José Manuel Calderón Borrallo (; born September 28, 1981) is a Spanish basketball executive and former player who is a special advisor for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played professionally for 21 years including 14 seasons in the NBA, primarily with the Toronto Raptors with whom he set an NBA record for the highest free throw percentage in a season (98.1% in 2008-09). With the Spain national team, he won a FIBA World Cup title in 2006, two Olympic silver medals in 2008 and 2012, as well as a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He also won a EuroBasket title in 2011, two silver medals in 2003 and 2007 as well as a bronze in 2013. Calderón earned an All-EuroBasket Team selection in 2007.
Early life and European career José Calderón was born and raised in the town of Villanueva de la Serena, in Spain.José Manuel Calderón – About Me His main inspiration for basketball came from his father, who used to play basketball for his hometown's team, Doncel La Serena. Calderón received an offer to play professional basketball after he won a junior team championship.
After playing for Diputación Foral Alava, Calderón joined Lucentum Alicante (Spanish Second Division) in 1999, and he led his team to the ACB (Spanish First Division). The team had to return to the second division because of fierce competition. This helped Calderón adapt to the competition, and catalyzed an improvement to his game.
In 2001, Calderón joined ACB team Fuenlabrada. He averaged 9.7 points, and 1.7 assists in 18.6 minutes per game, and shot 83.2% from the free throw line.José Manuel Calderón – Player Profile By the end of the season, he joined the Spain national team. In 2002, he played for the senior Spain national team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship at Indianapolis, where his team ended up in fifth place.
After the summer, Calderón signed with TAU Vitoria. Calderon played three seasons with Tau Vitoria. His team won the Spanish Basketball King's Cup, and were also runners-up in both the Liga ACB (Spanish League) and the EuroLeague. In 2002–03, he averaged 7.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals in the EuroLeague. In 2003–04, he averaged 7.2 points, 1.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.1 steals in the EuroLeague. In 2004–05, he averaged 11.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals in the EuroLeague.Calderon, Jose Manuel – Euroleague.net
NBA career
Toronto Raptors (2005–2013) Rookie season Calderón entered the NBA when former Raptors GM Rob Babcock persuaded the Spanish guard to sign with the Toronto Raptors on August 3, 2005."Raptors Sign Jose Calderon", nba.com/raptors, August 3, 2005, Retrieved June 21, 2007. Known as a talented playmaker, he struggled with his shooting in his first year in the NBA. By the end of the 2005–06 season, he was ranked third among all rookies in assists with 4.5 per game. He finished the season with 64 played games, having started in 11 of them. He averaged 5.5 points, 4.5 assists, 2.2 rebounds and an assists-per-turnover ratio of 2.85.
2006–07 season Throughout the 2006–07 season, Calderón played primarily as backup to T. J. Ford, turning in solid numbers from the bench.Smith, Doug, "Calderon makes point to remember team first", thestar.com, September 20, 2007, Retrieved September 21, 2007. As acknowledged by coach Sam Mitchell as well as his teammates, Calderón's form was instrumental to the Raptors' push for a playoff spot, and later, the Atlantic Division title.Post-Game Quotes, nba.com/raptors, January 31, 2007, Retrieved June 21, 2007. He ended his regular season with improved averages of 8.8 points and 5.1 assists per game and .525 in field goal percentage, even though he had less playing time compared to his rookie season. In the 2007 NBA Playoffs, Calderón played in all of Toronto's games in the series against the New Jersey Nets, but the Raptors were defeated 4–2.Raptors Post Up, nba.com/raptors, May 4, 2007, Retrieved June 21, 2007. Calderón averaged 13.0 points and 5.3 assists per game in his first NBA playoff season.
2007–08 season Toronto continued to deploy Ford and Calderón in tandem for the point guard position to good effect. Ford was injured for several games in November and December and the Spaniard stepped in with impressive performances.Raptors Cruise Past Mavericks For Third Straight Win, nba.com/raptors, December 12, 2007, Retrieved December 13, 2007. In three games against the Memphis Grizzlies, Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls, Calderón provided 37 assists while committing only three turnovers.Smith, Doug, "Calderon leads Raptors past Bulls", thestar.com, November 26, 2007, Retrieved November 26, 2007. 14 games into the season, he was also leading the league in assist-to-turnover ratio with 5.67 to 1,2007–08 TURNOVERS , nba.com, accessed May 2, 2008. but even so, he said: "But how I feel about the team right now is that we need T.J. Ford [for the next game]."Grange, Michael, "Toronto goes to the well, finds it's deep", globeandmail.com, November 25, 2007, Retrieved November 26, 2007. 35 games into the season, the Spaniard increased the turnover ratio to 6.15 to 1, setting him on course to break an NBA record (he went to end the season as the league-leader with 5.38 to 1).Ewing, Lori, "Humble Calderon on pace for efficiency record", thestar.com, January 10, 2008, Retrieved January 11, 2008.2007–08 ASSISTS LEADERS : Assists Per Game , nba.com, accessed May 2, 2008. He shot at least 50% on field goals, 40% on three-pointers, and 90% on free-throws, and is sometimes listed as a member of the NBA's 50–40–90 Club, even though he was sixteen free-throws shy of attaining the NBA league minimum number of makes in this category. By mid-season, he was touted as a possibility for making the All-Star reserve team.Smith, Doug, "Calderon playing like all-star", thestar.com, January 27, 2008, Retrieved January 28, 2008. Even after Ford returned from injury for the final third of the campaign, Calderón was able to keep his place in the starting lineup. Ford had initially agreed to playing backup, but reportedly became frustrated at not being able to start.Feschuk, Dave, "Raptors' Ford may be wearing out his welcome", thestar.com, March 28, 2008, Retrieved March 29, 2008. Calderón eventually asked the coaching staff to play Ford as starter instead, leading to widespread praise from the coaching staff, teammates, and fans. Given that he was going to become a free agent by the end of the campaign, there were even calls for Ford to be traded so that the team could be built around Calderón as point guard. By the end of the regular season, Calderón was fifth in the league for assists per game, and in the 2008 NBA Playoffs, Ford split the playing time with him about equally, with the two players combining for averages of 23.4 points and 13.6 assists per game.T.J. Ford Info Page – Career Stats and Totals , nba.com, accessed September 8, 2007. However, the Raptors were eliminated by the Orlando Magic in the first round four games to one.Magic Beat Raptors, Move to Second Round , nba.com, April 29, 2008, accessed May 1, 2008.
