Roger Philip Mason, Jr. Is a former professional basketball player from the United States of America who played as a shooting guard. Mason began his high school playing career at the Sidwell Friends School. One of the stars of the school team, Mason was named as the MVP of the team in his freshman year. However that was to be his last contribution to the team and school as he transferred to Our Lady of Good Counsel High School for the next three seasons.
Mason was prolific for his new school as well, leading them to 29 wins and a 19th rank in the USA Today Super 25 list for the first time in their history. With 1,426 points to his name, Mason was named to the 1999 Washington Post All-Metropolitan First Team as well as to the All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and All County First Teams by the Montgomery Journal. Mason was also named as the Powerade Mr. Basketball for the general Washington area.
Mason would go on to play for the University of Virginia and in 2001, was named to the All-ACC Third Team. His 86% success rate from the line was the highest in the history of the school and was ranked at an all-time third place for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
| Born | 10 Sep 1980 |
| Nationality |
United States
|
| Team History | |
Miami Heat
|
2013 - 2014 |
New Orleans/ Oklahoma City Hornets
|
2012 - 2013 |
Washington
|
2011 - 2012 |
New York
|
2010 - 2011 |
San Antonio
|
2008 - 2010 |
|
Washington
|
2006 - 2008 |
| Olympiacos | 2004 - 2005 |
Toronto
|
2003 - 2004 |
Chicago
|
2002 - 2003 |
In 2002, Mason declared for the NBA Draft and was picked at 31st overall. Mason’s decision to forego the senior year of college was thought to be a smart decision as he was never amongst the top prospects from college. The Chicago Bulls, who picked Mason at the Draft, played him for just 17 games in the first season and after 3 games in 2003-04, traded him out to the Toronto Raptors. Mason only made 23 appearances for the Raptors that year and a few months after joining the Toronto-based franchise, was released.
Mason decided to take his exploits abroad and joined Olympiacos, one of the strongest teams based in Greece. Following a season in the Greek League, Mason moved to Israel in 2005-06 and played for Hapoel Jerusalem before returning to the United States for the beginning of the 2006-07 season.
Mason signed a single year contract with the Washington Wizards and barely played much for the team. Although he made 69 appearances for the Wizards, Mason only played around 8 minutes per game and was unable to show any prowess on court. The following season, injuries to Gilbert Arenas and Antonio Daniels meant that suddenly, Mason was thrown into the front seat. More games, more minutes and more responsibility certainly spurred on the local boy as Mason raised his scoring from 2.7 points per game to 9.1 points per game. He played 80 games through the 2007-08 season and was on court for 21.4 minutes on average.
At the end of the 2007-08 season, the San Antonio Spurs decided to bring him on-board in order to boost their back-court strength. Mason repaid them in kind with 71 starts in all the 82 regular season games. Playing like a man possessed, Mason threw up many career-high stats including 30.4 minutes per game, 42.1% shooting from behind the arc, 3.1 rebounds per game, 2.1 assists per game and 11.8 points per game. Of the total 83 starts that Mason had made in his career up until that point, 71 of the starts came in this season for the Spurs.
