James Donaldson

James Donaldson fascinates me as a true journeyman of the game in the best sense. Born in England, raised in California, then lasting fourteen seasons in the NBA and bouncing across European leagues at 7-foot-2, he survived in a brutally unforgiving sport far longer than most. Longevity like that is not luck; it takes craft, conditioning, and a stubborn professionalism. I am less interested in box scores and more in the resilience it took to keep showing up for over a decade as a defensive anchor under the rim. Donaldson strikes me as the consummate role player, and those are precisely the careers I find most admirable.

Name (English)

James Donaldson

Name (Japanese)

ジェームズ・ドナルドソン

Reading

じぇーむず・どなるどそん

Born

August 16, 1957 (age 68)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Leo / Rooster

Origin

Heacham, United Kingdom

Height

218 cm

Occupation

basketball player

High school

Luther Burbank High School

University

Washington State University

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%82%A7%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A0%E3%82%BA%E3%83%BB%E3%83%89%E3%83%8A%E3%83%AB%E3%83%89%E3%82%BD%E3%83%B3%20(%E3%83%90%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B1%E3%83%83%E3%83%88%E3%83%9C%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB)

Tags

• basketball player

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.