Shawn Long is a skillful professional basketball player from America. He primarily plays as a power forward for the Levanga Hokkaido in the Japanese B. League.
However, he had started his professional league career in America, playing preseason games for the Philadelphia 76ers. Since then, he has played league games with different foreign clubs.
Before his professional league debut, Long played college basketball for the Louisiana Ragin Casuns until 2016. For his performance, he received the Sun Belt Player of the Year honors at the end of his college career.
Unlike those kids who played basketball, Long never believed that he could play in the NBA after college. And that happened to be pretty accurate when no NBA clubs picked him in the 2016 draft.
That, of course, was painful for him, but it did not demotivate him. He eventually found his place in some of the best leagues outside the United States.
Hence, for that reason, he has a considerable fan base abroad than in his home country.
This article will give you all the fantastic information about Shawn’s life and career. But before proceeding further, here are some quick facts you need to know about Shawn Long.
Quick Facts
| Full Name | Shawn Long |
| Date of Birth | January 29, 1993 |
| Birth Place | Morgan City, Louisiana, the USA |
| Nick Name | Longy |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | African-American |
| Zodiac Sign | Aquarius |
| Age | 31 years old |
| Height | 2.06 m (6 feet 9 inches) |
| Weight | 248 lb (112 kg) |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Dark brown |
| Build | Athletic |
| Father’s Name | Not available |
| Mother’s Name | Carolyn Long |
| Siblings | One (Shelly Long) |
| Education |
|
| Marital Status | Unknown |
| Sexual Orientation | Straight |
| Girlfriend’s Name | Not available |
| Kids | One (Jace Long) |
| Profession | Basketball player |
| NBA Draft | 2016 / Undrafted |
| Position | Power forward / Center |
| League | Japanese B. League |
| Active Years | (2016 – Present) |
| Net Worth | $1-$5 million |
| Currently Plays For | Levanga Hokkaido |
| Jersey Number | 21 |
| Social Media | Not available |
| Merch | University of Louisiana T-Shirt |
| Last Update | March 2024 |
Shawn Long | Early Life, Family & Education
Shawn Long was born on January 29, 1993, in Morgan City, Louisiana. He is the eldest child of Louisiana state native Carolyn Long.
Besides him, she had given birth to a daughter named Shelly. Shelly died of autoimmune disease in 2018.
Long had a great bonding with his father, and he was there to look after everyone. But sadly, his father passed away due to cancer when Shawn was just twelve years old.
After that sorrowful incident, he lived with his mother and grandmother in a small town in Louisiana and attended the Morgan City High School just some distance far from their residence.
His mother, Carolyn, was the only breadwinner in the family, so she worked very hard to fulfill her children’s needs. Besides that, his grandmother was of great help as she looked after them while his mother was not around.
Unfortunately, his grandmother also passed just two years after his dad died.
The town in which Long grew up, which he had named “Across The Tracks,” was a very close community, and children there were very enthusiastic about basketball. Shawn, too, got along and began enjoying the sport despite being obese as a kid.
One troubling thing about his hometown was that fights and other crimes were common.
Growing up in a financially weak family, he was well aware of his mother’s hardships, so he never did anything terrible to sadden her. Also, the love for basketball was something special that he had inherited from his late dad, so he never stopped playing that.
However, he never had a moment in his childhood when he thought that he would go professional, let alone play in the NBA.
Basketball Career
High School Career
Shawn played high school basketball for the Morgan City High School Team from the beginning. He initially struggled to get his game right as he was out of shape and suffering from trauma due to the early loss of his family members.
However, the school team management had confidence in him and included him in the roster. Especially the head coach Jeremy Wittington knew about his troubles and deeply cared for him.
Over time, he lost much of his weight and improved in later seasons. He was their best player in the power forward position and could also play as a center.
As a result, Long finished his senior season with an average of 21.4 points and 15.2 rebounds per game. He earned the Most Valuable Player and the best defensive player in the district in 2011.
College Career
Shawn briefly attended the Mississippi State University in 2011, but he never played for the State Bulldogs. He shifted to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and eventually joined the Ragin’ Casuns in 2012.
Long obtained his Bachelor’s degree in General Studies from UL in 2016.
While in Louisiana, he teamed up with the future NBA star Elfrid Payton and finished his freshman season with an average of 15.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. He was the leading rebounder in that season, and he maintained it throughout his college career.
