Aaron Gordon

Aaron Addison Gordon (born September 16, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Born in San Jose, California, Gordon attended Archbishop Mitty High School where he led his team to two state championships and was named California Mr. Basketball in his junior and senior years.

As a freshman in 2009–10, Gordon started in 28 of 41 games and averaged 11.8 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.

He also competed on the school's track and field team as a thrower and played summer basketball for the Oakland Soldiers.

As a sophomore in 2010–11, Gordon helped his team win the CIF Division II title which was Mitty's first state title in men's basketball.

Mitty finished with a 32–2 record with Gordon playing all 34 games, averaging 16.4 points, 12.5 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game.

In the 2011 title game, Gordon scored 17 points and broke the state championship record by gathering 21 rebounds.

As a junior in 2011–12, Gordon led his team to their second CIF Division II state title after defeating La Costa Canyon 78–57 in the finals.

Gordon finished the game with 33 points and 20 rebounds.

For the season, Gordon averaged 22.9 points, 12.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.3 blocks per game and was chosen as the California Mr. Basketball Player of the Year.

As a senior in 2012–13, Gordon averaged 21.6 points, 15.7 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game and lead Archbishop Mitty to a 28–6 record.

With this record, Archbishop Mitty reached the CIF Open Division finals where they lost against Mater Dei High School 50–45 with Gordon finishing the game with 22 points and 20 rebounds.

Gordon was again chosen as the California Mr. Basketball Player of the year during his senior year.

Gordon committed to the University of Arizona on April 2, 2013, announcing his decision in a news conference before the 2013 McDonald's All-American Game.

After a 24-point, 8-rebound performance leading the West to a 110–99 victory, Gordon was named the game's MVP.

Gordon made his college debut for the Arizona Wildcats on November 8, 2013, in a 73–62 win against Cal Poly in which he recorded 13 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks while seeing 33 minutes of play.

Gordon then played one year of college basketball with the Arizona Wildcats, during which they won the Pac-12 regular season title and reached the Elite Eight of the 2014 NCAA tournament.

Gordon was selected by the Orlando Magic as the fourth overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft.

On February 22, 2014, Gordon scored a season-high, and game-high, 23 points in a win against Colorado scoring 21 points in the second half.

On March 2, 2014, Gordon led his team to a Pac-12 regular season title after a 79–66 victory over Stanford where he scored 19 points and achieved a career-high 15 rebounds.

On March 8, 2014, in the final game of the regular season, Gordon contributed 21 points in a 64–47 win against Oregon finishing the season with a 28–3 record.

on March 13, 2014, during the 2014 Pac-12 tournament, Arizona defeated Utah in the quarterfinals 71–39 with Gordon scoring 11 points and grabbing 7 rebounds.

On March 14, 2014, Gordon led his team to a 63-43 semifinal victory against Colorado during which Gordon scored 9 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.

Arizona ultimately lost in the finals of the tournament to UCLA 71–75 with Gordon scoring 11 points.

In the 2014 NCAA tournament Gordon scored 16 points in a 68–59 victory over Weber State Arizona advanced to the Sweet 16 after defeating Gonzaga 84–61 with Gordon adding 18 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

Gordon scored 15 points in his team's 70–64 win against San Diego State before ultimately dropping out of the tournament in a close loss (63-64) to Wisconsin in the Elite Eight.

Gordon scored 8 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.

On February 13, 2014, Gordon was named one of the 30 finalists for the Naismith College Player of the Year.

He was named to the All-Pac-12 first team, as well as earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and Pac-12 All-Freshman team honors.

Gordon finished his freshman year with a record-breaking 303 rebounds and on April 15, 2014, he declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final three years of college eligibility.

Gordon has twice been a runner-up in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, losing a close matchup to Zach LaVine in 2016 and Derrick Jones Jr. in 2020.

After being traded to the Nuggets in 2021, Gordon won his first NBA championship in 2023.

Gordon was born in San Jose, California, to former San Diego State basketball player Ed Gordon and Shelly Davis Gordon.

Gordon has claimed that his paternal great-great-grandfather was a 7 ft Osage Indian.

His father is black and his mother is white.

After going undrafted by the NBA, Gordon's father tried out as a tight end for the National Football League's New England Patriots with no prior football experience.

After being cut in the preseason, he played a year of pro basketball in Mexico.

Gordon's older brother, Drew, also became a pro basketball player while his older sister, Elise, played collegiately for the Harvard women's basketball team.

Gordon attended Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose.

On January 17, 2020, Archbishop Mitty retired Gordon's number 32.