Jason Alan Kapono (born February 4, 1981) is an American professional basketball player who plays for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association.

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Early life

Kapono was born in Long Beach, California to Joe and Joni Kapono. Jason prepped at Southern California basketball powerhouse Artesia High School in Lakewood, where he was a McDonald's All-American and won several accolades and titles. After a successful high school career, Jason enjoyed a solid college career at UCLA, where he finished as the third all-time leading scorer with 2,095 points, ^[1] was the first Bruin to earn First Team All-Pac-10 honors all four years, and was the only UCLA player to lead the school in scoring four straight years. He also graduated with a degree in history. Kapono was a second-round draft choice of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft.

NBA career

Kapono only played 41 games and started 3 in his first NBA season, although he led the team in three-point field goal percent at 47.7%. After his rookie season with Cleveland, he was selected by the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2004 expansion draft, where he increased his scoring average from 3.5 to 8.5 points per game. He also made the first block in Bobcats history. Later, he was signed as a free agent by the Miami Heat where he was part of the 2005–06 NBA champion team.

In the 2006–07 season, Kapono's points-per-game average and minutes played significantly increased, and he led the league in three-point percentage with .514, which is close to the all-time single-season three-point percentage record held by Steve Kerr (.524), and is the fourth best percentage in league season history. Kapono also won the 2007 All-Star Weekend three-point shoot-out competition by defeating Dirk Nowitzki and Gilbert Arenas in the final round with a score of 24 points which tied Mark Price's record for most points in a final round of the three-point contest.

Kapono repeated the feat in 2008, having led the league in three-point percentage going into the All-Star weekend. In the final round of the contest, he scored 25 points, tying the all-time single round record set in 1986 and also setting a new finals record. ^[2] He also ended the 2007–08 season as the top three-point shooter in the league. ^[3]

On June 9, 2009, Kapono was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for Reggie Evans. ^[4]

NBA record

On November 25, 2007, Kapono became the most accurate three-point shooter in NBA history. On this date he made his 250th three-point shot, qualifying him for the NBA record in 3-point shooting accuracy. He immediately moved into first place with a .461 ratio of 3-point shots made to shots attempted, moving ahead of Steve Kerr, who had the previous lifetime best at .454. As of 2009, however, Kapono's three-point field goal percentage has dropped to .454, putting him into a tie with Kerr for first place. ^[5]

National team

Kapono was picked for the USA Basketball Select Team which trained with USA Men's Senior National Team in Las Vegas to assist in the buildup to the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Personal life

Born to Joe and Joni Kapono, Jason Kapono is of Hawaiian and Portuguese descent. ^[6] He married on August 28, 2004. He has a sister Jillian, his father-in-law Tony Cline played football at the University of Miami and in the NFL for the Oakland Raiders, while his brother-in-law Tony Cline Jr. played football at Stanford University and with the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers.

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

Correct as of 15 May 2009 ^[7]

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2003–04	Cleveland	41	3	10.4	.403	.477	.833	1.3	.3	.3	.1	3.5
2004–05	Charlotte	81	14	18.4	.401	.412	.824	2.0	.8	.5	.1	8.5
2005–06	Miami	51	2	13.0	.446	.396	.848	1.4	.7	.1	.1	4.1
2006–07	Miami	67	35	26.4	.494	.514	.892	2.7	1.2	.6	.0	10.9
2007–08	Toronto	81	7	18.9	.488	.483	.860	1.5	.8	.4	.0	7.2
2008–09	Toronto	80	12	22.9	.432	.428	.810	2.0	1.3	.3	.0	8.2
Career		401	73	19.2	.447	.454	.847	1.9	.9	.4	.0	7.5

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2005–06	Miami	1	0	2.0	.000	.000	.000	.0	.0	.0	.0	.0
2006–07	Miami	4	1	19.3	.471	.500	1.000	1.3	.5	.5	.0	5.0
2007–08	Toronto	5	0	30.4	.585	.542	.750	2.6	.8	.4	.0	15.6
Career		10	1	23.1	.557	.536	.833	1.8	.6	.4	.0	9.8

See also

• Toronto Raptors accomplishments and records

Notes

1. Jason Kapono - Bio, nba.com, accessed 18 February 2008.
2. McMenamin, Dave, "Kapono Lights Up Saturday Night", nba.com, 17 February 2008, accessed 18 February 2008.
3. 2007-08 THREE POINTERS LEADERS: 3-Point FG Percentage, nba.com, accessed 26 August 2008.
4. Philadelphia 76ers Acquire Forward Jason Kapono From Toronto, nba.com accessed 15 June 2009.
5. All Time Leaders: Three Point Field Goal Percentage, nba.com, accessed 31 January 2008.
6. UCLA Men's Basketball, uclabruins.cstv.com, accessed 16 April 2009.
7. - Career Stats and Totals, nba.com, accessed 28 November 2007.