Drew Gordon, a former NBA forward and older brother of Denver Nuggets’ star Aaron Gordon, has died in a car accident in Portland, Oregon, his agent Calvin Andrews confirmed with ESPN on Thursday.
He was 33. He is survived by his wife, Angela, as well as his two sons, Zane and Brody.
Drew Gordon played nine games for the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2014-15 season after playing professional basketball in Serbia, Sardinia and Turkey.
A California native, he helped lead the Monarchs of Archbishop Mitty High School to three championships in the West Catholic Athletic League before playing college basketball for the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins and New Mexico Lobos.
Gordon, following his time with the 76ers, later played for the NBA G League’s Delaware 87ers and Long Island Nets.
He also made stops in France, Lithuania, Russia, Poland and Ukraine before signing with the Rizing Zephyr Fukuoka of Japan in 2022.
He announced his retirement from basketball last July.
“Thank you basketball for all that you have given me! I have given you my all over the years, I’m retiring on my jersey year. Thank you to all the fans, friends and family that have supported me along my journey!! Next chapter it is! Goodbye 32 hello 33,” wrote Gordon in a post on X.
Drew Gordon — in an October 2014 article on NBA.com — said he, his sister Elise, and his then 19-year-old brother were a “tight-knit group” who “always tried to include” Aaron Gordon.
“He’s younger than me by five years, but I made him mind his Ps and Qs when he was coming up,’’ said Drew Gordon of his brother who — at the time — was the youngest player in the NBA going into the 2014-15 season.
“He’s done a great job of finding himself and coming into his own, and we as a family couldn’t be more proud about how he’s turned into such a great young man.’’
Aaron Gordon, whose Orlando Magic lost to Drew Gordon’s 76ers in a preseason game before the 2014-15 season, jokingly told NBA.com that he wasn’t going to “hear the end” of the result from his brother.
Drew Gordon explained that it’d been a “lifelong goal” for them to play on the “same stage at the highest level.”
He said, “Today, even though it’s preseason, it’s being accomplished.”
