Bonzi Wells
Wells with the Rockets in 2008.
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 28, 1976 Muncie, Indiana |
| Nationality | American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Muncie Central (Muncie, Indiana) |
| College | Ball State (1994–1998) |
| NBA draft | 1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11th overall |
| Selected by the Portland Trail Blazers | |
| Playing career | 1998–2010 |
| Position | Shooting guard / Small forward |
| Number | 6, 42, 24 |
| Career history | |
| 1998–2003 | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 2003–2005 | Memphis Grizzlies |
| 2005–2006 | Sacramento Kings |
| 2006–2008 | Houston Rockets |
| 2008 | New Orleans Hornets |
| 2008–2009 | Shanxi Zhongyu |
| 2009–2010 | Capitanes de Arecibo |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Gawen DeAngelo "Bonzi" Wells (born September 28, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at Ball State University and was drafted in the 1998 NBA Draft. In the NBA, Wells played for five teams from 1998 to 2008: the Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, and New Orleans Hornets.
Wells attended Muncie Central High School and then went on to play at Ball State University, also in Muncie. There he was named the Mid-American Conference Freshman Player of the Year in the 1994–1995 season. Wells broke Ron Harper's conference record of 2,377 career points on a one-handed dunk against Northern Illinois on February 21, 1998. The dunk sent the sell-out crowd at University Arena into a frenzy. A timeout was immediately called and Wells was awarded the game ball by Ball State president John Worthen. Wells also led the Mid-American Conference in steals in 1998 with 73, averaging 3.55 steals in 29 games. Wells led the conference in steals during all four years at Ball State and finished his career as the Mid-American Conference all-time career records in points (2,485) and steals (347). While at Ball State he averaged 21.4 PPG, 3 SPG, and 7.3 RPG. He was selected eleventh overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 1998 NBA Draft, but he never played for the Pistons as his draft rights were traded to the Portland Trail Blazers for the Blazers' 1999 first round pick. Six years later Ball State would retire his jersey number, 42, in recognition of his achievements.
As a swingman in Portland, Wells achieved career highs in scoring and improved somewhat on defense, and picked up what some would call a bad-boy image while sharing the role of co-captain with Rasheed Wallace. Bonzi, however, did have his share of on- and off-court incidents. During his tenure with the Blazers, Bonzi was suspended for two games for publicly cursing at his coach after being taken out of a game. Bonzi was also fined in a separate incident for making an obscene gesture to a fan in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. When asked by a media reporter about the incident, he said, "I black out sometimes." Wells was suspended one game without pay and fined $10,000 for intentionally striking and verbally abusing an official in 2000. Bonzi and teammate Erick Barkley in 2001 were cited for criminal trespass after they refused to follow the order of an officer to leave the scene of a fight near a downtown nightclub. This only went to further the team's derisive nickname, The Jail Blazers. Trail Blazers management made an oath to the City of Portland to have a team of upstanding Portlanders and drastically restructured the team. In an exchange that emphasized the urgency to release Wells, he was sent to the Memphis Grizzlies in a trade for reserve guard Wesley Person.
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