Shabazz Napier

Shabazz Bozie Napier is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Napier attended Charlestown High School in Charlestown, Massachusetts for two years before transferring to Lawrence Academy in Groton, Massachusetts. In his senior year, he led the Lawrence Academy to an undefeated season going 29-0 in 2010 and to the New England Prep C title. Napier scored 23 points, 8 steals, and 8 assists in the final and was named Tournament MVP.

Napier decided to play his college basketball for the University of Connecticut. In his freshman season in2011, he helped Connecticut win both the Big East Conference Championship and National Championship. In his junior year, Napier scored his 1000th career point in a game against DePaul. He ended up scoring 55 points in 45 minutes of overtime as he led them to a school record 5 overtime wins. Napier averaged 17.1 points, 4.6 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.0 steals a game for the season and was named All-USBWA District 1 team and the USBWA District I Player of the Year. He was also chosen as the Big East All-First Team and was an honorable mention for Big East Player of the Year.

Following the end of his senior year, Napier was unanimously selected for the AAC All-First team and was named the inaugural AAC Player of the Year. He was also named the USBWA District I Player of the Year for the second straight season. After leading the Huskies to the championship game in the AAC Tournament, Napier was named to the All-Tournament team. In the NCAA tournament, Napier was named Most Outstanding Player as the Huskies went onto defeat Kentucky 60-54 in the National Championship game. He averaged 18.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.8 steals per game in his final season and was later inducted into the Huskies of Honor.

Napier was drafted as the 24th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets and was traded to the Miami Heat on draft night. In 2015, Napier was traded to the Orlando Magic for cash in exchange for a conditional 2016 second-round draft pick. Before the start of the 2016-2017 season, Napier was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers for cash. In the same season, he scored a career-high 32 points in a 99–98 win over the San Antonio Spurs. In the 2018 offseason, Napier signed with the Brooklyn Nets.