Antonio Davon Blakeney (born October 4, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and EuroCup. He played college basketball for the LSU Tigers.

Antonio Blakeney
Blakeney in 2015
No. 2 – Hapoel Tel Aviv
PositionShooting guard
LeagueIsraeli Premier League
EuroCup
Personal information
Born (1996-10-04) October 4, 1996 (age 28)
Watertown, New York, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight192 lb (87 kg)
Career information
High schoolOak Ridge (Orlando, Florida)
CollegeLSU (2015–2017)
NBA draft2017: undrafted
Playing career2017–present
Career history
20172019Chicago Bulls
2017–2018Windy City Bulls
2019–2020Jiangsu Dragons
2021Canton Charge
2022Al-Ahli
2022Hapoel Be'er Sheva
2022–2023Jiangsu Dragons
2023–2024Nanjing Monkey Kings
2024–presentHapoel Tel Aviv
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

High school career

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Born in Watertown, New York,[1] Blakeney was a 2015 McDonald's All-American[2] and Florida's Mr. Basketball.[3]

Blakeney was rated as a 5 star recruit by Rivals, ESPN, and 247 Sports. Rivals had him as the #13 overall recruit, while ESPN had him at #15 and 247 at #16. Both ESPN and 247 ranked him as the #3 SG in the nation.[4][5][6]

College career

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Blakeney initially gave a verbal commitment to the University of Louisville, but then Blakeney changed his mind about 10 days later and decommitted. Blakeney ended up committing to Louisiana State University. At Louisiana State University he was featured in 34 games as a freshman, playing alongside Ben Simmons. Behind Simmons and Keith Hornsby, Blakeney was LSU's third-leading scorer in 2015–16, averaging 12.6 points a contest,[7] hitting a team-best 52 three-point shots on the season.

The 2016–17 season saw him emerge as LSU's leading scorer, pouring in 17.2 points per contest, while corralling 4.8 rebounds a game and handing out 1.7 assists per outing. Blakeney took home an All-SEC Second Team selection that year.[8] In April 2017, he announced to forgo the remaining two years of his eligibility and declared for the 2017 NBA draft.[9]

Professional career

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Chicago Bulls (2017–2019)

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After going undrafted, Blakeney joined the Chicago Bulls for the 2017 NBA Summer League.[10] Based on his performance there, Blakeney was signed to a two-way contract by the Bulls. Under the terms of the deal, he split time between the Bulls and their G League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls.[11] He made his professional debut with Chicago on October 19 against the Toronto Raptors. On November 21, 2017, Blakeney scored 15 points in 18 minutes off the bench in a 113–105 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.[12] He won the NBA G League Rookie of the Year Award for his time with the Windy City Bulls.[13]

On July 19, 2018, Blakeney was signed to an NBA contract by the Bulls.[14]

In the season opener on October 18, 2018, Blakeney scored 15 points off the bench in a 127–108 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.[15] In a 107–105 loss to the Indiana Pacers on November 2, 2018, Blakeney scored a career-high 22 points off the bench.[16]

On September 9, 2019, Blakeney was released by the Bulls.[17]

Canton Charge (2021)

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For the 2020–21 season, Blakeney signed with the Canton Charge of the G League.[18] In early 2021, Blakeney was arrested for armed robbery and bonded out of jail.[19]

Al Ahli Club of Manama (2022)

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On Jan, 2022, Blakeney signed with the Al-Ahli of the Bahraini Premier League. On Jan 28, 2022, he scored game-high 32 Pts in the 1st round against Al-Najma. On Feb 8, 2022 he scored 26 Pts in the 3rd round against Al-Hala.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva (2022)

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On March 17, 2022, he has signed with Hapoel Be'er Sheva of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.[20]

Jiangsu Dragons (2022–2023)

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In the 2022–23 season, Blakeney played in China with the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He was the scoring leader of the league after averaging 32.7 points per game.[21]

Nanjing Monkey Kings (2023–2024)

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Blakeney joined the Nanjing Monkey Kings for the 2023–24 CBA season. On December 29, 2023, he scored 50 points in a 124–99 win over Shanxi Loongs, his fourth 50-point CBA game.[22]

Hapoel Tel Aviv (2024–present)

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On October 21, 2024, Blakeney signed with the Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and EuroCup.[23]

Career statistics

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Legend
  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

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Chicago 19 0 16.5 .371 .288 .769 1.7 1.1 .4 .1 7.9
2018–19 Chicago 57 3 14.5 .419 .396 .658 1.9 .7 .2 .2 7.3
Career 76 3 15.0 .406 .357 .696 1.8 .8 .3 .1 7.5

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015–16 LSU 33 24 30.8 .425 .335 .748 3.5 .9 .7 .2 12.6
2016–17 LSU 31 30 32.9 .458 .358 .724 4.8 1.7 .7 .1 17.2
Career 64 54 31.8 .444 .347 .736 4.1 1.3 .7 .1 14.8

References

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  1. ^ "Class of 2015 prospect – Antonio Blakeney". rivals.com. January 17, 2013. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  2. ^ Kaberon, Eli. "Simmons, Blakeney lead East to victory at McDonald's All-American game". OrlandoSentinel.com. Archived from the original on January 24, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  3. ^ "LSU-bound Antonio Blakeney named Florida Mr. Basketball ahead of Ben Simmons". NOLA.com. Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  4. ^ "Antonio Blakeney Basketball Recruit". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  5. ^ "Basketball Recruiting – Antonio Blakeney". ESPN. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  6. ^ "Antonio Blakeney, Oak Ridge, Shooting Guard". 247 Sports. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  7. ^ "Antonio Blakeney Has The Potential To Be A Star For LSU – TU". www.todaysu.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  8. ^ "LSU's Antonio Blakeney named second-team All-SEC". NOLA.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  9. ^ "Blakeney, LSU's top scorer, entering NBA draft". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  10. ^ "2017–18 NBA Undrafted Free Agent List: Summer League rosters". CSN Mid-Atlantic. June 23, 2017. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  11. ^ "BULLS SIGN BLAKENEY TO TWO-WAY CONTRACT". Chicago Bulls. July 14, 2017. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  12. ^ "Antonio Blakeney". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  13. ^ "Windy City's Antonio Blakeney Named 2017–18 NBA G League Rookie of the Year". OurSportsCentral.com. April 5, 2018. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  14. ^ "Bulls Sign Antonio Blakeney". NBA.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  15. ^ "Simmons triple-double leads 76ers past Bulls 127–108". ESPN.com. October 18, 2018. Archived from the original on October 19, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  16. ^ "Oladipo leads balanced Pacers past Bulls 107–105". ESPN.com. November 2, 2018. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  17. ^ "Bulls waive Blakeney". NBA.com. September 9, 2019. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  18. ^ "Charge Announce 2021 Roster". NBA.com. January 22, 2021. Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  19. ^ Writer, JULIA GUILBEAU | Staff (May 24, 2021). "Former LSU basketball player Antonio Blakeney arrested on armed robbery in Florida: report". The Advocate. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  20. ^ "Antonio Blakeney signed with Hapoel Beer Sheva". Eurobasket. March 17, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  21. ^ CBA 2022-23 Season
  22. ^ "Blakeney's 50 gifts Nanjing easy win over Shanxi in CBA-Xinhua". english.news.cn. Archived from the original on April 1, 2024. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  23. ^ "ברוך הבא, אנטוניו בלייקני!". מועדון הכדורסל הפועל "שלמה" תל אביב. October 21, 2024. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
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