# Anton Watson

Anton Michael Watson (born October 6, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Gonzaga Bulldogs.

## High school career

Watson played basketball for four years at Gonzaga Preparatory School in Spokane, Washington. In his sophomore season, he averaged 19 points per game and was named most valuable player (MVP) of the Greater Spokane League. Watson led his team to a league championship and a third-place finish at the Washington Class 4A state tournament. As a junior, he averaged 23 points, 11 rebounds and five assists per game and won the Class 4A state title while earning tournament MVP honors. Watson was selected to the USA Today All-USA Washington first team. In his senior season, he averaged 21.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game, helped Gonzaga Prep win a second consecutive 4A state championship. He was the unanimous MVP of the state tournament and recognized as Associated Press 4A Player of the Year and Washington Mr. Basketball. On June 21, 2017, before his junior season, Watson committed to play college basketball for Gonzaga. He had also been in contact with Idaho, Washington and Washington State. Watson was considered a four-star recruit and the second-best player in the 2019 class from Washington.

## College career

On November 5, 2019, Watson debuted for Gonzaga, recording seven points, five rebounds and four assists in a win over Alabama State. He had 15 points in a win over North Dakota on November 12. Watson started four games with Killian Tillie recovering from knee surgery. On January 16, 2020, it was announced that Watson would undergo shoulder surgery and miss the remainder of the season. He averaged 4.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in 15 games.

## Professional career
### Boston Celtics

On June 27, 2024, Watson was selected with the 54th overall pick by the Boston Celtics in 2024 NBA draft and on August 2, he signed a two-way contract with them.
On March 2, 2025, Watson was waived by the Celtics.

### New York Knicks

On March 4, 2025, Watson was claimed off waivers by the New York Knicks.

## Career statistics
### College

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| 2019–20 | Gonzaga | 15 | 5 | 14.7 | .538 | .111 | .571 | 3.1 | 1.5 | 1.2 | .5 | 4.9 |
| 2020–21 | Gonzaga | 32 | 17 | 18.9 | .631 | .150 | .650 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | .6 | 6.9 |
| 2021–22 | Gonzaga | 32 | 0 | 18.1 | .538 | .227 | .698 | 4.7 | 1.9 | 1.3 | .3 | 7.3 |
| 2022–23 | Gonzaga | 37 | 37 | 29.1 | .608 | .333 | .548 | 6.2 | 2.4 | 1.8 | .7 | 11.1 |
| 2023–24 | Gonzaga | 35 | 35 | 31.3 | .578 | .412 | .653 | 7.1 | 2.6 | 1.5 | .7 | 14.5 |
| Career | Career | 151 | 94 | 23.7 | .586 | .307 | .627 | 5.2 | 2.0 | 1.4 | .6 | 9.6 |

## Personal life

Watson's father, Deon Sr., played college basketball at Idaho (1990–94), holds the Vandal record for career rebounds (877), and played professionally in Europe and South America. Older brother Deon Jr. played college football at their father's alma mater (2013–16) as a tight end and wide receiver, and sister Haile played volleyball at Eastern Washington (2015) and Fresno State (2016–18).