2008–09 season On July 9, 2008, Calderón re-signed with the Raptors to a multi-year deal, reported to be worth $7.5 million to $8.5 million a season.Raptors sign Calderon to long-term deal , canada.com, July 9, 2009, Retrieved January 22, 2010.Raptors Re-Sign Calderon, nba.com/raptors, July 9, 2008, Retrieved July 28, 2008. With the departure of Ford to the Indiana Pacers, the Spaniard was slated to start the point guard position for the Raptors. At the same time, new acquisition Jermaine O'Neal formed the frontcourt with Bosh. However, 17 games into the season, Toronto fired head coach Sam Mitchell and the line-ups were constantly shuffled. By the end of 2008, the Raptors were 12–20, but with Calderón out for almost a month thereafter, the team slipped to 16–28. When Calderón returned to the Raptors lineup, he helped snap a seven-game losing streak with a 114–94 victory over Chicago, recording 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting and 10 assists. Not long after, he set the second-longest streak in NBA history for consecutive free throws made (87).Bogut returns as Bucks beat Raptors 96–85, nba.com, January 30, 2009, accessed February 3, 2009. On March 13, 2009, Calderón surpassed Alvin Williams' franchise record for career assists with 1795.Hamilton, Pistons beat Raptors 99–95 in overtime , nba.com, March 13, 2009, Retrieved March 14, 2009. On March 29, 2009, in a game against Chicago, he tied the franchise record for most assists in game with 19,Bosh, Bargnani lead Raptors to OT win over Bulls, nba.com, March 29, 2009, Retrieved March 30, 2009. and not long after, set an NBA record for highest free-throw percentage in a season, making 98.1% of his free throws in the season, missing only 3 of the 154 he took, overtaking Calvin Murphy’s record of 95.8% set in 1981. These records, however, were overshadowed by the Raptors rapidly falling out of the playoffs picture soon after the All-Star break, and the criticism Calderón faced for being unable to defend and play an up-tempo game. Toronto eventually finished with a 33–49 record,2008–09 NBA Season Summary, basketball-reference.com, Retrieved April 16, 2009. with the Spaniard leading the Eastern Conference in assists per game and the league in free throw percentage and assist-to-turnover ratio.2008–09 ASSISTS LEADERS : Assists Per Game , nba.com, Retrieved April 20, 2009.2008–09 FREE THROWS LEADERS: Free Throw Percentage , nba.com, Retrieved April 20, 2009.
2009–10 season
The Raptors underwent a significant roster overhaul in the preseason, such as bringing Jarrett Jack from Indiana to play as Calderón's back-up and point forward Hedo Türkoğlu to share in ball-handling duties. With a third of the season gone, the Spaniard picked up an injury that put him out for 12 games, resulting in Jack holding on to the starting spot even upon the former's return, paralleling the Ford-Calderón scenario in 2007–08. Still, the pair combined well and helped bring the Raptors to a 21–20 record at the mid-season mark.
During the early stages of the 2010 offseason, the Raptors had a deal in place to send Calderon and Reggie Evans to the Charlotte Bobcats for Tyson Chandler and Boris Diaw. However, Michael Jordan, the owner of the Bobcats, nixed the deal right before it was finalized, which allowed Calderon to remain with the Raptors.
2010–11 season Calderón was ranked fifth in assists per game (8.9) at the conclusion of the regular season.
2011–12 season On February 12, 2012, Calderón scored a career high 30 points in a 94–92 loss against the Lakers. Calderón led the league in assists per turnover (4.5) for the third time in five years at the conclusion of the regular season.
Detroit Pistons (2013)
On January 30, 2013, Calderón was traded to the Detroit Pistons in a three-team trade which sent Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye, and Ed Davis to the Memphis Grizzlies and Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi to Toronto. He became the starting point guard for the Pistons, and in just his fourth game for the franchise, he recorded 23 points and 10 assists in the 105–100 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Calderón finished the season averaging 11.3 points and 7.1 assists per game. He also led the league in three-point shooting percentage (.461) and was second in assists per turnover (4.1).
Dallas Mavericks (2013–2014) On July 11, 2013, Calderón signed with the Dallas Mavericks to a reported four-year, $28 million contract. He became the Mavericks lead point guard, starting in 81 games. He had his best game on December 20, 2013, against his former team, the Toronto Raptors, where he recorded 23 points and 9 assists. Calderón finished the season averaging 11.4 points and 4.7 assists per game.
New York Knicks (2014–2016)