Feb 28 2009
Mr. Basketball, Roger Mason Jr.

Roger Philip Mason, Jr. was born September 10, 1980 in Washington, D.C. He lived in Silver Spring, Maryland and started his primary school career at Grace Episcopal Day School in Silver Spring and Kensington, Maryland, and launched his high school career at Sidwell Friends School where he was named MVP at the school as a freshman. He then transferred to Our Lady of Good Counsel High School for his sophomore, junior, and senior years.

Mason led Good Counsel to their best basketball year ever, with 29 wins and a number 19 final ranking on the USA Today Super 25 list. At Good Counsel he scored a total of 1,426 points. He was named 1999 All-Metropolitan first team by The Washington Post, All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC), and all-county by the Montgomery Journal newspaper. He was also named 1999 Powerade "Mr. Basketball", awarded to the best player in the Washington, D.C. area.

Mason played collegiately at the University of Virginia (UVA). In 2001, he was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Third Team. Mason set a free throw percentage record in UVA history with 86.0 percent made and is currently third on the ACC's all-time list for free throw percentage.

Mason was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 2002 NBA Draft after his junior year with the 31st overall pick. He played for the Bulls from the 2002-03 NBA season until the 2003-04 season (3 games only) and was traded to the Toronto Raptors who released him a few months later. He went to play in Europe and was signed by the Olympiacos team from the Greek League in the 2004-2005 season. In the 2005-2006 season he went to play in the Israeli League and was signed by Hapoel Jerusalem.

Before the 2007-08 season, Mason signed a one-year contract with the Washington Wizards, and received only limited minutes early in the year. However, his role significantly expanded during the season when superstar Gilbert Arenas and Antonio Daniels were injured. He responded by putting up the best numbers in his NBA career. On July 9, 2008, Roger Mason Jr. was signed to the San Antonio Spurs for a two-year $7.3 million contract. On Christmas Day 2008, he made a buzzer-beating 3-point shot to beat the Phoenix Suns.