Tayshaun Durell Prince was born on February 28, 1980. He is an American professional basketball leader and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Prince is 6 feet 9 inches tall (2.06 meters) and played as a small forward. He graduated from Dominguez High School and later played college basketball for the University of Kentucky. In the 2002 NBA draft, he was selected 23rd overall by the Detroit Pistons. He helped the Pistons win an NBA championship in 2004.
Prince is best known for his performance during the 2004 NBA playoffs. In Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, the Pistons led 69–67. Prince blocked a shot by Reggie Miller, stopping the Pacers from scoring and preventing the game from going to overtime. This moment is called "The Block."
In 2013, Prince was traded from the Pistons to the Memphis Grizzlies. In 2015, he was traded to the Boston Celtics and later returned to the Pistons. After retiring in 2016, Prince worked in NBA leadership roles. He is now the Vice President of Basketball Affairs for the Grizzlies.
Early life
Tayshaun Durell Prince was born on February 28, 1980, in Compton, California. He attended Dominguez High School in Compton.
College career
Prince played for the Kentucky Wildcats from 1998 to 2002. During his four seasons, he averaged 13.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. The Wildcats had a record of 97 wins and 39 losses and reached the NCAA Tournament every year. In his junior season (2000–2001), Prince was named SEC Player of the Year and led the SEC in free throw percentage (84.3%). He was also selected to the Associated Press All-SEC Teams in his junior and senior years. Kentucky won the SEC Tournament in 1999 and 2001, and Prince was named Most Valuable Player of the 2001 tournament. He earned the team MVP award three times while playing for Kentucky.
One of Prince’s standout performances was a game in which he scored 31 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, made four assists, and recorded four steals in a 79–59 win over North Carolina. He scored the first 15 points of the game by making five three-point shots in a row. Kentucky’s shooting guard, Keith Bogans, compared Prince’s performance to "Michael Jordan’s strong play against Portland in the 1992 NBA Finals." In another key game during the 2002 NCAA Tournament, Prince scored a career-high 41 points, along with nine rebounds, four assists, and three blocks, helping Kentucky advance to the Sweet 16. He graduated from Kentucky in 2002 with a degree in sociology.
Professional career
In his first season with the Detroit Pistons under head coach Rick Carlisle, Prince was not part of the team's main playing group and played in only 42 of the 82 regular-season games. However, during the first round of the 2003 NBA playoffs, Detroit fell behind the Orlando Magic 3 games to 1, which led Carlisle to change the team's rotation. Prince was added to the starting lineup and played many minutes. He became the only player in NBA history to score more points in the playoffs than in the regular season (137 in the regular season, 141 in the playoffs).
The Pistons won the series, and Prince had a strong performance in the seventh game, scoring 20 points in 24 minutes. In the second round against the Philadelphia 76ers, Prince continued to play and made several important plays, including a turnaround hook shot in the final seconds of Game 2, which forced an overtime period that the Pistons won.
After the Pistons lost to the New Jersey Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals, Carlisle was fired, and former 76ers coach Larry Brown became the new head coach. Under Brown, Prince became the Pistons' starting small forward and increased his scoring average to 10.3 points per game, up from 3.3 as a rookie. In the 2003–04 season, Prince was selected to play for the Sophomores (second-year players) in the NBA Rookie Challenge.
In Game 2 of the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, Prince made a key defensive play. In the final minute of the game, he blocked a shot by Pacers star Reggie Miller, effectively ending the game. The Pistons won the series and eventually the NBA championship. When the Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, Prince's strong defense on Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was credited as a key factor in the Pistons' victory, limiting Bryant to 11 points in an 88–68 win in Game 3 of the 2004 NBA Finals.
Prince continued to improve in the 2004–05 season, setting career highs in scoring (14.7 points per game), rebounding (5.3 per game), assists (3.0), and blocks (0.9). He was selected for the NBA's All-Defensive Second Team and was a candidate for the NBA Most Improved Player Award, finishing third behind Bobby Simmons of the Los Angeles Clippers and Primož Brezec of the Charlotte Bobcats. Although he and the Pistons reached the NBA Finals in 2005, they lost to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games. During the Malice at the Palace brawl, Prince was the only player on either team who did not leave the bench during the incident.
Prince's performance earned him a five-year contract extension worth $49 million on October 31, 2005.
