Jason Hart (basketball)

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox basketball biography Jason Keema Hart (born April 29, 1978) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is currently an assistant coach for the University of Kentucky.

College career

From 1996 to 2000, he attended New York's Syracuse University, where he became the first freshman in the Big East Conference's history to lead it in minutes played.<ref name="nunes">Template:Cite news</ref> Later on, he earned other accolades as an NCAA player, such as becoming his college's all-time leader in steals<ref name="nunes" /> and second place among assist leaders.<ref name="nunes" /> As a senior, Hart made the Big East's All-First Team.<ref name=wolves_tc_roster/> He was also selected to the Syracuse All-Century Basketball team.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

NBA career

Hart began his career with the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2000–01 season, but he only saw action in one game, scoring two points.<ref name="br">Template:Cite web</ref>

Starting the 2001–02 season in the newly created NBDL with the Asheville Altitude,<ref name="Orange">Template:Cite news</ref> he was called in December by the San Antonio Spurs, appearing in 10 games.<ref name="Orange" /> He played in the Greek A1 League with Makedonikos BC in 2002–03, returning to the Spurs for the 2003–04 season, where he played in 53 games, averaging 3.3 points.<ref name="br" />

Hart was signed by the Bobcats as a free agent before the 2004–05 season,<ref name="br" /> and made the first steal in Bobcats history in their first game. Previously, in a 126-125 losing effort in their first preseason game, Hart made a three-point shot as time expired to send the game against the Washington Wizards into a second overtime period en route to 19 points.

In the 2004–05 season, Hart set career highs in many categories including: points per game (9.5), assists per game (5.0), and rebounds per game (2.7).<ref name="br" /> He finished third in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio, with 3.6 assists for every turnover. After the season, Hart was traded to the Sacramento Kings.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On March 2, 2007, Hart was waived by the Kings.<ref>Kings waive seldom-used backup guard Hart, March 1, 2007</ref> He was signed a few days later by the Los Angeles Clippers.<ref>Clippers sign Jason Hart, cut Will Conroy, March 5, 2007</ref> On July 13, 2007, Hart signed with the Utah Jazz.<ref>Jazz sign Hart</ref> Originally serving as the backup to Deron Williams, an injury forced him to sit for 8 games.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ronnie Price's solid play during that time nearly removed him from the rotation.

On July 23, 2008, Hart was traded back to the Clippers in exchange for Brevin Knight.<ref>Clippers send Knight to Jazz, get reunited with Hart</ref>

On February 27, 2009, Hart was waived by the Clippers.<ref>Clippers waive Jason Hart</ref>

On March 3, 2009, Hart was signed by the Nuggets for the remainder of the season.<ref name="br" />

On September 28, 2009, Hart signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.<ref name=wolves_tc_roster>TIMBERWOLVES: Training Camp Roster</ref> He was traded to the Phoenix Suns on December 29, 2009, for Alando Tucker and cash.<ref name="tucker">Template:Cite news</ref> The Suns immediately waived him.<ref name="tucker" /> On February 5, 2010, Hart signed a ten-day contract with the New Orleans Hornets.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Hart's final NBA game was on February 10, 2010, in a 93–85 win over the Boston Celtics. In his final game, Hart recorded two assists and one rebound.

Coaching career

After his playing career ended, Hart coached AAU basketball in Los Angeles and served as head coach at Taft High School in LA.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On May 12, 2012, Hart was hired as an assistant coach at Pepperdine, under head coach Marty Wilson.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2013, he joined Andy Enfield's staff at the University of Southern California.<ref>Boys' basketball: Ex-Taft Coach Jason Hart is headed to USC</ref> In 2021, he was named the head coach of the NBA G League Ignite, a developmental team for players coming out of high school that played against other teams in the NBA G League.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In March of 2024, NBA G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim announced that the G League Ignite program would be shut down after the season citing "the changing basketball landscape, including the NCAA's Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policy and the advent of collectives and the transfer portal" as the main factors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With the program ending, Hart was out of a job. However, on April 22, he was hired as an assistant coach under Mark Pope at the University of Kentucky.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal

