Iman Shumpert

Iman Asante Shumpert was born on June 26, 1990, in the suburban city of Berwyn, Illinois. His mother is an adjunct professor of art and design, and his father is an insurance broker. 

From an early age, the boy showed interest in various sports, although, at that time, he had no idea who he would be in the future. Shumpert attended Oak Park High School in Illinois, where he first began playing basketball for a local team. Having shown phenomenal results for his age, Shumpert was already considered one of the top 30 nation’s seniors. After playing a lot of games at school, he realized that he needed to enter college to pursue a career successfully, so after graduating from school, Shumpert decided to join the Georgia Institute of Technology. 

Shortly after joining, Shumpert was already fourth in the team in terms of points. Already at that time, his average score was 10.5 points per game. As always in life, not everything goes as smoothly as we would like. In the 2009-2010 season, Shumpert suffered a severe injury that forced him to undergo surgery on his meniscus. Of course, he could not take part in the games for some time, and his results after recovery became a little worse, but even despite the injuries, his average score remained at 10 points per game. 

The following season, Shumpert decided to show what he is capable of when full of energy. His average score reached 17.3 points per game. In addition, he led his team also in rebounds and assists and thus entered the history of the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference). Of course, such results gave a noticeable boost of confidence for Shumpert, and he decided to take a risky but deliberate step. In 2011 he enrolled in the NBA draft and, because of this, decided to give up the last year of college. 

Although such an idea could easily have failed, the risk paid off. The New York Knicks became the first team to drafted Shumpert as the 17th pick. After that, of course, active team training began. Most team members, including coaches, noticed that the young athlete has great potential. Of course, you always need to be prepared for unpleasant surprises. In the 2012 playoff game against the Miami Heat, Shumpert suffered an injury that immediately forced him to leave the game. The meniscus injury turned out to be quite serious, and because of this, Shumpert was forced to miss the whole season. 

Most viewers rated the rookie despite the injury, making him even fifth on the NBA Rookie of the Year list. Already in 2013, he was allowed to participate in team training. In the same year, he played in several games against teams such as the Detroit Pistons and New Orleans Pelicans. In 2014, he suffered a shoulder injury, due to which he was again forced to receive treatment for almost a month. 

For the next few years, Shumpert played in the Cleveland Cavaliers team. He successfully played his first game for the new team, winning the Charlotte Hornets. In the 2015 NBA season, the Cleveland Cavaliers showed excellent results and even managed to reach the finals, where they lost to the Golden State Warriors. In 2015, Shumpert signed a new contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers and played his debut match against the Orlando Magic at the end of the year. In it, Shumpert showed training results and finished the game with 14 points. He only confirmed this strong start later in the match against the Boston Celtics, in which he made a record 16 rebounds off the bench. 

This season has been unusual for both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Shumpert for several reasons. Probably the biggest of them was the victory in the final even though they were going down 3-1. This phenomenal victory not only significantly increased the team spirit but also showed everyone the true potential of the players, among whom Iman Shumpert played an important role. 

In the 2016-2017 season, Tyronn Lue (who was the Cleveland Cavaliers coach at the time) decided to make full use of the young athlete's potential and use him as a backup point guard. It was obvious that this decision was effective in the match against the Detroit Pistons. In it, he set a personal record by scoring 18 points. For the third year in a row, they showed a fantastic result every time reaching the finals. In the final, they faced their eternal rivals Golden State Warriors but lost. 

In 2018, Shumpert started playing in a new team - Sacramento Kings. In the 2018-2019 season, he showed good results against such teams as Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Laker, and others. In early 2019 in a three-team trade, Houston Rockets acquired Shumpert, but after a short stay there, in the same 2019, he signed with the Brooklyn Nets and performed in it in 2019 and 2021. 

Of course, you shouldn't focus so much on purely professional life because, in addition to basketball, Shumpert has another activity that takes a lot of time - hip-hop music. This hobby arose in the athlete a long time ago, but he began to develop it more seriously only in 2012. One of his first songs was "Knicks Anthem". Shumpert later released his first mixtape, and in 2013 recorded the song "Dear Kendrick". Of course, the passion for music did not end there. Maybe even the opposite. Recently, his interest in music has become perhaps even more significant than in basketball. Shumpert is actively developing his skills as a songwriter and is considering a professional career as a musician. 

Despite sports and music, there is a value in his life that is much greater than anything else, and that is, of course, his family. He devotes the vast majority of his time to his family. Shumpert married American singer, choreographer, actress, and model Teyana Taylor in 2016. Together they have two daughters, Rue and Tayla. 

Both Shumpert and his wife often show a family idyll through their social networks, primarily through Instagram, where, by the way, Iman Shumpert has more than 2 million followers.