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Worthy de Jong

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Worthy Donovan Rafael de Jong (born 14 March 1988[1]) is a Dutch 3x3 basketball Olympic Gold medal winning player and former professional 5x5 player. Standing at 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m), De Jong plays the shooting guard or the small forward position.[2]

Worthy de Jong
De Jong playing for ZZ Leiden in 2016
Personal information
Born (1988-03-14) 14 March 1988 (age 36)
Paramaribo, Suriname
NationalityDutch
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight84 kg (185 lb)
Career information
CollegeRanger College (2006–2007)
Playing career2009–2023
PositionShooting guard / small forward
Number6, 18
Career history
2009–2010Rotterdam Challengers
2010–2016ZZ Leiden
2016–2017SOMB
2017–2022ZZ Leiden
2023ZZ Leiden
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's 3x3 basketball
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris Team

He played 13 seasons as a professional player in the Netherlands, of which 11 were with ZZ Leiden. He is Leiden's all-time leader in points, rebounds and assists, and is nicknamed "Mister ZZ Leiden".[3] With Leiden, he won three Dutch championships and two Dutch Cups. De Jong is widely regarded as one of the best Dutch basketball players of his generation and was considered the best player in the country in his prime.[4][5]

De Jong also played for the Netherlands national team during ten years and represented the team at the EuroBasket in 2015 and 2022.

Early life

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Born in Paramaribo, De Jong was named after Los Angeles Lakers basketball player James Worthy.[6] De Jong and his parents moved to Amsterdam when he was two years old. There, he started playing basketball at age 11. He started playing at Club 2000, motivated by his father who was a basketball player in Suriname.[7]

In 2006, De Jong moved to the United States to attend Ranger College in Ranger, Texas, on a scholarship.[7] Later, he returned to the Netherlands and played with Orca's Urk in the Promotiedivisie, the national second tier league.

Professional career

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Rotterdam (2009–2010)

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De Jong signed with the Rotterdam Challengers of the Dutch Basketball League for the 2009–10 season, starting his professional career. Already known for his athletic ability, he participated in the dunk contest of the DBL All-Star Game.[8] De Jong averaged 7.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in his rookie season.

First Leiden stint (2010–2016)

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On 19 July 2010, De Jong signed a deal with ZZ Leiden.[9] Under head coach Toon van Helfteren, De Jong was a rotation player in his first seasons. In the 2010–11 season, De Jong won his first DBL title after Leiden beat Donar 4–3 in the Finals. On 14 May 2011 he scored 28 points in the 107–89 Game 1 win over Donar.[10]

In the following seasons with Leiden, De Jong grew into a star in the DBL. In the 2011–12 season, Leiden reached the finals but lost to EiffelTowers Den Bosch. Leiden did manage to win the NBB Cup, De Jong's first of such trophy. De Jong averaged 6.3 points and 3.2 rebounds per game that season.[10] Individually, he received his first DBL Most Improved Player award after his improved role on the team.

In his third season with Leiden, the 2012–13 season, De Jong won his second title after Leeuwarden was swept in the finals, 4–0. He scored a team-high 18 points in the 74–64 Game 3 victory over Aris.[10] Statistically, De Jong had a large improvement as he averaged 13.5 points and 5.8 rebounds, on 52.2% shooting, over the season.[10]

In the 2014 offseason, De Jong signed a new three-year contract with Leiden.[11] On 4 October 2014 he scored a career-high 35 points in a 113–81 win over Aris Leeuwarden.[10] Leiden failed to return to a fourth consecutive finals as they were defeated by Donar in the semifinals.

In the 2015–16 season, De Jong won his first DBL Most Valuable Player Award of his career,[12] after averaging 17.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists per game.[10] He was the tenth Dutch player in history to win the award. Despite his MVP season, Leiden was eliminated by Donar in the semifinals for a second year in a row.

France (2016–2017)

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In June 2016, De Jong signed with SOMB Boulogne-sur-Mer of the French second national division Pro B.[13] Over the 2016–17 Pro B season, De Jong averaged 9.7 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists per game, as SOMB finished in 17th place and was relegated to the third division Nationale Masculine 1 (NM1).[14]

Second stint with Leiden (2017–2022)

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On 28 June 2017, De Jong returned to his former club ZZ Leiden by signing a one-year contract.[15] He averaged 16 points and 6.1 rebounds in his first season back and helped the team return to the finals. In his fourth finals appearance, Leiden was swept by a dominant Donar team.

In June 2018, he extended his contract for two more seasons.[16] In the 2018–19 season, De Jong won his second NBB Cup title with Leiden. In the DBL, he averaged 16.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists.[10]

De Jong signed a three-year extension with the team on 29 May 2020.[17] He won the DBL Defensive Player of the Year award for the first time in the 2020–21 season.[18] De Jong also won his third championship after defeating Heroes Den Bosch in the finals, and he was named DBL Playoffs MVP in the process (he was the first Leiden player to win the award).[19]

On 3 April 2022 De Jong announced the 2021–22 season would be his last professional season; he would continue in 3x3 basketball with the Netherlands national team, however.[20] He finished his career by winning the inaugural BNXT League championship and was named the Finals MVP of the finals against Donar.[21]

De Jong finished his career as ZZ Leiden's all-time leader in points, rebounds, assists and steals. On 22 October 2022 the club retired his jersey number 6.[22]

Short return from retirement (2023)

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On 20 January 2023, ZZ Leiden announced De Jong had signed a temporary contract, while still continuing playing 3x3 basketball for Basketball Nederland.[23] On 1 March, Leiden announced he had left the roster again.[24] De Jong played four games in the 2022–23 BNXT League season and averaged five points per game off the bench in his short return.[25]

