KemarOrtez

Kemarion DeMarcus Ortez (born May 17, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a two-time NBA All-Star. He is also a two-time All-NBA Team member.

Ortez played college basketball for the Columbia Lions and earned third-team all-conference honors in the Pac-10. He was selected with the fourth overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the New York Knicks.

Early life

Ortez was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Beverly Ortez. Ortez is estranged from his biological father; when he was a minor, Ortez's legal guardian was his grandmother, whom he lived with during his residence in Brooklyn. He also has an older brother named Samuel who is currently serving a life sentence. As a teenager, Ortez frequently ran into trouble with the law. He was a member of the "GS9" gang in the Eastside area of Bedford-Stuyvesant, although he stated in 2016 that he never joined a gang. Growing up in Brooklyn, Ortez and his best friend, Tyreeq Chamberlain III, had hopes of going to Columbia University and playing together. However, in May 2011, Chamberlain died from an enlarged heart during a pickup game.

High school career

Ortez entered Fort Hamilton High School as an unheralded 5-foot-8, 140-pound freshman point guard with size 14 shoes. He did not start on his school's varsity team until his junior year, and did not receive his first college recruiting letter until the summer before his senior year. Ortez reached his adult height of 6′3″ that same summer.

During his senior year, Ortez averaged 25.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.1 steals, and 2.3 assists and helped lead them to a 25-4 record. That same season, he recorded 14 double-doubles, scored 30 or more points on eight separate occasions, and registered a career-best 51 points at Carson on January 6, 2012. Ortez did not attract much attention from top college basketball programs until head coach Jim Engles offered him a scholarship to play for the Columbia Lions after Jordan Farmar declared for the NBA draft.

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date {{College athlete recruit entry	recruit = Kemarion DeMarcus Ortez	position = SG	hometown = Brooklyn, New York	highschool = Fort Hamilton High	feet = 6	inches = 2	weight = 175	commitdate = April 19, 2012	scout stars = 4	rivals stars = 3	247 stars = 3
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources:

College career

Ortez wore number 3 throughout his career at Columbia University. In his freshman year, he played as a back up to Darren Collison and was primarily used as a defender and energy player off the bench. Ortez averaged 3.4 points, 0.8 rebounds, and 0.7 assists on the year. The next season, Collison was injured and Ortez was named the starter. He finished the season averaging 12.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.6 steals. At the end of the year, he was named All-Pac-10 Third Team and won the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year.

Columbia University advanced to the Final Four during each of Ortez's seasons with the team. In 2013, they lost to eventual national champion Florida, 76–66 and in 2014, they lost 78–63 to Memphis. After two years at Columbia University, he decided to forgo his final two years and enter the 2014 NBA draft.

College	Year	GP	GS	SPG	BPG	RPG	APG	PPG	FG%	3P%	FT%
Columbia Lions	2012-13	36	1	.4	.0	.8	.7	3.4	45.7%	40.9%	54.8%
Columbia Lions	2013-14	39	34	1.6	.2	3.9	4.3	12.7	46.5%	33.8%	71.3%

Professional career

New York Knicks (2014–present)

Rookie and first playoffs (2014–15)

Ortez was selected 4th overall in the 2014 NBA draft by the New York Knicks. He signed with the team on July 5, 2014. On March 2, 2015, Ortez recorded his first career triple double with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He was the first rookie since Chris Paul to record a triple-double.

Ortez averaged 15.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals on the season. He finished fourth in the 2014–15 NBA Rookie of the Year voting behind Rookie of the Year winner Andrew Wiggins (Minnesota Timberwolves), Nikola Mirotic (Chicago Bulls) and Nerlens Noel (Philadelphia 76ers)

In his second year, and first season as a full-time starter, Ortez went on to average 16.1 points, 8.0 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.3 steals on the season. On April 4, 2015, he recorded 10 points and a career-high 16 assists in a 116-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Knicks made a huge turnaround by more than doubling their wins from the previous season and qualified for the playoffs with a 50–32 record. However, the Knicks were eliminated by the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. In the series, Ortez stepped up his play from the regular season, averaging 20.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 3.2 steals.

