Aaron was born to parents Michael and Sandy on December 7, 1984. They may not have known then that he would play professional basketball, but he has certainly made a splash in the National Basketball Association since he began playing professionally in 2007.
Though he has made basketball his career, Gray remains involved in his community. In March 2010, for example, he partnered with GW Fins Restaurant to award 20 fifth graders from Lusher Elementary exhibiting exceptional performance of the schools core values, including kindness, responsibility and respect.
He also participated in the Luol Deng Thanksgiving Dinner for 843 impoverished men, women and children. Further, in the spring of 2007, he went to an event at the Illinois Center for Rehabilitation and Education which benefited disabled children.
College Basketball
After graduating from high school, Gray enrolled at the University of Pittsburg where he studied communication and rhetoric. While there, he always played exceptionally well, though he did not start out very well. In his freshman year, he averaged just 1.7 points per game and played in only 15 games.
However, through his time in college he improved greatly. He finished his college career fifth in the school’s history for blocks, sixth for double-doubles, tenth for rebounds and fifth in double figure rebounding games. In both his junior and senior years he was selected for All-Big East First Team honor
In his senior year, he was also named to the Third Team All-American by the Associated Press and led his team in scoring, rebounds and field goal percentage with 13.9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game and a .565 field goal percentage. Finally, he was honored with the Big East/Aeropostale Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for the 2006-07 season.
Entering the NBA
Gray was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 2007 in the second round of the draft. He ended up being the 49th pick overall. In his rookie season with the Bulls, he played in 61 games including one start
He managed to average 4.3 points per game and had a .505 field goal percentage. He also made two double-doubles, no small feat for a rookie player.
Unfortunately for Gray, his second season with the Bulls was not an improvement. He played in only 56 games and average points scored dropped to 3.5 points per game, and got only one double-double. The 2009-10 season was not much better.
He averaged only 3.3 points per game. Then on January 25, 2010 he was traded to the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for Devin Brown.