Danny Granger Jr. (born April 20, 1983 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Indiana Pacers. Mainly a small forward, he can also play in the 4 position, relying on his athleticism and a superb inside-out game.

Background

Granger played two years at Bradley University and a further two at the University of New Mexico, majoring in Civil Engineering. He is also a graduate of Grace King High School in Metairie, Louisiana.

In the 2004-05 season, Granger carried the New Mexico Lobos to a 26-7 record, the Mountain West Conference (MWC) tournament championship, and back to the NCAA tournament for the first time in six years. He was named to the All-MWC first team, and recognized as an AP Honorable Mention All-American.

Professional career

Granger was selected 17th overall in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers, as the organization included former Lobo Mel Daniels and Hall of Famer Larry Bird, who was coached in college by the father of New Mexico Lobo Basketball, Bob King.

In his first NBA season, Granger played in 78 regular season games, averaging 7.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, while making the All-NBA Rookie Second Team. He added 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds in 6 playoff games.

With the departure of Peja Stojakovic and arrival of Al Harrington during the 2006 offseason, Granger became the Pacers' starting small forward for 2006-07, as the team was going with a three-forward starting lineup of Granger, Harrington and Jermaine O'Neal. After the first 15 games, he became the first man off the bench.

Since a January 17, 2007 eight-player trade with the Golden State Warriors, Granger started at the small forward-shooting guard spot, mainly due to the departure of Harrington. With the second and third scoring options (Harrington and Stephen Jackson, respectively) on the team gone, he was given more chances for scoring and averaged 13.9 points per game in 2006-07.

In 2007-08, Granger led the Pacers in scoring for the first time, averaging 19 ppg, while starting all 80 games he appeared in.

On October 31, 2008, Granger and the Pacers agreed on a 5-year contract extension worth between $60- and $64 million. The finalization of the deal was announced that night, mere hours before the midnight deadline which, if passed without any agreement, would have made Granger a restricted free agent the following summer.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | align="left" | 2005?06 | align="left" | Indiana | 78 || 17 || 22.6 || .462 || .323 || .777 || 4.9 || 1.2 || .7 || .8 || 7.5 |- | align="left" | 2006?07 | align="left" | Indiana | 82 || 57 || 34.0 || .459 || .382 || .803 || 4.6 || 1.4 || .8 || .7 || 13.9 |- | align="left" | 2007?08 | align="left" | Indiana | 80 || 80 || 36.0 || .446 || .404 || .852 || 6.1 || 2.1 || 1.2 || 1.0 || 19.6 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 240 || 154 || 30.9 || .453 || .387 || .821 || 5.2 || 1.5 || .9 || .8 || 13.7

Playoffs

|- | align="left" | 2005?06 | align="left" | Indiana | 6 || 3 || 27.0 || .529 || .563 || 1.000 || 5.2 || 1.7 || .7 || 1.2 || 8.2 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 6 || 3 || 27.0 || .529 || .563 || 1.000 || 5.2 || 1.7 || .7 || 1.2 || 8.2

Family

Granger has a younger brother, Scotty, who appeared on a reality TV show titled "The One: Making a Music Star" on ABC, in the summer of 2006. Subsequently, he sang professional background vocals for 2007 American Idol champion Jordin Sparks, touring with the singer.

The basketball player is also great-nephew of the "Queen of Gospel", Mahalia Jackson. Many people think that he has a cousin named DeMarcus Granger, but he doesn't.

External links

• 2005 Draft profile
• UNM Profile, Honors

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