Injury and comeback (2015–16)

Prior to the start of the 2015–16 season, Ortez had a second surgery on his right knee, which set back his return to basketball. Despite reports that he would miss the first two weeks of the regular season, Ortez would miss only the first two games. On December 25, 2015, Ortez recorded 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists as the Knicks beat Oklahoma Thunder 123-94. This was just the eighth triple-double on Christmas Day in NBA history. The win was also the largest margin of victory in a Christmas Day game in NBA history. On the day after his Christmas-day game, it was announced that Ortez would undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and would be out until after the All-Star break. During this time, The Knicks were able to remain competitive despite his absence due mainly to Carmelo Anthony's stellar play. Ortez returned to the lineup on February 20, 2016. He played the rest of the season on limited minutes and sat out the second night of back-to-backs.

On March 4, 2016, Ortez recorded his second triple-double of the season. He recorded 13 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds, in just 20 minutes in a 125–92 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. This was the second fastest recorded triple-double in NBA history. Ortez and the Knicks finished with a 59-23 record earning the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. They advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals where they faced the Boston Celtics. On May 27, 2016, in a game 4 victory, Ortez recorded 40 points, 5 rebounds, 10 assists and 5 steals. In doing so, he joined Michael Jordan as the only other player to post those numbers in a playoff game. Knicks lost the series to the eventual NBA champion Spurs in six games. Ortez averaged 26.7 points, 8.1 assists, and 7.3 rebounds in the postseason, and became the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1964 to average at least 26 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds in the playoffs.

All-Star success (2016–17)

On October 28, 2016, Ortez opened the Knicks's 2016–17 season with a game-high 33 points and 10 assists in a 112–106 win over the San Antonio Spurs. Two days later, in a double-overtime win over the Orlando Magic, Kemar Ortez and Carmelo Anthony became the first pair of teammates to each score at least 40 points in a single game since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen accomplished the feat in 1996. Ortez had 43 and Anthony had 48 as the Knicks defeated the Magic 139–136.

On November 10, Ortez recorded his first triple-double of the season (20th of career) with 22 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds in a 125–101 win over the Washington Wizards. Three days later, he recorded his second straight triple-double, recording 21 points, a then career-high 17 rebounds and 11 assists in a 102–85 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On December 27, in a win over the Denver Nuggets, Ortez had 30 points, 12 assists, and nine rebounds, just missing what would have been his fourth triple-double of the season. In that game, Ortez and Anthony became the first teammates to each have at least 25 points and 10 assists in a regulation game since Utah's John Stockton (31 points, 11 assists) and Karl Malone (27 points, 10 assists) on February 2, 1996. On January 4, he was named NBA Western Conference co-Player of the Month for December alongside Anthony.

On January 20, 2017, Ortez recorded 16 points, 15 assists, eight rebounds, and five steals against the Charlotte Hornets, becoming just the fourth player in NBA history with at least 15 points, 15 assists, five rebounds and five steals in a game. On February 3, he recorded his third straight triple-double and eighth of the season with 24 points, a career-high 19 rebounds and 14 assists in a 117–114 win over the Orland Magic. Ortez was voted to start in his first All-Star Game in 2017, and he earned his second MVP award after a 196–173 win by the West. He recorded 31 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and five steals in 22 minutes, and became the first player in All-Star history to win consecutive MVPs outright. Bob Pettit is the other player to have won two back-to-back awards, winning in 1958 and sharing it with Elgin Baylor in 1959. On March 9, he recorded his 11th triple-double of the season with 25 points, a career-high 20 assists and 11 rebounds in a 120–108 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The stat line marked the NBA's first triple-double with at least 25 points, 20 assists and 10 rebounds since Magic Johnson did it for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1988, and the first with at least 20 points and 20 assists since Rod Strickland did it for the Washington Wizards in 1998. On March 22, he recorded his 15th triple-double of the season and 34th of his career with 21 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds in a 111–107 win over the Houston Rockets, setting the most triple-doubles by a player in a season since 1988–89, when Magic Johnson had 17 and Michael Jordan had 15. It was also Ortez's sixth triple-double in March, the most by a player in a calendar month since Jordan had seven in April 1989.

