Carlik Jones Named 2022-23 NBA G League Most Valuable Player
CHICAGO - Former Louisville men's basketball standout Carlik Jones has been named the 2022-23 NBA G League Most Valuable Player, the NBA announced Thursday. He earned the honor in a vote by the league’s 30 head coaches and general managers.
Playing for the Windy City Bulls, the G League affiliate for the Chicago Bulls, Jones averaged a G League-best 26.1 points in 24 regular season games. He also averaged 7.0 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.7 steals, while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 36.0 percent on three-point attempts.
Last December, Jones signed a two-way contract with the Chicago Bulls, which was then converted to a regular contract in early March. The Cincinnati native has played in four NBA games this season for the Bulls, totaling three points, two assists and three rebounds in 28 minutes.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound guard signed an undrafted free agent deal with Dallas after going unselected in the 2021 NBA Draft, and saw time with both the Mavericks and Denver Nuggets during the 2021-22 season. He played in five total games that year - three with the Mavs and two with the Nuggets - collecting four points, five assists, three rebounds and a steal in 23 minutes.
During the 2020-21 season, his lone year at Louisville, Jones was one of the best players in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He averaged 16.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, while shooting 40.2% from the field and 32.1% on three-point attempts. He was only player in the ACC to rank among the top six in scoring, assists, assists/turnovers ratio and free throw percentage.
Jones was named a First Team All-ACC selection, becoming the third Cardinal to receive the honor, joining Jordan Nwora in 2020 and Donovan Mitchell in 2017. He received the third-highest votes and finished tied for second in the conference player of the year vote.
Prior to joining Louisville, the Cincinnati native was regarded as the top graduate transfer during the 2020 offseason. He averaged 20.0 points, 5.5 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game in his redshirt junior year at Radford, winning Big South Player of the Year.
(Photo of Carlik Jones: David Yeazell - USA TODAY Sports)
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