Quick Facts
Biography
David John "D. J." Kennedy (born November 5, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for Guangzhou Long-Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for St. John's University.
High school career
Kennedy attended Schenley High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a senior in 2006–07, he averaged 17.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.0 blocks per game. In helping the Spartans to a 29-3 record and the 2007 PIAA AAAA State championship, he earned a first team all-state selection, a first team all-city selection and a two-time Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "Fabulous Five" selection.
College career
In his freshman season at St. John's, Kennedy finished second on the squad with 37 steals, including 20 in BIG EAST play. In 30 games (29 starts), he averaged 7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
In his sophomore season, he was one of only two Red Storm players to start and play in each of the squad's 34 games. In those 34 games, he averaged 13.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals in 34.6 minutes per game.
In his junior season, he earned a first team All-Met selection by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA). In 33 games (31 starts), he averaged 15.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals in 31.4 minutes per game.
In his senior season, he scored a total of 333 points to finish his college career at St. John's as the school's 12 all-time leading scorer with 1,504 total points, as well as finish 11th all-time in rebounds (781) and sixth all-time in steals (183). In 32 games, he averaged 10.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 steals in 28.7 minutes per game.
Professional career
2011–12 season
Kennedy went undrafted in the 2011 NBA draft. In November 2011, he was acquired by the Erie BayHawks.
On April 21, 2012, he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers for the rest of the 2011–12 season.
2012–13 season
In July 2012, Kennedy joined the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2012 NBA Summer League. On July 25, 2012, he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. On September 18, 2012, he was waived by the Grizzlies. Later that month, he re-signed with the Grizzlies. On October 7, 2012, he was again waived by the Grizzlies. On November 1, 2012, he was re-acquired by the Erie BayHawks.
On February 4, 2013, Kennedy was named to the Prospects All-Star roster for the 2013 NBA D-League All-Star Game.
On March 5, 2013, Kennedy was traded to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He went on to win the 2013 NBA D-League championship with the Vipers.
2013–14 season
In July 2013, Kennedy joined the Miami Heat for the 2013 NBA Summer League. On September 10, 2013, he signed with the Dallas Mavericks. However, he was later waived by the Mavericks on October 22, 2013.
On October 27, 2013, he signed with BCM Gravelines of France for the 2013–14 season. On December 3, 2013, he parted ways with Gravelines after just 8 games. On January 4, 2014, he signed with Hapoel Holon of Israel for the rest of the season.
2014–15 season
In July 2014, Kennedy joined the Minnesota Timberwolves for the 2014 NBA Summer League. On September 1, 2014, he signed with Krasny Oktyabr of Russia for the 2014–15 season. On November 18, 2014, he left the club after appearing in just six games. On December 6, 2014, he signed with MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg of Germany for the rest of the season.
2015–16 season
In July 2015, Kennedy joined the Houston Rockets for the 2015 NBA Summer League. On August 10, 2015, he signed with Yenisey Krasnoyarsk of Russia for the 2015–16 season. In 40 games and 38 starts, he averaged 14.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
2016–17 season
On September 15, 2016, Kennedy signed with the Denver Nuggets, but was waived on October 15 after appearing in one preseason game. On November 14, he signed with Guangzhou Long-Lions of China. Four days later, he made his debut in an 89–88 loss to Qingdao DoubleStar, recording 24 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block.
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 |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | Cleveland | 2 | 0 | 29.5 | .417 | .500 | .000 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | .0 | 6.0 |
| Career | 2 | 0 | 29.5 | .417 | .500 | .000 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | .0 | 6.0 |
Personal
Kennedy is the son of Rana Holliday and David "Puff" Kennedy. His father was a standout college basketball player at Cincinnati. He has one brother, Derrick Holliday, and one sister, Chanae Holliday.