In the playoffs, Ortez helped guide the Knicks past the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, and then the San Antonio Spurs in the second round. In the Western Conference Finals, they faced the defending champion Golden State Warriors, and took home court advantage after stealing Game 1 of the series. With the series tied at 1–1 after Game 2, the Thunder returned home and took a 3–1 advantage with two home wins. In Game 4, Ortez recorded his fifth career playoff triple-double with 36 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in a 118–94 win. Despite going up 3–1 in the series, the Knicks were defeated 4–3 by the Warriors to bow out of the playoffs.

Player profile

Standing at 6 feet 3 inches tall (1.91 m) and weighing 200 pounds (91 kg), Ortez is a Shooting guard who has established himself as one of the most diverse players in the NBA. He is also widely known for playing at a high level of intensity and for being able to keep that intensity for the majority of his playing time. Ortez will often look to push the pace of the game for transition points and attack the basket. Though attacking the rim is his forte, he will frequently pull up for medium range jump shots. Ortez regularly creates good scoring opportunities for his teammates, resulting in him averaging over seven assists per game for his career.

NBA 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

*	Led the league

Regular season


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2014–15	New York Knicks	82	82	34.9	.438	.323	.800	5.2	7.4	1.8	.3	23.2
2015–16	New York Knicks	46	46	30.7	.437	.318	.826	5.7	6.9	1.9	.2	21.8
2016–17	New York Knicks	80	80	34.4	.454	.296	.812	7.8	10.4	2.0	.3	23.5
2017–18	New York Knicks	67	67	34.4	.426	.299	.835	7.3	8.6	2.1	.2	28.1*
Career		668	651	34.1	.433	.313	.823	6.2	7.9	1.7	.3	22.7
All-Star		5	1	21.4	.548	.382	.500	5.4	2.6	2.2	.0	23.8

Playoffs


Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2014	New York Knicks	2	2	34.0	.415	.222	.857	6.5	7.0	3.0	.0	24.0
2015	New York Knicks	19	19	38.7	.420	.280	.884	7.3	8.1	2.2	.3	26.7
2016	New York Knicks	18	18	37.4	.405	.324	.829	6.9	11.0	2.6	.1	26.0
2017	New York Knicks	5	5	38.8	.388	.265	.800	11.6	10.8	2.4	.4	37.4
Career		87	87	37.8	.415	.294	.841	6.5	7.8	2.0	.3	25.3

Awards and honors

College

2013 All-Pac-10 Third Team
2013 Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year
2014 Pac-10 All-Tournament Team
2014 Pac-10 All-Defensive Team

High school

First-team All-CIF Division I
Third-team All-State
2× Most Valuable Player of the Bay League

Endorsements

In October 2015, Ortez signed with the Jordan Brand.

In February 2016, Ortez was named Marketing Creative Director of the denim brand True Religion and signed with PepsiCo to become the global face of Mountain Dew Kickstart.

In August 2017, Ortez signed with MAWBY. He stated that, "I have always loved fashion so working with MAWBY was a natural fit as we both have a fearless and creative approach to style."

Personal life

Ortez has also had several run-ins with the law while living in Brooklyn, including spending fifteen months in detention for probation violation in 2008, as well as being arrested on a gun charge that was later dropped. According to his indictment, Ortez was associated with a criminal enterprise which is based in Bridgeport, New York titled "Valhalla" which regularly got into disputes with criminal gangs, committed murder, carried out non-fatal shootings and engaged in drug trafficking.