Introduction
Tyshawn Jamar Taylor (born April 12, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for Ankara DSİ of the Turkish Basketball First League. He played college basketball for the University of Kansas before he was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 41st overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.
High school career
Taylor attended St. Anthony High School in New Jersey where he played under renowned high school coach Bob Hurley. During the 2007–08 season, Taylor's team went 32-0 and was awarded the high school basketball mythical national championship by USA Today. Taylor also appeared in the 2009 film The Street Stops Here, a documentary about Hurley and St. Anthony.
Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Taylor was listed as the No. 11 point guard and the No. 77 player in the nation in 2008.
College career
In 2008–09, Taylor averaged 9.7 points and 3.0 assists per game as he earned Big 12 All-Rookie team honors.
Taylor averaged 7.2 points and 3.4 assists per game on the 2009–10 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team who won both the Big 12 regular season and tournament championships.
Taylor averaged 9.3 points and 4.6 assists his junior year. Taylor led the team in assists and was fourth in the Big 12. On February 21, 2011, Taylor was suspended indefinitely from the team for violating team rules. The specifics of the suspension were not announced.
Starting for the fourth straight year, Taylor nearly doubled his career scoring average. Taylor, along with All-American Thomas Robinson, helped lead Kansas to the 2012 national championship game before losing to Kentucky.
College statistics
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | Kansas | 35 | 33 | 26.5 | .506 | .364 | .724 | 2.2 | 3.0 | 1.1 | .2 | 9.7 |
| 2009–10 | Kansas | 36 | 25 | 23.1 | .438 | .339 | .716 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 1.3 | .2 | 7.2 |
| 2010–11 | Kansas | 36 | 31 | 27.1 | .479 | .380 | .719 | 1.9 | 4.6 | 1.0 | .3 | 9.3 |
| 2011–12 | Kansas | 39 | 38 | 33.4 | .477 | .382 | .688 | 2.3 | 4.8 | 1.3 | .2 | 16.6 |
| Career | 146 | 127 | 27.7 | .477 | .370 | .708 | 2.2 | 3.9 | 1.2 | .2 | 10.8 |
Professional career
Brooklyn Nets
On June 28, 2012, Taylor was selected with the 41st overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. He was later traded to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for cash considerations. On July 6, 2012, he signed with the Nets. When Deron Williams was ruled out for final two games before the All-Star break with ankle problems, Taylor was put into the Nets' rotation. In his first game in the rotation, Taylor finished with a career-high 12 points in a career-high 34 minutes as the Nets defeated the Indiana Pacers 89-84 in overtime. On November 25 in a loss against the LA Lakers, Coach Jason Kidd asked Taylor to "accidentally" bump into him because the Nets were out of timeouts. This incident was highlighted as evidence that Coach Kidd was out of his league as a rookie coach. During his rookie and sophomore seasons, he had multiple assignments with the Springfield Armor of the NBA D-League.
2014–present
On January 21, 2014, Taylor was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for cash considerations and the rights to Edin Bavčić. On January 23, 2014, he was waived by the Pelicans before playing in a game for them.
On January 30, 2014, Taylor was acquired by the Maine Red Claws.
On February 21, 2014, Taylor signed with Atléticos de San Germán of Puerto Rico for the 2014 BSN season. On May 23, 2014, he parted ways with Atléticos after 17 games.
On September 17, 2014, Taylor signed with Dynamo Moscow of Russia for the 2014–15 season. He managed to average 9.7 points in 7 games before getting waived on January 13, 2015.
On February 6, 2015, Taylor signed with Indios de Mayagüez for the 2015 BSN season.
On January 28, 2016, Taylor signed with Guaros de Lara of Venezuela for the 2016 LPB season.
On August 8, 2016, Taylor signed a one-year deal with Maccabi Kiryat Gat of the Israeli Premier League. On January 10, 2017, he was waived by Maccabi. On January 23, 2017, he signed with Ankara DSİ of the Turkish Basketball First League.
NBA career statistics
| 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
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–13 | Brooklyn | 38 | 0 | 5.8 | .368 | .462 | .556 | .5 | .6 | .3 | .0 | 2.2 |
| 2013–14 | Brooklyn | 23 | 3 | 11.7 | .341 | .250 | .800 | .7 | 1.6 | .5 | .0 | 3.9 |
| Career | 61 | 3 | 8.0 | .354 | .360 | .684 | .5 | .9 | .4 | .0 | 2.9 |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Brooklyn | 2 | 0 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
| Career | 2 | 0 | 1.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
International career
Taylor represented USA Basketball as they won the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. Taylor averaged a team-high 10.8 points and a team-high 4.4 assists per game. His team-high 18 points and 6 assists in the final game against Greece helped secure the championship for the United States. After the tournament, Taylor was named to the five-person All-Star team for the tournament along with teammate Gordon Hayward.
Personal life
Taylor was arrested on August 6, 2015 for cashing a fraudulent money order and stealing $1,000 from a convenience store in Hoboken, New Jersey.