Cameron Payne defied the odds to rise from a relatively unknown three-star recruit to a top National Basketball Association pick. Since his arrival in the NBA, Cameron has done well for himself, he is one of such players fans come to gladly watch and end up not being disappointed with his contributions to his team and general flow of any game.
Well, if you have just heard his name for the first time and you are probably wondering who the chap might be, here is what we have known about him for yonks including his girlfriend, finances, and body statistics.
Who Is Cameron Payne?
Cameron Payne is a professional American basketball player born to Leshawn Payne (mother) and Tony Payne (father) on the 8th of August 1994 in Memphis, Tennessee. He has as his brother Tony Jr. Payne with whom he grew up and attended Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tennessee.
Cameron led his high school team to a 2013 Division II state title but despite being a good basketball player with potentials seeking to be explored, he was not heavily scouted in his senior year of high school. Worst still, Cameron didn’t make it in the top 100 and was considered by Rivals.com as a three-star recruit.
Nevertheless, he proceeded to Murray State University where he would begin playing for the Murray State Racers Men’s basketball team from 2013 through 2015. It was with the Racers that he redefined the path of his basketball career to what we now know him to be capable of doing on any basketball court.
Notably, Cameron Payne developed into a point guard in the course of his stay with the Racers. He got appreciated with first-team All-OVC honors and a freshman of the year award by the conference in his freshman year. Cameron was the undisputed Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year in his second season of playing college basketball after which he decided to enter the 2015 NBA Draft.
NBA Career
The Oklahoma City Thunder secured his services with their 14th pick in the draft. The young point guard saw his first NBA action in his team’s win against the Denver Nuggets where he recorded 3 assists in 4 minutes. However, he still had a lot to learn, thus he was sent to the Oklahoma City Blue to grasp things as fast as he could and find his way back to the main team.
Payne got back to the main team as quickly as he left (all in December 2015) and played whenever he was called up throughout his first season with the Thunders. His second season with the team began with several injuries for which he had a couple of surgeries and ultimately lost a lot of quality playing time.
Cameron got traded to the Chicago Bulls on February 23, 2017, with Anthony Morrow and Joffrey Lauvergne in exchange for Doug McDermott, Taj Gibson, and a 2018 second-round draft pick. In all, his NBA career for regular-season games has seen him start 15 games of the 113 he has played.
Salary
Cameron Payne earned a salary of $2,021,520 in his last season with the City Thunders and following his move to the Chicago Bulls, he got poised to earn $3.26 million for the 2018/19 season. By the 2019/20 season, he would be earning a salary of $4,539,243.
His Girlfriend
Cameron Payne has beautiful and winsome Aaleeyah Petty as his girlfriend. The belle was born on the 4th of July 1994 in Chicago. Aaleeyah currently works as a model; in addition, she’s an actress, entrepreneur, and event host.
Before Cameron, Aaleeyah was said to have dated NBA star Quincy Miller (2014-2015), music rapper – Future, and The Rich Kid both at various times in 2015. On the other hand, before she came into Cameron’s life, the basketballer was previously with Katie Shinkle whom he began dating way back in 2013.
However, it has not been clearly established how and when the two began dating. But from all indications, everything is going fine with them.
Height and Weight
Basketball is one game where a player’s height is of immense importance. With Cameron standing at 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m), he is certainly not the tallest B-baller, neither is he extremely disadvantaged in height. He equally has a weight of 185 lb (84 kg) which poses no obstacle in the performance of his duties on the court.
