Christian James McCollum was born on September 19,1991 and is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association.
29 Facts About CJ McCollum
2.
CJ McCollum played college basketball for the Lehigh Mountain Hawks and was named the Patriot League Player of the Year in both 2010 and 2012.
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CJ McCollum was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the tenth overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft.
4.
In 2022, CJ McCollum was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans, ending his nine year run with the Blazers.
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CJ McCollum played high school basketball for the Golden Eagles at GlenOak High School in his native city of Canton, Ohio.
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CJ McCollum played at the private research school Lehigh University for four seasons.
7.
CJ McCollum played in 33 games, starting in 31, and averaged 19.1 points and 5 rebounds per game while shooting 45.9 percent from the field.
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CJ McCollum was the leading freshman scorer in the nation and the first player in Patriot League history to be named conference Player and Rookie of the Year.
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CJ McCollum led the Mountain Hawks to the 2010 NCAA tournament, where he put up 26 points in a first-round loss to a top-seeded Kansas team.
10.
CJ McCollum played and started in 31 contests and shot 39.9 percent from the field.
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CJ McCollum's shooting percentages dipped to 39.9 percent from the field, as did Lehigh's record, and McCollum was edged out for conference Player of the Year honors by Mike Muscala of the Bucknell Bisons.
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Over his four collegiate years, CJ McCollum added 30 pounds of muscle to fill out his frame.
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On January 5,2013, CJ McCollum broke his left foot in a game against Virginia Commonwealth University, ending his season early.
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CJ McCollum went on to graduate from Lehigh University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
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The first player to ever enter the NBA from Lehigh, CJ McCollum was picked tenth overall in the 2013 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers.
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CJ McCollum sat out the first six weeks of the regular season with a foot injury.
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On July 27,2016, CJ McCollum signed a four-year contract extension with Portland.
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CJ McCollum would start in all 80 games that he played and would average 23 points as well as 3.6 rebounds and as many assists.
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CJ McCollum joined Damian Lillard, Damon Stoudamire, Brandon Roy, Andre Miller, Clyde Drexler and Geoff Petrie as Trail Blazers to score 50 points or more.
20.
On December 7,2021, CJ McCollum was diagnosed with a pneumothorax and was ruled out indefinitely.
21.
On September 24,2022, CJ McCollum agreed to a two-year, $64 million extension with the Pelicans.
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CJ McCollum joined Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, and Tyreke Evans as the only players in Pelicans history to put up at least 40 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in a game.
23.
McCollum hosts a weekly podcast, Pull Up with CJ McCollum, that is produced by Cadence13.
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CJ McCollum has a podcast studio in his home and brings portable recording equipment with him when he is out of town.
25.
On May 30,2022, CJ McCollum signed a multiplatform deal with ESPN to be an NBA analyst.
26.
CJ McCollum has been married to his college sweetheart Elise Esposito since October 27,2020.
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CJ McCollum is involved in his community as a radio personality and philanthropist.
28.
CJ McCollum helps foster local youths' interest in journalists through an initiative called CJ's Press Pass; it grants aspiring journalists access to postgame news conferences and provides them the opportunity to attend events with CJ McCollum, to receive personalized mentorship from members of the media, and to have their work published.
29.
CJ McCollum has his own label, McCollum Heritage 91, named after the street he grew up on and his birth year.