1. Charlie Alexander Villanueva Mejia was born on August 24,1984 and is a Dominican-American former professional basketball player who played for the Toronto Raptors, Milwaukee Bucks, Detroit Pistons and Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association.
The son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Villanueva was raised in Elmhurst, Queens, New York City.
Charlie Villanueva was drafted at the age of 20 with the seventh overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors.
Charlie Villanueva holds Dominican citizenship and has represented the Dominican Republic national team in international competitions.
Charlie Villanueva has an autoimmune skin disease known as alopecia universalis, a variation of alopecia areata.
Charlie Villanueva is a spokesman for the NAAF, and received the February 2006 Community Assist Award from the NBA for his work with the organization.
Charlie Villanueva spent his next three years at Blair Academy in Blairstown, New Jersey, where he played with another future NBA player, Luol Deng.
Charlie Villanueva received All-American honors as a senior and was named New Jersey Co-Player of the Year.
Charlie Villanueva entered the 2003 NBA draft, but withdrew his eligibility so he could play college basketball for the University of Connecticut.
Charlie Villanueva originally gave a verbal commitment to play for the University of Illinois, but after Bill Self left the Illini for the University of Kansas, Charlie Villanueva withdrew his commitment.
Charlie Villanueva considered following Self to the Jayhawks, but instead opted to play for the University of Connecticut.
Charlie Villanueva declared for the 2005 NBA draft following his sophomore season, thus forgoing his final two years of college eligibility.
Charlie Villanueva was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the seventh overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft.
Charlie Villanueva averaged 13.0 points and 6.4 rebounds in 81 games.
Charlie Villanueva finished second among rookies in points and rebounds, and third in minutes and blocked shots.
Charlie Villanueva tallied 12 double-doubles and set the Raptors' rookie records for points and rebounds in a game.
Charlie Villanueva appeared in the Rookie Challenge and was named to the All-NBA Rookie first team.
On June 30,2006, Villanueva was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for T J Ford.
On March 3,2009, Charlie Villanueva scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds during a loss to the New Jersey Nets.
On July 8,2009, Charlie Villanueva signed a five-year, $40 million contract with the Detroit Pistons.
Charlie Villanueva had scored a career high 16.7 points per game with Milwaukee the previous season.
In November 2010, Charlie Villanueva tweeted that Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett, a known trash-talker, called him a "cancer patient" during a Celtics blowout win over Detroit.
On January 2,2013, Charlie Villanueva was fined $25,000 by the NBA for delivering a flagrant foul to Sacramento Kings guard Isaiah Thomas the previous night.
Charlie Villanueva had been ejected from the game for elbowing Thomas as Thomas drove to the basket.
On September 23,2014, Charlie Villanueva signed with the Dallas Mavericks.
The son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic, Charlie Villanueva was raised in Elmhurst, Queens, New York City.
Charlie Villanueva represented the United States at youth levels but in 2009, he switched sports citizenship to the Dominican Republic.
Charlie Villanueva played for the Dominican Republic national basketball team in the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship.