Former NBA player Drew Gordon passed away after a car accident in Portland. His agent, Calvin Andrews, confirmed the news to Marc J. Spears of ESPN. Drew was the brother of Aaron Gordon of the Denver Nuggets and played professional basketball in the NBA and Europe as well. Gordon was just 33 years old. His former club, KK Partizan Belgrade, also shared their condolences on social media.
Former NBA forward Drew Gordon, the brother of Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, died in a car accident in Portland, Ore., today, his agent Calvin Andrews confirmed to ESPN Andscape. The San Jose native who played at UCLA and New Mexico was 33 years old.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) May 31, 2024
RIP Drew.🙏🏽🕊️#KKPartizan pic.twitter.com/o2c0R9bpZ0
— KK Partizan Mozzart Bet (@PartizanBC) May 31, 2024
Drew Gordon played college basketball at UCLA for his freshman and sophomore years, before transferring to New Mexico for his junior and senior years. He went undrafted in the 2012 NBA Draft and decided to play in Europe, signing for Partizan Belgrade in Serbia. Gordon averaged 9.1 points and 7.5 rebounds during his one year playing for Partizan.
He then played in the LBA in Italy for Dinamo Sassari. He only played 4 games, where he averaged 13.5 points and 7.5 rebounds. The following season, he played briefly for Turkish team Bandirma Banvit, before returning to Dinamo.
He got an opportunity to play in the NBA when he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers ahead of the 2014-15 NBA season. However, he was waived before the season started. After playing for the 76ers’ G League team, Delaware 87ers, he was re-signed by the 76ers, but only played nine games, averaging 1.9 points and 2.0 steals per game.
Drew Gordon Found Success In Europe
After his brief stint playing in the NBA and the G League, Gordon returned to Europe, playing for French club Champagne Chalons-Rems, where he played the best basketball of his career, averaging 14.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. For his performance, he was named an LNB All-Star.
He had stints with Lithuanian club Lietuvos Rytas and Russian club Zenit-St. Petersberg, before returning to the United States to sign for the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets waived him a day later, allowing him to sign with their G League team, the Long Island Nets.
After his G League stint with the Nets, he had one-year stints with Stelmet Zielona Góra, Avtodor, Lokomotiv Kuban, Budivelnyk, and Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka. He found a brief career resurgence with Lokomotiv Kuban, averaging 15.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. It was the best scoring season of his career, with him posting his highest points-per-game average with Kuban.
His stint with Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka during the 2022-23 season would be the last of his professional career, as Gordon announced his retirement from the sport on July 12th, 2023.
Despite Gordon not being able to find sustained success in the NBA, he had a rich and fruitful experience playing in Europe. Gordon’s stint with Champagne was his most successful, and he played the best basketball of his career during that season.
As mentioned before, Drew was the brother of Aaron Gordon. The Nuggets star and former NBA champion was five years younger than his older brother. Drew would actually announce his retirement just one month after Aaron won the NBA championship with the Nuggets last year.
We here at Fadeaway World would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family of Drew Gordon and would like to ask fans and readers to respect the family’s privacy during this trying time.
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