Former Nets guard Isaiah Whitehead is calling it a career at 31. The Brooklyn native spent two seasons with his hometown team before building a professional career overseas that lasted nearly a decade.
Former Brooklyn Nets guard Isaiah Whitehead has announced his retirement from professional basketball at 31 years old after a career that took him from Coney Island to the NBA and several leagues overseas.
Whitehead announced the decision on social media Saturday, writing, “15 OUT 🫡🖤 hell of a career on the court!”
The Brooklyn native spent two seasons with his hometown Nets after being selected 42nd overall by the Utah Jazz in the 2016 NBA Draft. His draft rights were traded to Brooklyn on draft night, giving Whitehead the chance to begin his NBA career with the team he grew up watching.
Whitehead appeared in 89 games for the Nets from 2016 through 2018, making 26 starts. He averaged 7.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game during his time in Brooklyn.
His best NBA season came as a rookie in 2016-17, when he played in 73 games and started 26 of them. Whitehead averaged 7.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists while playing 22.5 minutes per game.
He also had several memorable individual performances during his time with the Nets. Whitehead recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against the Cleveland Cavaliers in January 2017 before scoring a career-high 24 points against the Dallas Mavericks later that season.
He matched that career high during the 2017-18 season against the Houston Rockets.
Whitehead's second season in Brooklyn was more limited, as he appeared in just 16 NBA games and spent time with the Long Island Nets in the G League. He averaged 22.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 30 G League appearances that season.
Brooklyn ultimately traded Whitehead to the Denver Nuggets in July 2018 in a deal that brought Kenneth Faried, Darrell Arthur, and draft picks to the Nets. Whitehead was later waived by Denver and continued his career with the Detroit Pistons organization, although he never appeared in an NBA game for Detroit.
While Whitehead's NBA career lasted only two seasons, he continued playing professionally for years after leaving the league.
He played overseas for teams in Russia, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Turkey, Germany, Israel, and Poland, including stops with Lokomotiv Kuban, Mornar Bar, Beşiktaş, Riesen Ludwigsburg, Ironi Ness Ziona, Śląsk Wrocław, and King Szczecin.
Whitehead's basketball career started long before he reached the NBA. He was one of the top high school prospects in New York City at Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn before staying close to home to play at Seton Hall.
His sophomore season with the Pirates in 2015-16 was a huge year for Whitehead. He averaged 18.2 points, 5.1 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game while earning unanimous First Team All-Big East honors.
He also helped Seton Hall win its first Big East Tournament championship since 1993. Whitehead scored 26 points in the championship game against Villanova, including the game-winning three-point play with less than 20 seconds remaining, and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Whitehead was also named the 2016 Haggerty Award winner as the top men's college basketball player in the New York metropolitan area.
Nearly 10 years after entering the NBA, Whitehead is now moving on from basketball as a player.
At 31, he finishes his career having spent two seasons in the NBA and several more playing professionally around the world. For Nets fans, Whitehead will be remembered as a Brooklyn native who got the opportunity to play for his hometown team after making a name for himself at Seton Hall.
His time in the NBA was relatively short, but Whitehead spent much of the next decade continuing to play the game he grew up with, taking his career from Brooklyn to different parts of the world.
