Former Kentucky shooting guard Jodie Meeks, a 10-year veteran of NBA basketball, made his debut with Team USA this week in the FIBA AmeriCup Tournament.
Meeks also announced in an interview that he plans to retire from professional basketball after spending last season in the NBA G League.
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Team USA, led by Meeks and a number of other former NBA players, was upset by Mexico in the team’s first AmeriCup game. Today’s game against Venezuela was suspended at halftime due to rain with the United States leading 48-21.
In a recent interview, Meeks announced that he is retiring from professional basketball after a successful career. Meeks averaged 9.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per game during his 10-year career.
Here is an excerpt of Meeks’ comments via USA Basketball:
“You always want to have a chance to compete in the Olympics, but obviously it’s so hard to make it in America because the talent level is so high,” Meeks said. “So this would be special for me to compete and win a gold medal.”
Meeks and the U.S. team travel to Recife, Brazil, this week for the 19th edition of the FIBA AmeriCup, a 12-team Americas zone tournament. The Americans are defending champions and will look to extend their record to eight gold medals. They open Group C play against Mexico on Friday, with the tournament running through Sept. 11.
For Meeks, this is the swan song of his playing career. He last played in the NBA during the Raptors’ title run in the 2018-19 season, seeing action in eight regular season games and 14 more in the playoffs. A new family — he and his girlfriend had twin girls in 2019, then got married in 2020 — plus the COVID-19 pandemic limited his opportunities.
This past season, his Toronto connections led him to play 18 games for Raptors 905 in the NBA G League. Meeks also played this summer in the Big3, but he says he has “officially retired” from pro ball, making this opportunity a little more special.
“I’m young, but in basketball, I’m a little older,” Meeks said matter-of-factly. “I’m no spring chicken anymore. But that’s OK. I can still move, I still feel like I can still play. And obviously I’m out here doing well. So for my career, it’s definitely been a good one and this will be the icing on the cake.”
Here are highlights from the time Meeks exploded on the Thunder:
Also, never forget the time that the University of Jodie Meeks destroyed Tennessee:
