| 6′ 2″, 180 lbs Born: Nov 30, 1986 in Los Angeles, CA(Age: 25) Drafted:2006: 1st Rnd, 26th by LAL College: UCLA Experience: 6 years |
2011-12 Season
Career: 7.7 |
The Early Years
Jordan Farmar was born in Los Angeles, California, to his father Damon Farmar (a former minor league baseball outfielder who was a second round draft pick in both 1982 and 1983), and mother, Melinda. His parents divorced when he was 2, and he went to live with his mother, who soon met and married her current husband (Jordan’s stepfather), Israeli Yehuda Kolani from Tel Aviv. His mother and stepfather are Jewish.
Jordan started playing basketball at age 4 and inherited his competitive drive from his father and mentor, Damon Farmar, who played football and baseball at University High and baseball in the minor leagues. The younger Farmar spent hours in his father’s clubhouses, with his father’s teammates, and watching his father play. He learned from his stepfather what persistence and obligation are all about, noting that “I never met a person who worked so hard.” Jordan has a half-sister, Shoshana Kolani.
High School
Jordan attended Portola Middle School and Temple Judea in Tarzana and Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, before transferring his sophomore year to Taft High School in Woodland Hills, a suburban community of the San Fernando Valley within Los Angeles.
At Taft High School, Jordan scored a record 54 points in a single game. As a junior, he averaged 28.5 points per game, 8.0 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 4.5 steals. As a senior, he averaged 27.5 points and 6.5 assists, and led Taft to the school’s first Los Angeles City title. He had over 2,000 points in two seasons at Taft. Jordan was named the Los Angeles Times Player of the Year, LA City Co-Player of the Year, and California Interscholastic Federation Los Angeles City Section High School Player of the Year. He earned USA Today Super 25 selection, Parade Magazine 2nd-team All-American, Slam Magazine Honorable Mention All-American, CalHi Sports All-State honors, and the Southern California Jewish Athlete of the Year. He was a teammate with Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Steve Smith. Additionally, he was selected to play in the McDonald’s High School All American game, where he scored 6 points and had 3 assists and 7 steals in 19 minutes of playing time.
UCLA
Considered one of the elite point guards in the nation at UCLA, Jordan was named to the All-Pac-10 First Team and the all Pac-10 Tournament team. As a freshman in 2004–05, Jordan was the Rivals.com National Freshman of the Year, and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. He averaged 34.3 minutes (No. 2 on the team), 13.2 points (No. 2; No. 1 among freshman guards), a team-high 5.28 assists, and a team-high .801 (109–136) from the foul line. He led all Pac-10 freshmen in scoring, assists, free throw percentage and minutes played, and was second in steals.
He was named All-Pac-10 First Team the next season. In the 2006 NCAA Tournament, Jordan led the UCLA Bruins to the National Championship game against the Florida Gators, which they lost by a score of 73–57. Jordan led all scorers with 18 points, and finished with 2 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Jordan made a notable steal and assist at the end of UCLA’s Sweet Sixteen matchup with the Gonzaga Bulldogs, giving his team the lead for good after an impressive comeback effort. On April 20, 2006, he declared for the NBA Draft.
Professional Career
- Los Angeles Lakers (2006–2010)
- Farmar impressed NBA scouts at the pre-draft combine with a 42-inch (1,100 mm) vertical leap, the highest of any player there. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers and went on to win 2 NBA Championships.
- New Jersey Nets/Brooklyn Nets (2010–present)
- After winning two championship rings with his hometown Los Angeles Lakers, Farmar agreed to a three-year contract with the New Jersey Nets on July 14, 2010.
- On March 7, 2012, Farmar hit a game-winning 3-point shot against Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers leaving the clock with 0.2 seconds left. The final score was 101-100.
- Maccabi Tel Aviv (2011)
- On August 3, 2011, Jordan signed a one-year contract with the Israeli champion basketball team Maccabi Tel Aviv, in the wake of the 2011 NBA lockout Farmar was very excited to go to Tel Aviv, because his step-father is from the city, he spent time there as a child, and he said it is a beautiful beach city.
- In the first week of November 2011, he won Euroleague Player of the Week honors after a 27-point game against Real Madrid.
Awards and Recognition
- Los Angeles Times High-School Player of the Year: 2003–04
- Rivals.com National Freshman of the Year : 2004–05
- Pac-10 Freshman of the Year: 2004–05
- All-Pac-10 Freshman First Team: 2004–05
- All-Pac-10 First Team: 2005–06
- Pac-10 All-Tournament Team: 2005–06
- Euroleague Player of the Week (November 2011)
