Player Bio

P.J. Tucker was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Anthony and Aleshi Tucker. His birth name is Anthony Leon Tucker Jr., but he was nicknamed P.J. by his father. The initials stand for "Pops Junior." Tucker has three siblings: Isiah, Quetta, and Quitta. He and his family lived in Germany for a period of time after his birth as his father served in the U.S. Army. Tucker attended William G. Enloe High School in Raleigh and was named North Carolina Player of the Year in 2002. His alma mater later retired his jersey number. He is widely regarded as the premier sneakerhead in the NBA due to his enormous collection of sneakers that are stored at multiple locations across the country. Learn more about Tucker by following him on Instagram (@pjtucker). Despite growing up in North Carolina, Tucker decided to play hoops at Texas for coach Rick Barnes. The 6-foot-5 forward started half of his games as a freshman and averaged 10.4 points and 6.8 rebounds. He helped the Longhorns into the NCAA Tournament, where he averaged 7.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in three games as the Longhorns advanced to the Sweet 16. Tucker was limited to 17 games as a sophomore due to poor academics. He provided 13.7 points and 8.0 rebounds when he did play, but Texas struggled without him and did not make the Big Dance. Tucker teamed with future pros LaMarcus Aldridge and Daniel Gibson to lift the Longhorns to the regular-season Big 12 title in his junior season. He posted 16.1 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.8 steals to win Big 12 Player of the Year. Texas made it to the Elite Eight and Tucker had double-doubles in all four games. After the season, the forward put his name in for the 2006 NBA Draft. Tucker was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the 35th overall pick.