At 39 years old and even if his future with the Clippers is still unclear, PJ Tucker does not want to hear about retirement yet. Nevertheless, at his age, he is closer to the end than the beginning and the interior can make a first assessment of his career.
Even though he came to the NBA late, at age 27, after a rookie season cut short six years earlier, he's starting to build up a nice resume with 883 regular-season games and 104 playoff games, across seven teams. Among this collection of memories, does one team stand out?
“I would say my first year with Houston. It was my favorite season. And my favorite team.”, answers PJ Tucker. “With all the guys on that team, we got along so well. I’ve never been on a team where the whole team hung out so much. In our free time, we were together. We were a bunch of guys who were friends. It was perfect and it was super fun. So yeah, I’m going to say the 2017/2018 Rockets. They were a unique team.”
With 65 wins, Houston had the best record of the regular season and James Harden had been elected MVP. In the playoffs, the Rockets were close to the Finals, with a defeat in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals (they had led 3-2 in this series before Chris Paul's injury…), at home, against the Warriors. A memorable game with 7/44 3-pointers from Mike D'Antoni's men, including a historic series of 27 missed three-pointers!
A title that does not spoil the appetite
Houston would never be so close to the Grail again and PJ Tucker would join the Bucks during the 2020/21 season. And there, they won the title against the Suns.
“That was it for me. We had so many moments, at least two, where we thought we could win the title with Houston,” he remembers. “To have that opportunity in Milwaukee right after and to be successful, it was surreal. It was so much fun to have chased for a long time and finally climb that Everest.”
But since then, a second ring has been awaited. “It's a goal to win the title and the hardest thing is that when it's done, it's even worse because you want to relive it again and again, every season. Therefore, that's what we strive to do.”he concluded.
| PJ Tucker | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2006-07 | TOR | 17 | 5 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 57.1 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 1.8 |
| 2012-13 | PHX | 79 | 24 | 47.3 | 31.4 | 74.4 | 1.7 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 6.4 |
| 2013-14 | PHX | 81 | 31 | 43.1 | 38.7 | 77.6 | 2.0 | 4.5 | 6.5 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 9.4 |
| 2014-15 | PHX | 78 | 31 | 43.8 | 34.5 | 72.7 | 1.5 | 5.0 | 6.4 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 9.1 |
| 2015-16 | PHX | 82 | 31 | 41.1 | 33.0 | 74.6 | 2.0 | 4.2 | 6.2 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.2 | 8.0 |
| 2016-17 * | All Teams | 81 | 28 | 41.3 | 35.7 | 77.4 | 1.4 | 4.4 | 5.8 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 6.7 |
| 2016-17 * | PHX | 57 | 29 | 41.5 | 33.8 | 79.2 | 1.7 | 4.4 | 6.0 | 1.3 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 7.0 |
| 2016-17 * | TOR | 24 | 25 | 40.6 | 40.0 | 68.8 | 1.0 | 4.4 | 5.4 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 5.8 |
| 2017-18 | WHOA | 82 | 28 | 39.0 | 37.1 | 71.7 | 1.1 | 4.4 | 5.6 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 6.1 |
| 2018-19 | WHOA | 82 | 34 | 39.6 | 37.7 | 69.5 | 1.5 | 4.4 | 5.8 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 7.3 |
| 2019-20 | WHOA | 72 | 34 | 41.5 | 35.8 | 81.3 | 1.6 | 5.1 | 6.6 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 6.9 |
| 2020-21 * | All Teams | 52 | 26 | 37.3 | 33.6 | 75.0 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 3.9 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 3.7 |
| 2020-21 * | WHOA | 32 | 30 | 36.6 | 31.4 | 78.3 | 1.0 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 4.4 |
| 2020-21 * | MIL | 20 | 20 | 39.1 | 39.4 | 60.0 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 2.6 |
| 2021-22 | MIA | 71 | 28 | 48.4 | 41.5 | 73.8 | 1.4 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 7.6 |
| 2022-23 | PHL | 75 | 26 | 42.7 | 39.3 | 82.6 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 3.6 |
| 2023-24 * | All Teams | 31 | 16 | 36.0 | 37.1 | 100.0 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.7 |
| 2023-24 * | LAKE | 28 | 15 | 35.6 | 36.7 | 100.0 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 1.6 |
| 2023-24 * | PHL | 3 | 22 | 40.0 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 2.0 |
| Total | 883 | 28 | 42.5 | 36.6 | 75.0 | 1.5 | 3.9 | 5.4 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 6.6 | |
How to read the stats? GM = Games Played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots Made / Shots Attempted; 3pts = 3-pointers / 3-pointers Attempted; LF = Free Throws Made / Free Throws Attempted; Off = Offensive Rebound; Def = Defensive Rebound; Tot = Total Rebounds; Pd = Assists; Fte: Personal Fouls; Int = Steals; Bp = Loose Balls; Ct: Blocks; Pts = Points.
