New Orleans Pelicans News: Guard Bryce Dejean-Jones Shot And Killed In Texas
New Orleans Pelicans guard Bryce Dejean-Jones has died at the young age of 23 after being shot in the abdomen and bleeding to death in Dallas, Texas.
Update as of 4:20 p.m. ET
#BREAKING NBA player @B2nyce was shot breaking into an apartment in Dallas, per @DallasPD. https://t.co/yxvPFZTKyj pic.twitter.com/AI7Ok6WewE
— Sarah Mervosh (@smervosh) May 28, 2016
[Original article follows]
According to The Ames Tribune, Dejean-Jones had played for the Iowa State Cyclones’ men’s basketball team in his senior season, but he had played at USC and UNLV before that. He went undrafted, but ended up playing for the summer league team of the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Dallas County coroner had not reported a cause of death, according to NY Daily News, on Saturday afternoon. Police reports are starting to come out saying Dejean-Jones bled to death after he was shot in the abdomen while in Texas.
The incident, of which very little is known at this time, took place on Friday night.
Pelicans’ Bryce Dejean-Jones suffered gun shot to abdomen late Friday, bled to death. Full story coming on passing of promising 23-year-old.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 28, 2016
In 2010-2011, Bryce Dejean-Jones played for USC before transferring to UNLV for the seasons from 2012-2014. In 2014-2015, he played his senior season of basketball at Iowa State before finishing his college basketball career.
He went undrafted in 2015 and played for the Pelicans in the Las Vegas Summer League and it ended with him being signed to a deal in August of last year. New Orleans ended up waiving him after training camp and he went down to play in the NBA’s D-League for a while.
During his time with the Idaho Stampede, he averaged 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in just nine games before the Pelicans decided to call him back up. It was then that Dejean-Jones really began to show his worth and talent in the NBA.
Bryce Dejean-Jones ended up averaging 5.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per-game over those 14 contests before a right wrist fracture in late February. The official NBA website reported that he underwent surgery, which was successful, but he was going to miss the rest of his rookie season due to the injury.
He signed a 3-year deal with the Pelicans in February, which landed him a roster spot with the New Orleans Pelicans for next season. Dejean-Jones was likely going to head back to the team’s Las Vegas Summer League to improve upon his game even more.
Bryce Dejean-Jones, a 23-year-old NBA player, was killed in Dallas last night: https://t.co/o8U3tjwbdY pic.twitter.com/1gfZ7qmHIo
— WFAA-TV (@wfaachannel8) May 28, 2016
Dejean-Jones was a young player who was honing his craft. He had a promising career ahead of him that he kept working hard to achieve. During his time on the Pelicans’ summer league team, he was shooting better than 62 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range.
He showed a lot of heart and talent in the preseason for the Pelicans, but they had a full roster at the time and no open spots. Injuries to other players opened the door for him to start living out his dream of being a star in the NBA.
ESPN reported that his agent Scott Nichols did confirm Dejean-Jones’ death.
“Bryce overcame a lot of obstacles to get to this point in his career. He was a joy to be around, a talent just turning the corner in his career.”
Bryce Dejean-Jones was a young NBA talent who was just beginning his career. He was on his way to bigger and better things before being shot and killed. The New Orleans Pelicans believed in him, and gave him the chance to prove himself, which is exactly what he had done.
[Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images]
