Lester Hudson III (born August 7, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Shandong Heroes of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). In the 2007–08 season, Hudson recorded the only quadruple-double in NCAA Division I men's basketball history.[1] At the conclusion of the season, he declared himself for the 2008 NBA draft, but later withdrew. Hudson was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the 58th pick of the 2009 NBA draft, but was later waived. He was then signed by the Memphis Grizzlies. Hudson later played for the Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers before returning to the Grizzlies in April 2012.

Lester Hudson
Hudson in 2013 with the Los Angeles Lakers
Free agent
PositionPoint guard / shooting guard
Personal information
Born (1984-08-07) August 7, 1984 (age 40)
Memphis, Tennessee, US
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High schoolCentral (Memphis, Tennessee)
College
NBA draft2009: 2nd round, 58th overall pick
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Playing career2009–present
Career history
2009–2010Boston Celtics
2009Maine Red Claws
2010Memphis Grizzlies
2010Dakota Wizards
2010–2011Washington Wizards
2011Guangdong Southern Tigers
2011–2012Qingdao DoubleStar
2012Austin Toros
2012Cleveland Cavaliers
2012Memphis Grizzlies
2012–2013Dongguan Leopards
2013Austin Toros
2013–2014Xinjiang Flying Tigers
2014–2015Liaoning Flying Leopards
2015Los Angeles Clippers
2015–2019Liaoning Flying Leopards
2019–2022Shandong Heroes
2023Liaoning Arctic Wolves
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

College career

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Hudson put together one of the best all-around seasons in Ohio Valley Conference history in 2007–08 and helped the University of Tennessee at Martin make a six-game improvement in its league record from the previous year. The Skyhawks were picked last (11th) in a preseason poll but finished fourth and qualified for the OVC tournament.

Hudson made school, conference and NCAA history during the season, including becoming the first Division I men's player to record a quadruple-double (25 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals vs. Central Baptist College) in a college game on November 13, 2007.[2][3]

He also had a triple-double, eight additional double-doubles and cracked the 30-point plateau 11 times during his rookie season in the league. He finished the season ranked fifth nationally in points per game (25.7); fourth in steals (2.8) and tenth in 3-pointers made per game (3.8). He also ranked among the top 90 nationally in each rebounding (79th, 7.8/game), assists (88th, 4.5/game), 3-point percentage (72nd, 38.8%) and free throw percentage (67th, 83.4%).

A Memphis, Tennessee native who transferred from Southwest Tennessee Community College, Hudson is the first UT Martin player to receive the OVC Player of the Year award. He was again honored in the 2008–09 season, the first back to back win since Murray State University's Marcus Brown won in the 1994–1995 and 1995–1996 seasons. He was also named to the OVC All-Newcomer squad, became just the fourth Skyhawk ever named to the All-OVC first-team (2007–2008 and 2008–2009,) and was named UT Martin's Bob Carroll Male Athlete of the Year.

With All-American honors from the Associated Press and Collegeinsider.com, Hudson became the first player in UT Martin history to claim the honors since the school started playing in Division I.

Professional career

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Over the first few months of the 2009–10 season, Hudson split time between the Celtics and their NBADL affiliate, the Maine Red Claws. On January 2, an injury ravaged Celtics team turned to Hudson during a game against the Toronto Raptors. On January 6, 2010, Hudson was waived by the Celtics,[4] but he was claimed by the Memphis Grizzlies two days later.[5] The Grizzlies assigned him to the Dakota Wizards of the D-League on February 28, 2010.[6]

Hudson was waived on July 1, 2010, by the Grizzlies.[7]

He played for the Washington Wizards during the NBA's 2010 summer league.

Hudson was invited to Wizards' training camp for the 2010–11 NBA season[8] and made the team. After playing six games for them, he was waived on November 23, 2010.[9] He was re-signed on December 20, 2010,[10] but waived again on January 5, 2011.[11]

In January 2011 he signed with the Guangdong Southern Tigers in China.[12] He joined Qingdao DoubleStar in November 2011.[13]

On March 30, 2012, Hudson was signed by the Cleveland Cavaliers to the first of two 10-day contracts.[14] He quickly established himself, scoring at least 23 points in three consecutive games from April 6 to April 10. He also hit two last-second shots to force two games into overtime.[15] On April 20, 2012, after his second 10-day contract expired, he joined the Memphis Grizzlies for the remainder of the 2011–12 season.[16]

On October 12, 2012, he signed with the Dongguan Leopards of China.[17] On March 15, 2013, he was acquired by the Austin Toros of the NBA D-League.[18]

On October 1, 2013, he signed with the Utah Jazz.[19] He was later waived by the Jazz on October 26.[20] In November 2013, he signed with Xinjiang Flying Tigers.[21]

On October 14, 2014, he signed with the Liaoning Flying Leopards for the 2014–15 CBA season.[22]

On March 29, 2015, Hudson signed a 10-day contract with the Los Angeles Clippers.[23] On April 11, he signed a multi-year deal with the Clippers.[24] On July 15, he was waived by the Clippers.[25]

On September 13, 2015, Hudson returned to the Liaoning Flying Leopards, signing a new three-year deal with the club.[26] He re-signed with the team on August 10, 2018.[27]

During the 2019–20 season, Hudson averaged 29 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists per game for the Shandong Heroes. He re-signed with the team on October 4, 2020.[28]

NBA 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
2009–10 Boston 16 0 4.4 .389 .600 .833 .5 .5 .2 .1 1.4
2009–10 Memphis 9 0 6.8 .400 .182 .857 1.1 .6 .6 .1 4.0
2010–11 Washington 11 0 6.6 .250 .267 .500 .5 1.5 .4 .1 1.6
2011–12 Cleveland 13 0 24.2 .391 .246 .842 3.5 2.7 1.1 .2 12.7
2011–12 Memphis 3 0 6.7 .273 .333 .667 .0 .3 .0 .0 3.0
2014–15 L.A. Clippers 5 0 11.2 .429 .500 .750 1.6 1.0 1.2 .2 3.6
Career 52 0 10.3 .375 .277 .806 1.4 1.2 .6 .1 4.7

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2014–15 L.A. Clippers 7 0 5.4 .429 .286 .1 1.0 .3 .1 2.0

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Eric Prisbell (December 15, 2007). "A Drive From Obscurity". The Washington Post. pp. E01. Retrieved May 25, 2008.
  2. ^ "UTM's Hudson posts rare quadruple-double". The Pacer. University of Tennessee at Martin. November 13, 2007. Archived from the original on August 17, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
  3. ^ "Central Baptist Coll 74, Tennessee-Martin 116 Boxscore". ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. November 13, 2007. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
  4. ^ "Celtics waive Lester Hudson". NBA.com. January 6, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  5. ^ "Grizzlies claim Lester Hudson off waivers". NBA.com. January 8, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  6. ^ Grizzlies opt Hudson to developmental league
  7. ^ "Grizzlies waive Lester Hudson". NBA.com. July 1, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  8. ^ Wizards Invite Hudson, Martin To Camp
  9. ^ "Wizards Sign Swingman Alonzo Gee". NBA.com. November 23, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  10. ^ "Wizards Bring Back Point Guard Lester Hudson". NBA.com. December 20, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  11. ^ "Wizards Waive Hudson". NBA.com. January 5, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  12. ^ 广东裁掉扣篮王新援哈德森火速上位次轮登场 Archived 2011-01-18 at the Wayback Machine (in Chinese)
  13. ^ "Chinese Basketball, News, Teams, Scores, Stats, Standings, Awards – asia-basket".
  14. ^ "Cavs Sign Lester Hudson to 10-Day Contract". NBA.com. March 30, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  15. ^ Tom Reed (April 11, 2012). "Cleveland Cavaliers get more heroics from Lester Hudson, but fall in OT to Indiana". The Plain Dealer. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
  16. ^ "Grizzlies sign Lester Hudson". NBA.com. April 20, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
  17. ^ Lester Hudson inks with Dongguan
  18. ^ The Austin Toros Acquire (G) Lester Hudson
  19. ^ Jazz Signs Lester Hudson
  20. ^ "Utah Jazz waive Brian Cook, Dominic McGuire, Justin Holiday, Lester Hudson and Scott Machado". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 27, 2013.
  21. ^ "Lester Hudson signs in China". Sportando.net. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  22. ^ "CBA MVP Hudson joins Liaoning Hengye club". xinhuanet.com. October 14, 2014. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  23. ^ "Clippers Sign Lester Hudson to 10-day Contract". NBA.com. March 29, 2015. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
  24. ^ "Clippers Sign Lester Hudson". NBA.com. April 11, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  25. ^ "Clippers waive guard Lester Hudson". NBA.com. July 16, 2015. Archived from the original on July 20, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  26. ^ "Lester Hudson back to China: extends with Liaoning until 2018". Sportando.com. September 13, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  27. ^ "Lester Hudson re-signs with Liaoning Flying Tigers". Sportando. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  28. ^ "Shandong Heroes keep Lester Hudson, Manny Harris". Sportando. October 4, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
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