Jason Hart was born in Los Angeles, California. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Brandi Hart. They have two sons - Jason Jr. and Justin. Hart's cousin is 2011–12 Syracuse Orange men's basketball player Brandon Triche.<ref>Syracuse University Athletics - 2011-12 Men's Basketball Roster</ref>

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Template:NBA player statistics start |- | align="left" | Template:Nbay | align="left" | Milwaukee | 1 || 0 || 10.0 || 1.000 || .000 || .000 || .0 || 1.0 || .0 || .0 || 2.0 |- | align="left" | Template:Nbay | align="left" | San Antonio | 10 || 0 || 9.2 || .526 || .000 || 1.000 || 1.3 || 1.2 || .7 || .1 || 2.6 |- | align="left" | Template:Nbay | align="left" | San Antonio | 53 || 5 || 12.5 || .447 || .222 || .767 || 1.5 || 1.5 || .5 || .1 || 3.3 |- | align="left" | Template:Nbay | align="left" | Charlotte | 74 || 27 || 25.5 || .449 || .368 || .785 || 2.7 || 5.0 || 1.3 || .2 || 9.5 |- | align="left" | Template:Nbay | align="left" | Sacramento | 66 || 0 || 12.4 || .389 || .290 || .661 || 1.1 || 1.1 || .5 || .1 || 3.3 |- | align="left" | Template:Nbay | align="left" | Sacramento | 13 || 0 || 7.7 || .500 || .500 || .909 || 1.2 || .8 || .2 || .0 || 3.3 |- | align="left" | Template:Nbay | align="left" | L.A. Clippers | 23 || 22 || 32.4 || .438 || .174 || .889 || 3.6 || 4.0 || 1.8 || .0 || 9.0 |- | align="left" | Template:Nbay | align="left" | Utah | 57 || 0 || 10.6 || .322 || .355 || .844 || 1.0 || 1.5 || .5 || .1 || 2.9 |- | align="left" | Template:Nbay | align="left" | L.A. Clippers | 28 || 2 || 11.1 || .298 || .000 || .789 || 1.5 || 1.5 || .4 || .1 || 2.3 |- | align="left" | Template:Nbay | align="left" | Denver | 11 || 0 || 3.3 || .500 || .000 || .750 || .4 || .5 || .0 || .0 || 1.2 |- | align="left" | Template:Nbay | align="left" | Minnesota | 1 || 0 || 5.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || .0 || 1.0 || 1.0 || .0 || .0 |- | align="left" | Template:Nbay | align="left" | New Orleans | 4 || 0 || 4.3 || 1.000 || .000 || .000 || .5 || 1.3 || .3 || .3 || .5 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 341 || 56 || 15.5 || .417 || .315 || .788 || 1.7 || 2.3 || .7 || .1 || 4.8 Template:S-end

Playoffs

Template:NBA player statistics start |- | align="left" | 2004 | align="left" | San Antonio | 7 || 0 || 8.9 || .550 || .000 || .000 || .4 || .1 || .7 || .0 || 3.1 |- | align="left" | 2006 | align="left" | Sacramento | 5 || 0 || 10.4 || .308 || .000 || 1.000 || .4 || .6 || .6 || .0 || 2.0 |- | align="left" | 2008 | align="left" | Utah | 2 || 0 || 3.0 || .500 || .000 || .000 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 1.0 |- | align="left" | 2009 | align="left" | Denver | 9 || 0 || 2.1 || .500 || .000 || .000 || .3 || .6 || .2 || .1 || .2 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 23 || 0 || 6.0 || .459 || .000 || 1.000 || .3 || .4 || .4 || .0 || 1.6 Template:S-end

See also

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career steals leaders

External links

• Template:Basketballstats
• NBA.com profile - Jason Hart Template:Webarchive
• NBDL stats
• OrangeHoops profile