Former NBA player Drew Gordon dead at 33 in car accident

Former NBA star Drew Gordon has died in a car crash at the age of 33, his agent has confirmed.

Gordon – who played for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2014 – is the brother of Denver Nuggets star Aaron Gordon.

In a statement released late on Thursday night, his agent Calvin Andrews confirmed that Gordon died in a car accident in Portland, Oregon.

He is survived by his wife Angela, and three children.

Gordon has not played in the NBA for 10 years, but was still playing basketball around the world, with his nomadic career taking him to the G-League, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, France, Lithuania, Turkey and Italy.

Prior to his professional career, Gordon played for UCLA and New Mexico, and was a McDonald’s All-American. 

He went undrafted in 2012 and headed for Serbia, but then returned in 2014 to play nine games for the 76ers. 

Tributes quickly poured in on social media following the news of his death, with former Orlando Magic star Michael Carter-Williams writing: ‘Rest in paradise Drew Gordon. A great husband, father and teammate. @Double0AG [Aaron Gordon] I’m praying for you and your family. I love you and I’m sorry for your loss.’

As of Friday morning, Nuggets star Aaron Gordon was yet to comment on the tragic death of his older brother. 

Back in 2022, Drew hit the headlines when he recounted fleeing Ukraine with his family when the war broke out.

He was playing in Kyiv on a one-year basketball contract and admits he planned to stay to see the deal out, until he received a message from the US Embassy telling him to leave the city.

‘My advice to him was get your family out of a war that you don’t need to fight,’ Aaron Gordon told Andscape at the time.

Drew then returned to Denver near his brother, and spoke out about his love for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.

‘Ukraine is a proud country,’ he said. ‘The people are proud to be Ukrainian. There’s a lot of history that goes along with being Ukrainian and they fight hard for what they believe. They also make sure that whoever visits Ukraine sees its beauty for what it is.

‘There’s a lot of monuments that are decades old from past run-ins and past conflicts that they were able to prevail with. And they’re good people, man. 

‘I really respect all of the people of Ukraine, not just because it’s a country I played in and they’re nice to basketball players. I’ve seen how they interact with each other. I’ve seen how just the day-to-day life is.

‘And they’re just super-solid, solid people. And I hope that this war and the conflict right now is resolved soon, and they are able to keep the same energy that they’ve had about them, because it’s honestly something that people can take note of and learn from, because they’re good people, and I wish them well.’