James Gist

James Gist — Biography

James Gist is a basketball player who is described as the first American child born at İncirlik Air Base. For a time he was considered one of the best forward-centers in Europe for his dunks, alley-oops, athleticism and defense, and he is best known for his seven seasons at Panathinaikos, where he won eleven trophies.

In his senior year at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School he averaged 19.5 points and became the school's all-time shot blocker, at the University of Maryland he played 130 games from 2004 to 2008 averaging 10.9 points and finishing fourth in Maryland history in blocks, and in 2008 he was taken 57th overall in the second round by the San Antonio Spurs. He started in Europe with Biella and then played for Lokomotiv Kuban. With Partizan in 2010-11 he won the Serbian League, the Radivoj Korać Cup and the Adriatic League. He played for Fenerbahçe Ülker in 2011-12 and for Unicaja Málaga in 2012, winning the Spanish league dunk contest. In December 2012 he joined Panathinaikos and stayed in Athens until 2019. His EuroLeague career high of 27 points came against Karşıyaka in October 2015.

Later he wore the shirts of Crvena zvezda, Bayern Munich, ASVEL and Bahçeşehir Koleji, and played for Peñarol in Uruguay and Prawira Bandung in Indonesia. After his playing career he began working as a trainer at a basketball camp.