José Calderón (basketball)

Early life and European career

José Calderón was born and raised in Villanueva de la Serena, Spain. His father, who played for Doncel La Serena, inspired his interest in basketball. After winning a junior team championship, Calderón received an offer to play professionally.

He began with Diputación Foral Alava, then joined Lucentum Alicante in the Spanish Second Division in 1999, leading the team to the ACB before they returned to the second division. In 2001, he moved to ACB club Fuenlabrada, averaging 9.7 points and 1.7 assists per game. That year he joined the Spain national team.

In 2002, he played for the senior team at the FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis, finishing fifth. He then signed with TAU Vitoria, where over three seasons he won the Spanish Basketball King's Cup and was runner-up in the Liga ACB and EuroLeague. His EuroLeague averages improved from 7.5 points in 2002-03 to 11.6 points in 2004-05.

NBA career

Calderón entered the NBA after former Raptors general manager Rob Babcock persuaded him to sign with Toronto on August 3, 2005. In his rookie season, he struggled with shooting but ranked third among rookies in assists with 4.5 per game, averaging 5.5 points and 4.5 assists. During the 2006-07 season, he backed up T. J. Ford and posted improved averages of 8.8 points and 5.1 assists, helping the Raptors win the Atlantic Division title. In the 2007 playoffs, he averaged 13.0 points and 5.3 assists as Toronto lost to the New Jersey Nets in six games.

The following season, Ford missed games due to injury, and Calderón stepped in with strong performances, including 37 assists with only three turnovers over three games. He led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio at 5.38 to 1 by season's end. He shot at least 50% on field goals, 40% on three-pointers, and 90% on free throws, and is sometimes listed in the 50-40-90 Club, though he fell short of the minimum free throws made. After Ford returned, Calderón kept his starting role, which reportedly frustrated Ford.

National team career

Calderón won a gold medal at the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship and a bronze at the 2000 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship with Spain's youth teams. He was part of the senior team that finished fifth at the 2002 FIBA World Championship and second at the 2003 EuroBasket. He served as team captain during the 2004 Summer Olympics. In 2006, Spain defeated Greece to win the FIBA World Championship.

At the 2007 EuroBasket, Calderón scored 17 points in the quarterfinals against Germany and 18 in the semifinals against Greece, but Spain lost the final to Russia. He won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics, though an injury kept him out of the semifinal and final. He earned another silver at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He also played sparingly at the 2016 Summer Olympics, after which he retired from the national team.

Personal life

In March 2007, the Raptors named Calderón a Right To Play Athlete Ambassador. He promised $1,000 per assist during a November 2007 home game versus the Bulls, recording 14 assists. He partly owns an organic pig farm. Calderón and his wife, Ana Hurtado, had their first child, Manuel, in Villanueva de la Serena on May 23, 2010.

Did You Know?

• Calderón joined the National Basketball Players Association as special assistant to the executive director for the 2019-20 NBA season.
• He was hired by the Cleveland Cavaliers as a special advisor to the front office on January 14, 2022.