He was the first person in the Sun Belt Conference’s history to reach 2000 points and 1000 rebounds in college basketball.
Professional Career
Shawn had a deep feeling that he would get selected in the NBA draft in 2016 as his friend, Payton, had done two years earlier in 2014. Moreover, his performance throughout his college was top-notch, which increased his expectations quite a lot.
Sadly, he went undrafted and settled for a short-term contract with the Philadelphia 76ers on July 8, 2017. The club released him on October 24, just after appearing in seven preseason matches.
He did not play NBA regular season matches until 2017. He played for the Delaware 87ers in the NBA Development League when the 76ers filled the roster as their many standard players suffered from injuries.
So, he appeared in 18 matches in the 2016-17 season, in which he averaged 8.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. His performance was considered well for a substitute player, but the club did not want him.
Foreign Leagues
Shawn Long initially traveled to China and played for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in the Chinese Basketball League for around two months until mid-November. He averaged 12.7 points and 6.1 rebounds, appearing in six games.
Since then, he has played for different foreign clubs in overseas leagues, such as Melbourne United of the NBL and Ulsan Mobis Phoebus of the Korean Basketball League (KBL).
Long is currently playing for the Sapporo-based club named Levanga Hokkaido in the Japanese B. League. He signed with the club on June 18, 2021.
Besides league games, Shawn Long has already donned the jersey of the US national team. Long was part of the national team representing America in the 2015 Pan American Games.
Awards & Achievements
Some of his awards and achievements are:
- KBL Foreign MVP (2021)
- Sun Belt Player of the Year (2016)
- Sun Belt Freshman of the Year (2013)
- All-NBA D-League Second Team (2017)
- First-team All-Sun Belt (2014-16)
- AP Honorable Mention All-American (2016)
- All-NBL Second Team (2019)
- NBA D-League All-Star (2017)
- Second-team All-Sun Belt (2013)
- Bronze medal at the Pan American Games (2015)
Net Worth & Career Earnings
The estimated net worth of Shawn Long is somewhere between $1 million to $5 million.
Shawn had initially played for the NBA club Philadelphia 76ers signing a ten-day contract worth $31k. After that contract expired, the 76ers signed a two-year contract with $1.5 million, but during the signing, the club paid him around $65k.
He played more matches for their NBA G League affiliate club, Delaware 87ers, so probably they paid him much less. At the end of 2016-17, he appeared in about 18 matches for them, so they offered him nearly $90k.
There is not much information regarding his earnings in foreign leagues. Still, according to some media outlets, he is currently earning around $1 million playing for the Levanga Hokkaido in the 2021-22 season.
Even though the average base salary of the Japanese league is around $145k, they tend to pay more to the overseas players with experience of playing in the major leagues. So, Shawn Long is currently earning a pretty decent amount from the B. League.
Personal Life
Shawn Long’s marital status is unknown. As the player mostly plays overseas, not much about him gets written in popular American media outlets, so most of his contemporary personal details remain a secret.
In addition, he has completely distanced himself from social media, so almost nothing about his private life is known.
However, as per the CBS Sports article published in 2015, Shawn Long has a son named Jace Long.
He was born around 2011 when he returned home from the Mississippi State University before going to the University of Louisiana to play college basketball.
Besides that, there is no information on who Jace’s mother is. So, whatever the reason is, he wants his private life to be confidential. However, we will regularly follow this up and update you on this once we retrieve more about this related topic.
Age & Body Features
The former NBA player Shawn Long is 31 years old as of 2024.
About his physical stats, the Hokkaido club’s power forward stands 2.06 meters (6 feet 9 inches) tall. He was already around 6’3″ as a high school freshman but was very fat and clumsy, as already stated above.
But now, the player is very fit and has lost his body fat as he regularly goes to the gym for workouts. He currently weighs around 248lb (112 kg).
Furthermore, Long has been fascinated with tattoos since he was a kid. He had already inked sleeve tattoos on both of his arms when he was in college. Similarly, he has a few of them on his neck.
FAQs
What is the wingspan of Shawn Long?
Shawn Long has a wingspan of around 7 feet 1 inch.
What was Shawn Long’s jersey number for the Philadelphia 76ers?
He wore jersey number 36 for the NBA club, Philadelphia 76ers.
