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Bonzi Wells

Position	Shooting Guard/Small Forward
Nickname	The Bonz
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight	210 lb (95 kg)
Team	Houston Rockets
Nationality	United States
Born	September 20, 1976 Muncie, Indiana
College	Ball State
Draft	11th overall, 1998 Detroit Pistons
Pro career	1998–present
Former teams	Portland Trail Blazers (1998–2003) Memphis Grizzlies (2003–2005) Sacramento Kings (2005–2006)

Gawen DeAngelo "Bonzi" Wells, also known as the Bonz, (born September 20, 1976 in Muncie, Indiana, U.S.) is an American professional basketball player. A 6' 5" shooting guard, he currently plays for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association.

Wells attended Muncie Central High School in Muncie, Indiana. He went on to play at Ball State University where he was named MAC freshman of the year in the 1994-1995 season.^[1] Wells broke Ron Harper's record of 2,377 points on a one-handed dunk against Northern Illinois on February 21, 1998. The dunk sent the sell-out crowd at University Arena into a frenzy. A timeout was immediately called and Wells was awarded the game ball by Ball State president John Worthen. ^[2] Wells also led the Mid-American Conference in steals in 1998 with 73, averaging 3.55 steals in 29 games. Wells led the conference in steals during all four years at Ball State ^[3] Wells finished his career as the Mid-American Conference all-time career records in points (2,485) and steals (347). While at Ball State he averaged 21.4 PPG, 3 SPG, and 7.3 RPG ^[4]. He was selected eleventh overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 1998 NBA Draft. Wells never played for the Pistons as his draft rights were traded to the Portland Trail Blazers for the Blazers' 1999 first round pick.

Contents 1 NBA Career 1.1 Portland 1.2 Memphis 1.3 Houston 2 Trivia 3 References 4 Notes 5 External links

As a swingman in Portland, Wells achieved career highs in scoring and improved on defense, and picked up what some would call an undeserved bad-boy image ^[5] while sharing the role of co-captain with Rasheed Wallace. Bonzi however did have his share of on and off the court incidents. During his tenure with the Blazers, Bonzi was suspended for two games for publicly cursing at his coach after being taken out of a game. Bonzi was also fined in a separate incident for making an obscene gesture to a fan in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. When asked by a media reporter about the incident, he said, "I black out sometimes," ^[6] and then winked and smiled at the camera^{[citation needed]}. Wells was suspended one game without pay and fined $10,000 for intentionally striking and verbally abusing an official in 2000. Bonzi and teammate Erick Barkley in 2001 were cited for criminal trespass after they refused to leave the scene by order of an officer of a fight near a downtown nightclub. ^[7]

This only went to further the team's derisive nickname, Portland Jail-Blazers. Trail Blazers management made an oath to the City of Portland to have a team of upstanding-Portlanders and drastically restructured the team. In an exchange that emphasized the urgency to release Wells, he was sent to the Memphis Grizzlies in a trade for reserve guard Wesley Person.

The unorthodox coaching methods of Hubie Brown and his strict 10-man rotation limited Wells to just under 25 minutes per game for the Grizzlies. This tactic helped them earn their first playoff appearance in franchise history.

After Brown suddenly quit his duties mid-way through the 2004-05 season, Mike Fratello took over as head coach. It appeared Wells was finally going to be given a chance pose a threat on the court. This would not come to be, highlighted by the fact that Wells played a total of 27 minutes in the Grizzlies' second playoff appearance in 2005. Citing undisclosed reasons by Fratello, he was suspended in Game 2 of the series against the powerhouse Phoenix Suns. He returned in Game 3 ^[8], only to play nine minutes. Wells did not dress for the series-ending Game 4 ^[9].

Prior to the start of the 2005-06 NBA season, Wells was acquired from the Grizzlies by the Kings in a trade for point guard Bobby Jackson and center Greg Ostertag. In the early part of the season, Wells had been a rebounding force for the Kings, recording career-best numbers in rebounds, while also recording excellent assists and steals totals.

The day before the 2006 training camp began, Wells signed signed with the Houston Rockets, with a salary of "only" $2 million in the initial season. ^[10] This was considered to be a great bargain for the Rockets, as Wells had turned down a 4-year, $36 million offer from the Grizzlies.

Wells missed the beginning of training camp recovering from a groin injury, and then missed several days following dental work. In addition, he was absent on more than one occasion for personal reasons. Wells played only 30 minutes total, scoring only six points, in the Rockets' second and third games of the season. Wells was not pleased with his playing time, and neither was coach Jeff Van Gundy with Wells' weight and lack of conditioning. ^[11] Van Gundy placed Wells on the inactive list, dismissed him from team practices for over a month, and relegated him to working with trainers and on the exercise bicycle to improve his conditioning. Unsatisfied with his progress, Van Gundy eventually told him to stay away from the Toyota Center.

In December, Wells and his coach reconciled their differences and Bonzi was allowed back into practice. He returned to action against the Los Angeles Lakers on December 12th, and over the next two weeks, his playing time gradually increased. Unfortunately, he suffered a back injury in late December that would force him to miss the Rockets next 10 games. He returned to the lineup on January 17th, and has seen consistent playing time off the bench since then, highlighted by his 14 points in a win against his former team, the Trailblazers.

• Wears a sweatband on each biceps that says "Bonz"
• Switched jersey number from 6 to 42 in 2005 after the Sacramento Kings retired the number 6 in honor of their fans. ^[12]
• Wore #42 in college at Ball State, where it was retired in Februrary, 2005.

^[13]

• Scored a career high 45 points against the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of the first round of the 2003 NBA Playoffs
• He is named after his father Gawen Wells
• Has a son (born in 1998) also named Gawen and a son name Kristian (born in 2000)
• Was a GQ "Top 10 Most Hated Athlete"
• Wells' name was dropped in rapper Ghostface Killah's song, "Biscuits"; in Trife's verse he says, "I'm from a place where chunkheads and zombies dwell/And niggaz keep they heat blazin' like Bonzi Wells."
• Has a gymnasium named after him ^[14]

• "Gym renamed after Ball State alumnus" "The Ball State Daily News", September 27, 2004
• "Bonzi Wells: Fires Agent" "RotoWire.com Staff", September 11, 2006
• "Bonzi Wells' agent talking to Heat" "South Florida Sun-Sentinel", September 21, 2006
• "Agent: Wells agrees to two-year deal with Rockets" "ESPN.com, September 28, 2006

• Career stats
• Rockets put bonzi's past behind them
• NBA player profile