Know Thy Self - A look at DeShawn Stevenson

Continuing the Know Thy Self series, where we meet the roster of the 2012-2013 Atlanta Hawks, we take a look at DeShawn Stevenson. As I cobble together from the Internet various factoids, stats, and minutia about DeShawn, it is hard to imagine that it will do justice to one of the most original and provocative players in the NBA. Hope you enjoy it anyway.

DeShawn Stevenson

Twitter: unknown

Nickname: The Lock Smith, Poppa Smurf

Born: 4/3/1981 in Fresno, CA

Fresno is in the heart of the San Joaquin valley. While Fresno has over 900,000 residents, it's primary industry is agriculture. Fresno County agriculture totaled $5.3 Billion in 2007 which was #1 in the nation. I consider them Raisin Central as both Sun-Maid and the National Raisin Company call Fresno home. The primary newspaper is the Fresno Bee. Among famous citizens from Fresno, I like to call out Kevin Federline, former backup dancer and former Mr. Britney Spears. Musically, Fresno is the birthplace of Gary Jules, who did the haunting version of Mad World from the movie Donnie Darko. Thinking of athletes, Fresno has produced quite a few pro football players. I'd put forth that Ickey Woods is the most famous athlete from Fresno. How can you argue with someone that has a Shuffle named after him.

College: None, went straight to the NBA

DeShawn Stevenson tore it up at Washington Union High School. Go Panthers. Not a lot of famous Panthers to choose from, but they do have big leaguer Matt Garza who once threw a no-hitter for Tampa Bay and Molly West, an extremely pale blonde fashion model.

Personal Notes: DeShawn Stevenson scored a game high 25 points in the 2000 McDonald's All-America game. He's the only current Hawks player to have an NBA Championship ring and he earned it. Just 2 years ago he started every game for the Dallas Mavericks as they beat the Miami Heat. He was the primary defender on Lebron James and also shot over 50% from 3 point range during the series. Perhaps DeShawn is most recognized for his extensive tattoos including one of Abraham Lincoln on his throat. DeShawn had an ATM installed in his kitchen next to the toaster this May.

ESPN Top 500 rank: 319 just behind Byron Mullens (317) and Marcus Morris (318), but just ahead of Gilbert Arenas (320) and Toney Douglas (321).

Wingspan: unsure, but I hear it's big.

basketball-reference.com sponsorship price: $55 - think of this as a Q-rating for basketball. Better known players have hiring rates because in theory their stat page will get visited more often.

Horoscope: As an Aries I found this free sports horoscope for the year: The first half of 2012 will be dismal (check). Important missions should not be kept for disposal during the last part of the year. Your inventiveness will be the one of your best assets, in the professional field, This year. You will be able to determine with a frightening precision the needs for your interlocutors and to make them coincide with your own waiting.

Chinese Zodiac: DeShawn is the same animal sign as Kyle Korver, so the info is the same. That's a drawback of a year based sign. Born in the year of the rooster. Roosters are deep thinkers and always conscious about attaining their objectives. They are complementary to each other in intellect and habits.

Outlook for this year: Rooster people will get rid of the bad luck in the past rabbit year and gradually be on the approach of good omen in this dragon year. After the change of luck, roosters will have many good things happening.

Workplace Compatibility:
Work best with tigers (Lou Williams, Al Horford) and dragons (Jeff Teague, Mike Scott)
Not so good with ox (Josh Smith, Anthony Morrow, Johan Petro), snakes (James Anderson), and rabbits (Damion James)

Stats: This block is a combination of data from basketball-reference.com and 82games.com to give an idea of the playing style and effectiveness of a player.

Quick Analysis: A horrible season. If I was an attorney I would ask that it be excluded because it is too prejudicial. He's a defensive specialist which is a role that only really works on a talented team. On a bottom dweller, you don't get the open shots making your offense look worse and you don't really see defensive success because it requires a team effort. If DeShawn regains form he can hit the open 3 and frustrate any offensive player. His best attribute is his supreme self-confidence. Doesn't get to the line much and is just a catch and shoot guy on offense. The rankings are out of 478 players listed on basket-reference.com for last season with no qualifying minimums to provide some context for the numbers.

Hopefully, you feel you know a little more about DeShawn Stevenson than before. Let me know what you think in your comments. Is his ESPN rating fair? Can he bounce back from a horrible season? Would you like to have an ATM in your house? How about that Fresno?