the perimeter proved him wrong.
Dentmon ended the league as the best scorer with 19.8 points per fixture helping the Israelian team to finish the regular part of the season in tenth place.
How did Dentmon’s career continue after the Israelian experience?
After being named the NBA D-League’s Most Valuable Player for the 2011/2012 season, Dentmon received calls from many popular NBA clubs in the middle of the season.
San Antonio made him their signing in March of 2012, but the player perform in a Spurs shirt only 2 times. Scoring overall four points for a team from Texas didn’t hold him there, so he found a new offer.
Toronto approached Justin in May and made deal with the ex-Hapoel star in something that many people predicted to be an excellent collaboration. Unfortunately, a stint with the Raptors didn’t last long as Justin represented them four times with 5.5 points per game.
Confusing fact for Dentmon was the official reason for ending the deal which said that team from Canada was looking for a non-scoring guard.
How did Justin react to disappointments with San Antonio and Toronto?
The devastating period in Toronto and San Antonio didn’t shake Justin’s faith so much, so he signed for Olympia Milano in the summer of 2012. Dentmon averaged 4.3 points per game during 3 games for the Italian team, so the former college star decided to return to his native country.
Consequentially, Dallas offered a 10-day contract to Justin on March 25, 2013. Another opportunity to show enormous talent to an NBA audience appeared, but things again didn’t work well for Dentmon. The number of minutes he got was miserable and our hero couldn’t show quite much during only two games for Mavs.
Finally, Justin Dentmon was waived by Dallas Mavericks on April 3.
What was the next challenge in Justin’s career?
After a disappointing tenure with Dallas, Dentmon turned his eyes again to countries outside the USA in an attempt to revive his career. After a brief spell in Puerto Rico, the next big chosen team by Justin was Lithuanian Zalgiris with whom he played Euroleague and national league in season 2013/2014.
Dentmon’s performances in Euroleague and Lithuanian league were exceptional as he ended the competition with 16.8 points, 4.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per fixture. Eventually, Zalgiris finished the European contest in the Top 8 phase. Justin set the new record for the highest number of scored three-point shots until that moment in a game against Real Madrid – 74.
Watch now the crazy performance of Dentmon versus Real Madrid in season 2013/2014:
Where else did Dentmon play outside the USA?
Many players after failing to make big impacts in the most prestigious national basketball league on the planet want to recover their reputation in Asia. Big NBA names like Tracy McGrady, Stephon Marbury, and Gilbert Arenas found their place under the sun in China in the later stages of their careers.
Following their examples, ex Zalgiris player went to this Asian country signing contract with Qingdao.
In season 2014/2015 Justin went on to score 30.4 points per game in the Chinese league ending one fixture with 48 points on personal account. Despite that, he was reacquired by the team from the NBA Development league on March 10th, 2015.
Finally, his contribution to the success and first place in the Lithuanian league was evident to any realistic spectator.
How did Dentmon manage the stress of playing in Big 3?
After failing to make a bigger impact in NBA, Justin turned to challenges in 2021 in lucrative Ice Cube’s and Jeff Quatinetz’s project – Big3. Dentmon was picked by the team Tri State in the middle of 4th season getting to play with teammates like Nate Robinson, Jason Richardson, Larry Sanders, Earl Clark, and Tony Wroten.
His team ended up in the regular part of the season in 2nd place qualifying for Final Four with a 6-2 score Remarkable Justin’s result of 24 points, 6 rebounds, five assists, and one steal in a consolation fixture against Triplets alleviated sadness after losing the semi against Trilogy in the semi.
One of the biggest Justin virtues on the court is his “never surrender mentality” which he often points out during his interviews.
What result did Tri State achieve in the 2022 season?
In 2022, Justin decided to remain a member of Tri State team and try to go two steps further compared to last season. Fan’s appetites suddenly grew as the roster was strengthened by the arrival of DaJuan Summers and Garlon Green.
Unfortunately, Tri State form declined in the fifth season of Fireball with Justin Dentmon finishing the campaign in sixth place with 4 wins and 4 defeats. Voices of Basketball and 3×3 experts who claimed Justin is a point guard not able to score often enough were heard again.
Justin’s beginning of Big3 adventure is a new chapter in his playing biography, for sure. His fans are making the question if he will win a trophy in Ice Cube’s Fireball in the next couple of years. Without a doubt, Dentmon’s determination is something valuable in personality and hard work on training courts can take him far.
The hero of our paragraphs is eager to show the basketball audience that it is a possible effort to pay off. It is difficult to say if individual accolades are going to confirm his basic life principle. One thing is certain in Dentmon’s case- he will never give up.
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