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Canadian basketball player From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anthony Randolph "A. J." Lawson (born July 15, 2000) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the South Carolina Gamecocks.
![]() Lawson with South Carolina in 2020 | |||||||||||||||
No. 9 – Dallas Mavericks | |||||||||||||||
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Position | Shooting guard | ||||||||||||||
League | NBA | ||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
Born | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | July 15, 2000||||||||||||||
Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | ||||||||||||||
Listed weight | 179 lb (81 kg) | ||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||
High school |
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College | South Carolina (2018–2021) | ||||||||||||||
NBA draft | 2021: undrafted | ||||||||||||||
Playing career | 2021–present | ||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||
2021–2022 | College Park Skyhawks | ||||||||||||||
2022 | Guelph Nighthawks | ||||||||||||||
2022 | College Park Skyhawks | ||||||||||||||
2022 | Minnesota Timberwolves | ||||||||||||||
2022 | →Iowa Wolves | ||||||||||||||
2022–present | Dallas Mavericks | ||||||||||||||
2022–2024 | →Texas Legends | ||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Stats at NBA.com | |||||||||||||||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Lawson grew up in Brampton, Ontario and attended GTA Prep in Mississauga, a basketball academy based out of Mississauga Secondary School where he was coached by David Cooper. In his grade 12 season, Lawson was named an National Preparatory Association First Team All-Star and led the team to second place in the NPA championships.[1] Originally set to graduate in 2019 and ranked 40th in his class by 247Sports as well as fourth-best Canadian prospect by North Pole Hoops, Lawson reclassified for the class of 2018.[2] Lawson committed to playing college basketball for South Carolina over offers from Tulane and Creighton. South Carolina head coach Frank Martin began recruiting Lawson after a late night workout in Columbia on the trip back from a tournament.[3]
Lawson averaged 13.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game in 29 games played and was named to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) All-Freshman team.[4][5] He was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on November 19, 2018, after averaging 15.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists over a three-game stretch against Norfolk State, Providence and George Washington.[6] Following the season he initially entered his name into the 2019 NBA draft, but decided to withdraw and return to South Carolina for his sophomore season.[7][8]
Lawson was named to the preseason first team All-SEC and to the Jerry West Award watchlist going into his sophomore year.[9][10] He was also named the 41st-best collegiate basketball player going into the 2019–20 season by CBS Sports and the 29th-best prospect for the 2020 NBA draft by ESPN.[11][12] Lawson scored a season-high 28 points on November 15, 2019, in a 90–63 win against Cleveland State.[13] Lawson led the team during the season in total points with 416 and points per game at 13.4 while also averaging 3.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game.[14] Following the season, he declared for the 2020 NBA draft but did not hire an agent.[15] Lawson decided to withdraw from the draft and return to South Carolina on July 29.[16] On January 6, 2021, Lawson scored a career-high 30 points in a 78–54 win over Texas A&M.[17] As a junior, he averaged 16.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He was named to the Southeastern Conference (SEC) All-Second Team. On April 19, 2021, he declared for the 2021 NBA draft and signed an agent.[18]
After going undrafted in the 2021 NBA draft, Lawson joined the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks for the 2021 NBA Summer League.[19] On September 22, 2021, Lawson signed with the Atlanta Hawks.[20] However, he was waived on October 7.[21] In October 2021, Lawson signed with the College Park Skyhawks[22] where he played 26 games and averaged 11.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 48.1% from the field.[23]
On April 26, 2022, Lawson signed with the Guelph Nighthawks of the CEBL.[23]
Lawson joined the Dallas Mavericks for the 2022 NBA Summer League.[24] In five games, he averaged 15.6 points and 6.0 rebounds, while shooting 51.9% from the field.[25] Later, on July 19, 2022, Lawson signed a two-way contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.[26] On October 15, 2022, Lawson was waived by the Timberwolves.[27] On November 3, 2022, Lawson was named to the opening night roster for the College Park Skyhawks.[28] On November 16, Lawson signed another two-way contract with the Timberwolves,[29] but was waived on December 8.[30] Two days later, he returned to College Park.[31]
On December 26, 2022, Lawson signed a two-way contract with the Dallas Mavericks, splitting time with their NBA G League affiliate, the Texas Legends.[32] It was converted to a standard-contract on March 4, 2024.[33] Lawson reached the 2024 NBA Finals where the Mavericks lost to the Boston Celtics in five games.[34]
Lawson has competed internationally for the Canada men's national under-19 basketball team. He averaged 14.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game in the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship as Canada finished second in the tournament.[35] Lawson posted team highs with 18 points and 12 rebounds in Canada's 113–74 loss to the United States in the tournament final.[36]
In the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, Lawson averaged a team-best 16.7 points with 3.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game in seven games as Canada advanced to the quarterfinals.[37] He also had the highest scoring performance of the tournament with a 31-point game against Senegal.[38]
Lawson made his debut with Canada's senior men's national team during the first round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Americas Qualifiers.[39]
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 |
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018–19 | South Carolina | 29 | 28 | 29.9 | .411 | .358 | .667 | 4.3 | 2.9 | 1.1 | .2 | 13.4 |
2019–20 | South Carolina | 31 | 31 | 29.1 | .414 | .339 | .724 | 3.7 | 1.9 | 1.2 | .1 | 13.4 |
2020–21 | South Carolina | 21 | 21 | 31.3 | .394 | .351 | .700 | 4.1 | 1.2 | 1.5 | .1 | 16.6 |
Career | 81 | 80 | 30.0 | .407 | .349 | .697 | 4.0 | 2.1 | 1.2 | .2 | 14.2 |
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