Diamon Simpson

Diamon Simpson (born September 8, 1987) is an American professional basketball player for Ironi Nahariya of the Israeli Premier League. He played college basketball for the Saint Mary's College before playing professionally in the NBA D League, the Philippines, Turkey, Australia, Israel, Spain, Czech Republic and Venezuela.

Diamon Simpson
Simpson in Israel, 2012
No. 3 – Ironi Nahariya
PositionPower forward / Center
LeagueIsraeli Premier League
Personal information
Born (1987-09-08) September 8, 1987
Los Angeles County, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High schoolHayward (Hayward, California)
CollegeSaint Mary's (2005–2009)
NBA draft2009 / Undrafted
Playing career2009–present
Career history
2009–2010Los Angeles D-Fenders
2010Alaska Aces
2010–2011Türk Telekom
2011–2012Adelaide 36ers
2012–2013Maccabi Ashdod
2013–2014Ironi Nes Ziona
2014–2015Estudiantes
2015–2016Ironi Nes Ziona
2016Estudiantes
2016–2017Nymburk
2017Maccabi Tel Aviv
2017Trotamundos de Carabobo
2017–2018Büyükçekmece
2018Alaska Aces
2018–2019Maccabi Rishon LeZion
2019Alaska Aces
2020–presentIroni Nahariya
Career highlights and awards

Early life

Born in Los Angeles County, California,[1] Simpson grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Hayward and graduated from Hayward High School in 2005.

College

Simpson attended the Saint Mary's College of California and played for the Saint Mary's Gaels in the NCAA's West Coast Conference (WCC) between 2005 and when he graduated in 2009. He was a teammate of Australian and Portland Trail Blazers backup point guard Patrick Mills when playing for the Gaels from 2007–2009.

Over his 4 seasons with the Gaels the 6'7" (201 cm) Simpson played 128 games averaging 12.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. His career field goal percentage of 50.6% is currently 8th on the all-time list for the WCC while his 1130 rebounds a Gaels record and all time 2nd in the WCC and 20th in the NCAA.[2]

Diamon Simpson is the Saint Mary's Gaels all-time leading rebounder (1130), shot blocker (239), he leads in steals (174) and free throws made and attempted (470/777 at 60.5%).

Professional career

NBA D-League (2009–2010)

After graduating from Saint Mary's Diamon Simpson started 2009 by attending the Golden State Warriors training camp but was unable to secure a spot on the Warriors roster. From there he signed to play for the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA D-League in 2009–10 where he averaged 15.5 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in his 30 games.

Philippines (2010)

Simpson was bought out of his D-Fenders contract by the Alaska Aces of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) for the 2010 Fiesta Conference (despite a league rule that import players must be no taller than 198 cm). In his opening game for the Aces, he scored an impressive 36 points and grabbed 25 rebounds. By season's end, he was averaging around 25 points and 16 rebounds a game in a dominant display which made him a favorite of the Aces supporters. Despite not winning the Best Import award, he was able to lead the Aces in winning the championship over 18-time champions San Miguel Beermen which had returning import Gabe Freeman as well as Dondon Hontiveros and Arwind Santos for the locals.

Turkey (2010–2011)

After leaving the Aces Simpson signed with Turkish Basketball League team Türk Telekom for part of the 2010–11 Turkish season where he averaged just 7.3 points and 5.8 rebounds and 0.3 blocks per game in four games primarily playing at small forward.[3]

Australia (2011–2012)

Simpson signed for the Adelaide 36ers after original import John Williamson was ruled out with a knee injury.[4][5] Simpson joined the 36ers for Round 3 of the 2011-12 NBL season. Throughout the season, he averaged 14.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 27 games. He also posted 12 double-doubles and had five 20-point performances with Adelaide and is widely considered to be easily the best performed of the imports for the 36ers during an era where the club claimed 3 wooden spoons in 4 seasons.

National Basketball Association (2012)

On April 13, 2012, Simpson signed with the Houston Rockets of the NBA for the remainder of the 2011–12 season.[6] He was waived by the Rockets on September 7, 2012, without making an appearance for them.

Late career (2012–present)

On March 1, 2016, Simpson signed with CB Estudiantes of the Spanish Liga ACB.[7]

On March 1, 2017, Simpson signed a one-month contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv.[8] On April 7, 2017, he was parted ways with Maccabi after appearing in six Euroleague games.[9]

On August 26, 2018, Simpson signed with the Russian team Avtodor Saratov for the 2018–19 season.[10] However, on October 2, 2018, Saratov parted ways with Simpson due to a back injury before appearing in any game for them.[11]

On December 22, 2018, Simpson returned to Israel for a fourth stint, signing with Maccabi Rishon LeZion for the rest of the season.[12] On June 10, 2019, Simpson recorded season-highs of 28 point and 20 rebounds, shooting 12-of-17 from the field, leading Rishon LeZion to the Israeli League Final after a 92–86 win over Hapoel Jerusalem.[13]

On June 27, 2019, Simpson returned to the Alaska Aces for a third stint, signing for the 2019 PBA Commissioner's Cup.[14]

On January 7, 2020, Simpson signed with Ironi Nahariya for the rest of the season, replacing Jeff Adrien.[15]

The Basketball Tournament

Diamon Simpson played for Team Gael Force in the 2018 edition of The Basketball Tournament. Team Gael Force made it to the Super 16 before falling to eventual tournament runner-up Eberlein Drive.

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  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

EuroLeague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2016–17 Maccabi 6220.1.6100.3336.71.21.519.215.2
Career 6220.1.6100.3336.71.21.519.215.2

References
  1. California birth index. Familytreelegends.com. Retrieved on 2012-07-10.
  2. Diamon Simpson St Mary's stats @ Sports Reference Basketball. Sports-reference.com. Retrieved on 2012-07-10.
  3. Diamon Simpson Türk Telekom stats. Fibaeurope.com. Retrieved on 2012-07-10.
  4. Williamson departs 36ers Archived 2012-01-06 at the Wayback Machine. Nbl.com.au (2011-09-30). Retrieved on 2012-07-10.
  5. Diamon Simpson joins the Adelaide 36ers Archived 2011-11-04 at the Wayback Machine. Nbl.com.au (2011-10-10). Retrieved on 2012-07-10.
  6. Diamon Simpson Signs With Rockets. Basketball.realgm.com (2012-04-12). Retrieved on 2012-07-10.
  7. "Estudiantes signs Diamond Simpson".
  8. "Maccabi Tel Aviv announces Diamon Simpson".
  9. "רשמית: דיימון סימפסון שוחרר ממכבי תל אביב - ספורט 5". Sport5.co.il - אתר ערוץ הספורט.
  10. "Avtodor Saratov signs Diamon Simpson". Sportando.basketball. August 26, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2018.
  11. "Avtodor Saratov part ways with Diamond Simpson". Sportando.basketball. October 2, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  12. "קדנציה רביעית: דיימון סימפסון בראשל"צ". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). December 22, 2018. Retrieved December 22, 2018.
  13. "Final Four - Semi Finals: Hapoel J-M Vs M. Rishon". basket.co.il. June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  14. "Alaska makes another import switch, brings back Diamon Simpson". spin.ph. June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  15. "סימפסון מחליף את אדריאן בעין שרה". basket.co.il (in Hebrew). January 7, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
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