Antonius Cleveland

Antonius Cleveland
No. 1 – Lokomotiv Kuban
PositionSmall forward / shooting guard
LeagueVTB United League
Personal information
Born (1994-02-02) February 2, 1994 (age 30)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Listed height196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Listed weight90 kg (198 lb)
Career information
High school
CollegeSoutheast Missouri State (2013–2017)
NBA draft2017: undrafted
Playing career2017–present
Career history
2017Santa Cruz Warriors
2017Dallas Mavericks
2017→Texas Legends
2018Atlanta Hawks
2018–2019Santa Cruz Warriors
2019–2020Dallas Mavericks
2019–2020→Texas Legends
2021Oklahoma City Blue
2021–2022Illawarra Hawks
2022–2023Adelaide 36ers
2023Hapoel Eilat
2023–2024Maccabi Tel Aviv
2024–presentLokomotiv Kuban
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Antonius Cleveland (born February 2, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for Lokomotiv Kuban of the VTB United League. He played college basketball for Southeast Missouri State University. He played in the NBA for the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks.

Early life

Cleveland was born in Memphis, Tennessee, as the only child of mother Shonda Bowie.[1] Bowie worked two jobs to support herself and Cleveland: as a nutrition supervisor for Memphis City Schools during the day and with FedEx during the night.[1]

Cleveland started his basketball career at Overton High School in Memphis for his freshman and sophomore seasons.[1] He transferred to Germantown High School in nearby Germantown for his junior season.[1] Cleveland spent his senior year at Faith Baptist Christian Academy in Ludowici, Georgia.[1]

College career

Cleveland played for Southeast Missouri State University for four seasons, where he was the team's leading scorer in his junior (15.2 PPG; 10th in the conference) and senior (16.6 PPG; 7th in the conference) years.[1][2][3] In his junior year he was also 5th in the conference with 1.6 steals per game, 9th with 6.6 rebounds per game, and 10th with a .437 field goal percentage.[2] In his senior year he was also 3rd in the conference in steals per game (1.4), and 5th in field goal percentage (.543).[4] He was selected to the All-Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) first-team in 2017.[5]

Professional career

Dallas Mavericks (2017)

After going undrafted in the 2017 NBA draft, Cleveland signed with the Portland Trail Blazers to join their roster for the 2017 NBA Summer League. While playing for Portland, he averaged 5.8 ppg in six games coming off the bench. On July 27, 2017, Cleveland signed with the Golden State Warriors on a training camp deal. On September 30, Cleveland was waived by the Warriors.[6] He was then assigned to the Santa Cruz Warriors NBA G League affiliate team on October 24, 2017.

On November 17, 2017, Cleveland signed a two-way contract with the Dallas Mavericks.[7] He made his NBA debut later that night in a 111–87 blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, recording 2 points and 2 rebounds in 6 minutes of play.[8] Throughout his time on that two-way deal, he would split his playing time between the Mavericks and their G League affiliate, the Texas Legends. On December 18, 2017, he was injured in a 97–91 loss to the Phoenix Suns. He was waived from the team a day later, with his spot on the team being replaced by Kyle Collinsworth.[9]

Atlanta Hawks (2018)

On February 22, 2018, the Atlanta Hawks signed Cleveland to a 10-day contract.[10] He signed his second 10-day contract with Atlanta on March 4. On March 14, 2018, Atlanta signed Cleveland to a multi-year contract.[11] On July 21, 2018, Cleveland was placed on waivers by the Hawks.[12]

On July 23, 2018, the Chicago Bulls claimed Cleveland off waivers.[13] He was waived by the Bulls on October 12, 2018.[14] He re-joined the Santa Cruz Warriors for the 2018–19 season.[15]

Return to Dallas (2019–2020)

On July 25, 2019, Cleveland re-signed with the Dallas Mavericks on a two-way contract with the Texas Legends.[16] He averaged 14.4 points and 7.3 rebounds for the G League Legends.[17]

Oklahoma City Blue (2021)

On December 3, 2020, Cleveland signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but was waived the same day.[18][19] He then joined the Thunder's G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue.

Illawarra Hawks (2021–2022)

On August 2, 2021, Cleveland signed with the Illawarra Hawks in Australia for the 2021–22 NBL season.[20] He was named the NBL Best Defensive Player.[21]

Adelaide 36ers and Hapoel Eilat (2022–2023)

On June 9, 2022, Cleveland signed a two-year deal with the Adelaide 36ers.[22] He earned a second consecutive NBL Best Defensive Player Award for the 2022–23 season.[23] He parted ways with the 36ers after one season.[24]

On February 8, 2023, Cleveland signed a short-term deal with Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, with an eye to returning to the NBL in 2024.[25]

Maccabi Tel Aviv (2023–2024)

On July 27, 2023, Cleveland signed a two-year deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.[26] He averaged 5.4 points and 1.7 rebounds per game during the 2023–24 season.[27] On July 18, 2024, Maccabi Tel Aviv announced that Cleveland would not be returning for the 2024–25 season.[27]

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  Bold  Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Dallas 13 0 6.2 .286 .000 .500 .8 .2 .5 .3 0.8
Atlanta 4 0 10.5 .571 1.000 1.000 1.0 — .3 .3 3.3
2019–20 Dallas 11 0 4.2 .286 .000 .600 .6 .1 .1 .3 1.0
Career 28 0 6.0 .343 .429 .636 .8 .1 .3 .3 1.2

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2020 Dallas 2 0 4.5 .400 — — .5 — .5 — 2.0
Career 2 0 4.5 .400 — — .5 — .5 — 2.0

