Chris Owens (basketball)

Haywood Christopher "Chris" Owens (born March 1, 1979) is an American professional basketball player. Standing at 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), he plays the power forward position. He is the great-nephew of 1930s African-American track and field star, Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Owens played one year at Tulane University before moving at The University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated in 2002.

Owens at the Ukrainian All-Star game in 2011

Owens was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2nd round of the 2002 NBA Draft, but he was then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. He played in one NBA game with the Grizzlies.

He then played in the United States Basketball League with the Cedar Rapids River Raiders. He arrived in Europe in 2004, signing with Banca Nuova Trapani, with whom he played 30 games, averaging 19.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

In 2005 he moved to CB Granada of the ACB League, but he was released in January 2006. He spent the rest of the season in the Continental Basketball Association with the Sioux Falls Skyforce and in the Greek Basket League with Panionios.

For the 2006–07 season he signed with ALBA Berlin of Germany. The following year he moved to Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball League.

In 2008 he moved to BC Donetsk in Ukraine. He stayed there until February 2010, when he signed with Panellinios.

In September 2010. Owens signed with Gravelines in France, but he played only 4 games in the French League. In November 2010, he returned to Ukraine and signed with Azovmash for the rest of the season.

For the 2011–12 season he signed with KK Cedevita of Croatia. In July 2013, he signed a one-year deal with KTP-Basket of Finland.

In September 2014, he signed with Argentino de Junín of Argentina.