International career

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De Jong played for the Netherlands national basketball team after he made his debut on 28 July 2012 under Jan Willem Jansen.[26] He made his debut at a major international tournament during EuroBasket 2015. On 5 September De Jong scored 16 points in a 73–72 win over Georgia[27] that marked the Netherlands' first EuroBasket win in 26 years. He averaged 9.4 points per game over the tournament.[28]

De Jong played his second EuroBasket tournament in 2022 after he had announced his retirement prior to the tournament. In the opening game, he scored 28 points in a 76–100 loss to Serbia.[29] In his last national team game, he scored a team-high 21 points in a 67–88 loss to Finland.[6] De Jong averaged a team-leading 16.4 points on 49.2% shooting, as the Netherlands ended the tournament with a 0–5 record.[30]

He went on to play 118 games for the national team,[6] 13th most of all-time in the history of the national team.[31]

EuroBasket statistics

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015   Netherlands 5 5 21.1 .533 .667 .812 4.6 1.0 .8 .0 9.4
2022 5 5 30.5 .492 .447 .714 3.0 1.6 1.8 .4 16.4

3x3 basketball

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After retiring from professional basketball with ZZ Leiden, De Jong continued a career in 3x3 basketball.[32]

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, De Jong played a crucial role in the Netherlands' victory in the men's 3x3 basketball final, securing the gold medal. His 2-pointer in overtime secured an 18-17 win for the Netherlands over France in the final. De Jong also scored vital points during regulation, tying the game with a layup with less than three seconds remaining.[33]

Honours

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Club

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ZZ Leiden

Individual

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Worthy de Jong.
  1. ^ "Worthy de Jong". FIBA.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Worthy de Jong's Profile" (in Dutch). Dutch Basketball League. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  3. ^ "'Mister ZZ Leiden' Worthy de Jong kondigt afscheid aan: 'Ik merk dat het steeds moeilijker wordt om 100 procent te geven'". Leidsch Dagblad (in Flemish). 9 April 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  4. ^ Harharah, Haniff (13 June 2022). "Worthy de Jong verlaat ZZ Leiden met hoofdprijs: 'Belangrijkste speler ooit'". www.omroepwest.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  5. ^ Sijtsma, Thomas (28 August 2022). "Basketballer Worthy de Jong sluit af tegen een filmster". Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  6. ^ a b c "Basketballers weten zich bij afscheid Worthy de Jong geen raad met Finse NBA-speler". nos.nl (in Dutch). 8 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Worthy de Jong: "Ik wil laten zien hoe mooi het Nederlandse basketbal is."". Zuidoost&Meer (in Dutch). 6 June 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  8. ^ "Worthy de Jong naar Dunkcontest". www.rijnmond.nl (in Dutch). 7 April 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  9. ^ "Worthy de Jong naar Leiden" (in Dutch). ZZ Leiden. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Proballers. "Worthy de Jong's Basketball Records (Regular season)". Proballers. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  11. ^ "De Jong drie jaar langer bij ZZ Leiden". ZZ Leiden.
  12. ^ "Worthy de Jong uitgeroepen tot MVP" (in Dutch). Dutch Basketball League. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  13. ^ "De Jong vertrekt naar Frankrijk" (in Dutch). Dutch Basketball League. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  14. ^ "Worthy de Jong Profile" (in French). LNB.fr. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  15. ^ "De Jong terug naar ZZ Leiden" (in Dutch). Dutch Basketball League. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Worthy de Jong verlengt contract bij ZZ Leiden met twee seizoenen [video]". www.leidschdagblad.nl. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  17. ^ Carchia, Emiliano (29 May 2020). "Worthy de Jong signs long-terms extension with ZZ Leiden". Sportando. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  18. ^ "Worthy de Jong voert All Defense Team aan". Basketball League (in Dutch). Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Worthy de Jong MVP Play-offs". Dutch Basketball League (in Dutch). Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  20. ^ "Breaking news in het Nederlandse basketball! Worthy de Jong stort zich na dit seizoen op 3x3". Basketball.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  21. ^ "ZZ Leiden first BNXT League champion". BNXT League. 11 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  22. ^ "ZZ Leiden | Worthy is een Leidenaar!". www.eredivisiebasketballleiden.nl (in Dutch). 23 October 2022. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  23. ^ "ZZ Leiden voegt Worthy de Jong tijdelijk aan selectie toe". ZZ Leiden (in Dutch). 20 January 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  24. ^ "Worthy de Jong ruilt ZZ Leiden weer in voor 3x3". ZZ Leiden (in Dutch). 1 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  25. ^ Proballers. "Worthy de Jong, Game by Game Stats (2022-2023)". Proballers. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  26. ^ "Worthy de Jong". Oranje Basketball (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  27. ^ "Worthy De Jong profile, EuroBasket 2015". FIBA.COM. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  28. ^ "Worthy de Jong Player Profile, ZZ Leiden, International Stats, Events Stats, Game Logs, Awards - RealGM". basketball.realgm.com. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  29. ^ "Jokic, Micic hear MVP chants as Serbia ruin De Jong's big night". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  30. ^ "Worthy DE JONG at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  31. ^ "Oranje Internationals". Oranje Basketball (in Dutch). Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  32. ^ "Breaking news in het Nederlandse basketball! Worthy de Jong stort zich na dit seizoen op 3x3". Basketball.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  33. ^ Rieken, Kristie (5 August 2024). "Worthy de Jong's 2 in OT lifts the Netherlands over France to win gold in men's 3x3 at Paris Games".
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