Marquis Daniels



Marquis Antwane Daniels (born January 7, 1981) is an American professional basketball guard-forward with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association. Daniels was an undrafted guard in the 2003 NBA Draft and has become a regular rotation player averaging at least 17.8 minutes per game in each one of his first six seasons. He played his first three years for the Dallas Mavericks and was subsequently traded to the Indiana Pacers, where he finished the final three guaranteed years of his contract. Daniels then signed with the Boston Celtics in 2009 after a period in free agency. {| class="toc" id="toc"

Contents
[hide] *1 High school career
 * 2 College career
 * 3 NBA career
 * 3.1 Dallas Mavericks
 * 3.2 Indiana Pacers
 * 3.3 Boston Celtics
 * 4 Tattoos
 * 5 NBA career statistics
 * 5.1 Regular season
 * 5.2 Playoffs
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links
 * }

[edit]High school career
Daniels attended Edgewater High School in his hometown Orlando, Florida, before transferring to Mt. Zion Christian Academy (the same school as current NBAplayer Tracy McGrady).

[edit]College career
With Auburn University, Daniels reached the Sweet 16 in the 2003 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. He averaged 23.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in three games, including an impressive 27-point, nine-rebound performance in a close one-point loss against the eventual national champion Syracuse.[1]

Daniels graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Sociology in just three-and-a-half years. At Auburn, he averaged 18.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.3 assistsand 2.3 steals per game as a senior and was named to the All SEC Second Team as a senior and team MVP as a sophomore, junior and senior.

[edit]Dallas Mavericks
Projected as a second-round pick, Daniels waited for his name to be called. The Mavericks' head coach Don Nelson initially planned on using their 2nd round pick to select Daniels (whom they accidentally discovered while watching game tapes of Josh Howard) but his son Donnie Nelson convinced him to trade the pick toDenver instead and assured his father that they would get him one way or the other. As the calls started pouring in on Daniels' agent's cellphone (among the callers were Magic head coach Doc Rivers), it was later revealed that they had a gentleman's agreement with the Mavericks that his client would sign with them in the event that he did not get drafted.

After a remarkable stint at the team's summer league games, Daniels was signed to a one-year, minimum contract.

Daniels was mostly a third-stringer during his rookie season, used only when victory was all but sure. In the short minutes he was on the floor however, he showed flashes of brilliance. When Steve Nash was out with a stomach flu, Nelson plugged in Daniels as the starting point guard and the rookie delivered with a near triple-double finishing with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists followed by a 16 point, 7 rebound and 8 assist game in a loss against the T-Wolves the next night.

Although his reign as a starter was cut short, Nelson grew tired of the team's lackluster play following their third-straight loss and decided to bring back the classicsmall ball line-up in a 118–88 triumph over the Orlando Magic. This line-up had the 6'9" Antoine Walker at center and Daniels at the two-guard position and was the permanent starting five until their post-season demise. Daniels averaged 19.7 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists during that 10-game stretch. Daniels signed a 6-year, $38-million contract with the Mavs in the 2004 off-season.

[edit]Indiana Pacers
On July 6, 2006, Daniels was traded to the Indiana Pacers for Austin Croshere.[2] The Pacers did not pick up their $7.3 million team option for Daniels in 2009, which made him a free agent.[3]

[edit]Boston Celtics
Daniels signed with the Boston Celtics on September 1, 2009.[4]

On February 6, 2011, while the Celtics were playing against the Orlando Magic, Daniels collided with Magic guard Gilbert Arenas and suffered a bruised spinal cord. Daniels lay motionless on the floor for several minutes before being taken away on a stretcher. He gave the Boston crowd a thumbs up sign, and after arriving at a Boston Hospital regained movement of his arms and legs.[5]

On February 24, 2011, Daniels was traded to the Sacramento Kings along with cash for a conditional second-round draft pick.[6] This trade helped the Celtics reduce their luxury tax and also helped the Kings increase their salary cap to go over the league's minimum.[7] The trade also gave the Celtics a trade exception and a roster spot.[8] He never played any games for the Kings, and became a free agent on July 1, 2011.

After the lockout ended, Daniels re-signed with the Celtics for a one-year contract.[9]

[edit]Tattoos
Daniels is noted for having several tattoos inscribed on different parts of his body. The tattoos range from a detailed map of Florida that covers his entire back, a caricature of a man blowing his head off with ashotgun on his lower right arm, and Chinese characters on his other arm which were intended to represent his initials, but translate to English as "healthy woman roof". Also, he has an entire bible verse on his chest, which he used to read to his paralyzed grandmother.[10]

[edit]References

 * 1) ^ "NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball – Auburn vs. Syracuse". USA Today. 2002-07-23. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
 * 2) ^ "Sources: Mavs deal Daniels for Croshere". ESPN. 2006-07-07. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
 * 3) ^ Pacers won't pick up option on Marquis Daniels
 * 4) ^ Celtics sign former Pacers G Marquis Daniels. NBA.com. Retrieved on September 2, 2009.
 * 5) ^ Marquis Daniels has bruised spine. Forsberg, Chris. ESPN.com. Retrieved on February 2, 2012.
 * 6) ^ Kings Acquire Marquis Daniels. NBA.com. Retrieved on February 2, 2012.
 * 7) ^ Kings checkmated by money, luck. Simmons, Bill. ESPN.com. Retrieved on February 2, 2012.
 * 8) ^ Revisiting the Marquis Daniels trade. Forsberg, Chris. ESPN.com. Retrieved on February 2, 2012.
 * 9) ^ Celtics Sign Marquis Daniels. NBA.com. Retrieved on February 2, 2012.
 * 10) ^ "Cool Tat, Too Bad It's Gibberish". New York Times. April 2, 2006. Retrieved 2010-12-29.