CJ McCollum

CJ McCollum is one of those players who genuinely earned everything he got, and I have a lot of respect for that. Growing up in Canton, Ohio and starring at Lehigh — not exactly a basketball factory — he carved out a path that most scouts probably wrote off early. Then the Portland Trail Blazers took him tenth overall in 2013, and after a slow burn he absolutely exploded, winning the 2016 NBA Most Improved Player Award and averaging over 20 points a game. His pull-up mid-range game in an era obsessed with threes felt almost rebellious, and it worked beautifully alongside Damian Lillard. He later moved on to New Orleans, and through it all he's also built a real second identity as a thoughtful podcaster and media voice — not just a guy slapping his name on a show, but someone who actually has something to say.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Name (English)

CJ McCollum

Name (Japanese)

C・J・マッカラム

Reading

C・J・まっからむ

Born

September 19, 1991 (age 34)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Virgo / Goat

Origin

Canton, Ohio, United States

Height

191 cm

Occupation

basketball player / podcaster

High school

GlenOak High School

University

Lehigh University

Awards & achievements

• 2010 Patriot League Men's Basketball Player of the Year
• 2016 NBA Most Improved Player Award
• 2012 Patriot League Men's Basketball Player of the Year

• Xhttps://x.com/CJMcCollum
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CJ%20McCollum
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/CJ%E3%83%BB%E3%83%9E%E3%83%83%E3%82%AB%E3%83%A9%E3%83%A0
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5006560

Tags

• Ohio
• basketball player
• podcaster

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.