In the 2005–06 season, Prince played in all 82 regular-season games, averaging 14.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. In the playoffs, the Pistons were eliminated by the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games, following the controversial decision by Flip Saunders to bench Ben Wallace for the entire fourth quarter of Game 6. In Game 5 of that series, Prince scored a playoff career-high 29 points with 7 rebounds in a 91–78 win.
In the 2006–07 season, Prince returned to similar statistics as his 2004–05 campaign: 14.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. In the playoffs, the Pistons were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games. Prince averaged 14.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game but struggled to defend LeBron James.
In the 2007–08 season, Prince played and started in all 82 regular-season games, averaging 13.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. In the playoffs, Prince averaged 13.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists, but the Pistons were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals by the Boston Celtics in Game 6. Prince's poor performance in that game, along with Rasheed Wallace, contributed to the team's loss.
Prince started the 2008–09 season strongly, averaging nearly 16 points and 7 rebounds per game. As the season progressed, his production decreased, and by the end of the season, he averaged 14.2 points and 5.8 rebounds. Although his points per game dropped, he averaged a career-high in rebounds per game. Prince's effort helped the Pistons reach the playoffs, where they earned the 8th seed with 39 wins. However, the Pistons were swept by the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in four games, and Prince's production dropped significantly, averaging only 3.8 points and 3.5 rebounds.
On January 30, 2013, Prince and Austin Daye were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-team trade that sent Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi to the Toronto Raptors and José Calderón to the Pistons. The Grizzlies also received Ed Davis. Although Rudy Gay was the starting small forward in Memphis, Prince was a better fit for the team, as his playing style matched the team's "Grit-N-Grind" philosophy. The Grizzlies finished with their best record in franchise history at 56–26 and reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time.
Despite an injury during the preseason, Prince started and played in 76 games during the 2013–14 season, averaging 6.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game—the second-lowest stat line of his career, behind his rookie season. His 29% from the three-point line was also a career low.
On January 12, 2015, Prince was traded to the Boston Celtics in a three-team deal involving the Memphis Grizzlies and the New Orleans Pelicans. The Celtics also received guard Austin Rivers, who was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers three days later, and a first-round draft pick. The Grizzlies received forward Jeff Green and guard Russ Smith in the trade. The Pelicans received forward Quincy Pondexter and a 2015 second-round draft pick (forward Branden Dawson). On January 26, Prince made his debut for the Celtics, scoring 19 points and recording 5 assists in 30 minutes of action off the bench, leading the Celtics to a 99–90 win over the Utah Jazz.
On February 19, 2015, Prince was traded back to the Pistons in exchange for Luigi Datome and Jonas Jerebko.
On August 20, 2015, Prince signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He made his debut in
National team career
On August 20, 2007, Prince was chosen to join Team USA for the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, a competition that determined which teams could qualify for the Beijing Olympics. During the tournament in Las Vegas, Prince helped the team remain undefeated with his strong defense. His performance earned him a place on the 2008 Summer Olympic team.
On June 23, 2008, Prince was selected for the Olympic team with eleven other players. The team aimed to win their first gold medal since the 2000 Summer Olympics. Team USA achieved this goal by going undefeated in the tournament. Prince played as a substitute and helped defeat Spain, the 2006 World Champion, in the final game. This victory showed the team’s success in earning the nickname "Redeem Team." In 2025, Prince was honored as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame for his role on the 2008 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team.
Executive career
On August 15, 2017, Prince joined the Memphis Grizzlies as a special assistant to the general manager. On April 27, 2019, the Grizzlies promoted him to Vice President of Basketball Affairs.
Career highlights
- NBA champion in 2004
- 4× NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2005–2008)
- Recognized as a second-team All-American by multiple organizations in 2001
- Second-team All-American – NABC in 2002
- Third-team All-American – AP in 2002
- SEC Player of the Year in 2001
- SEC tournament Most Valuable Player in 2001
- 2× First-team All-SEC (2001, 2002)
- Second-team All-SEC in 2000
- SEC tournament Most Valuable Player in 2001
- SEC All-Tournament Team in 2001
- McDonald's All-American in 1998
- Second-team Parade All-American in 1998
- California Mr. Basketball in 1998
- Gold medal with U.S. national team at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship and 2008 Summer Olympics
- Inducted into the Southern California Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022