EuroLeague

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2023–24 Maccabi Tel Aviv 39 4 14.2 .455 .271 .705 1.7 .7 .9 .5 5.4 4.5
Career 39 4 14.2 .455 .271 .705 1.7 .7 .9 .5 5.4 4.5

Domestic leagues

Year Team League GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 United States Santa Cruz Warriors G League 6 25.9 .600 .545 .895 3.7 2.2 1.5 .3 13.8
United States Texas Legends G League 1 31.2 .357 .000 .500 2.0 2.0 3.0 — 12.0
2018–19 United States Santa Cruz Warriors G League 42 26.5 .459 .360 .709 5.0 2.0 1.6 .7 11.2
2019–20 United States Texas Legends G League 36 30.9 .494 .295 .608 7.3 2.2 1.6 .9 14.4
2020–21 United States Oklahoma City Blue G League 15 28.6 .483 .380 .793 5.5 3.1 1.3 .7 15.1
2021–22 Australia Illawarra Hawks NBL 30 29.4 .471 .217 .722 6.4 2.1 1.8 1.1 14.2
2022–23 Australia Adelaide 36ers NBL 28 28.5 .487 .361 .673 5.2 2.7 1.9 .7 15.8
2022–23 Israel Hapoel Eilat Ligat HaAl 11 29.6 .540 .407 .729 4.2 2.8 1.8 .7 17.6
2023–24 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv Ligat HaAl 21 20.0 .568 .400 .727 4.0 1.6 1.5 .5 9.0

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2013–14 Southeast Missouri State 32 21 22.3 .525 .359 .596 2.8 1.7 1.0 .5 9.1
2014–15 Southeast Missouri State 30 30 29.0 .472 .211 .568 4.8 1.8 1.3 .5 10.8
2015–16 Southeast Missouri State 26 24 31.4 .437 .174 .610 6.6 2.3 1.6 .6 15.2
2016–17 Southeast Missouri State 33 33 32.9 .543 .384 .660 5.1 2.2 1.4 .9 16.6
Career 121 108 28.8 .494 .288 .612 4.7 2.0 1.3 .6 12.9

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Singer, Trent (July 6, 2017). "Former Southeast Missouri State men's basketball star Antonius Cleveland reflects on journey heading into NBA Summer League". SEMOBall. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "2015-16 Men's Ohio Valley Conference Season Summary". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  3. ^ "Antonius Cleveland". semoredhawks.com. November 1, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  4. ^ "2016-17 Men's Ohio Valley Conference Season Summary". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  5. ^ "SEMO's Cleveland earns first-team All-OVC honors, Mahoney named Freshman of the Year". SEMOBall. February 28, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  6. ^ Letourneau, Connor (September 30, 2017). "Warriors waive Antonius Cleveland, Alex Hamilton". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  7. ^ Sefko, Eddie (November 17, 2017). "Mavericks make it official with Antonius Cleveland, waive Gian Clavell". dallasnews.com. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  8. ^ "Butler, balanced Wolves pull away from Mavs for 111–87 win". mavs.com. November 18, 2017. Retrieved November 18, 2017.
  9. ^ "Mavericks sign Kyle Collinsworth to two-way contract". NBA. December 19, 2017. Archived from the original on December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  10. ^ "Hawks Sign Antonius Cleveland To 10-Day Contract". NBA. February 22, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  11. ^ Wilson, Jaryd (March 14, 2018). "Hawks Sign Antonius Cleveland To Mult-Year Contract". NBA. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  12. ^ Bryant, Wayne (July 21, 2018). "Atlanta Hawks Request Waivers on Antonius Cleveland". NBA. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  13. ^ "Bulls Claim Antonius Cleveland". NBA. July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  14. ^ "Bulls waive four players". NBA. October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  15. ^ "Santa Cruz Warriors Announce 2018 Training Camp Roster & Schedule". NBA. October 22, 2018. Archived from the original on October 23, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  16. ^ Price, Dwain (July 25, 2019). "IMPRESSIVE SUMMER LEAGUE EARNS ANTONIUS CLEVELAND TWO-WAY CONTRACT WITH MAVS". Mavs.com. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  17. ^ "Antonius Cleveland". NBA. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  18. ^ Adams, Luke (December 3, 2020). "Thunder Sign Antonius Cleveland". HoopsRumors.com. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  19. ^ Kirschenbaum, Alex (December 3, 2020). "Thunder Add Melvin Frazier Jr., Waive Antonius Cleveland". HoopsRumors.com. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  20. ^ "Hawks Sign Antonius Cleveland as Final Piece of Puzzle". NBL.com.au. August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  21. ^ "The @illawarrahawks' Antonius Cleveland locked up his opponents..." twitter.com/NBL. April 27, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  22. ^ "Adelaide Add Antonius Cleveland in Blockbuster Move". NBL.com.au. June 9, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
  23. ^ Randall, Michael (February 7, 2023). "NBA teams to circle as Sydney gun crowned MVP; winner named after shock snub: NBL Awards". Fox Sports. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  24. ^ "36ers release Cleveland". NBL.com.au. July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  25. ^ Hudson, Jack (February 8, 2023). "Cleveland to play in Israel, return for NBL24". Adelaide 36ers. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  26. ^ "Maccabi adds Antonius Cleveland". maccabi.co.il. July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  27. ^ a b "Antonius Cleveland, Maccabi part ways after one year". BasketNews. July 18, 2024. Retrieved July 18, 2024.