Tony Mitchell is an American professional basketball player who plays power forward for Cocodrilos de Caracas of the Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto (SPB) in Venezuela.
Mitchell spent most of his career abroad, playing for different teams in different leagues. Guangxi Rhino, Star Hotshots, Metros de Santiago, Leones de Ponce, Al-Naft SC, etc., are some of the teams he played for throughout the years.
Although the Detroit Pistons selected him in the 2013 draft, Tony did not get to play much in the NBA.
His performance failed to impress people, so he ventured into foreign leagues in Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the Philippines, etc.
Before his professional league debut, he played college basketball for the North Texas Mean Green and was considered a top prospect.
Contrary to popular prediction, his professional career could not be fruitful. Since beginning his professional career, he has never stayed with any club for over a season.
Nevertheless, one should not undervalue his basketball skills as he has shown that he is a capable power forward multiple times. He led the Taipei Fubon Braves to the Taiwan League championship title in 2019.
Moreover, Tony has won a few individual honors and awards as well.
We will discuss his life and career along with some exciting information in this article below. But before diving into the details, let’s check out some quick facts.
Quick Facts
| Full Name | Tony LaShae Mitchell Jr. |
| Known As | Tony Mitchell |
| Date of Birth | April 7, 1992 |
| Birth Place | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA |
| Nick Name | Not available |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | African-American |
| Zodiac Sign | Aries |
| Age | 32 Years Old |
| Height | 6’8″/2.03 m/203 cm |
| Weight | 107 kg/235 lb. |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Black |
| Build | Athletic |
| Father’s Name | Tony L. Mitchell Sr. |
| Mother’s Name | Angie L. Mitchell |
| Siblings | Antonio Mitchell |
| Education |
|
| Marital Status | Unknown |
| Sexual Orientation | Straight |
| Wife’s Name | Not available |
| Kid’s Names | Hayden, Tony III, Prince, Jaxson, Dio |
| Profession | Basketball player |
| NBA Draft | 2013 / Round: 2 / 37th pick overall |
| Position | Power forward |
| League (Current) | Venezuelan SuperLiga |
| Active Years | 2013 – Present |
| Net Worth | $1-$2 million |
| Recent Club | Leones de Ponce |
| Jersey Number (Recent) | 95 |
| Social Media | |
| Merch | Rookie Card |
| Last Update | April 2024 |
Early Life, Family & Education
Tony Mitchell was born on April 7, 1992, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, as the eldest son of Tony Sr. (father) and Angie Mitchell (mother). He has a younger brother named Antonio.
Upon his birth, his parents named him Tony LaShae Mitchell Jr., but he later became known as Tony Mitchell among his friends and fans.
When they were small, his family moved to Dallas, Texas, and settled there permanently. Then, he attended the L.G. Pinkston High School in West Dallas, where he studied until his graduation in 2011.
Tony has been very athletic since he was a kid. He grew up playing basketball from a very young age.
He showed proficiency in basketball early on, so his parents too encouraged him to participate in games as they saw immense possibility in him.
Consequently, he progressed from his middle school team to his high school basketball team before joining the University of North Texas for higher studies.
He took up sociology for his Bachelor’s degree but did not complete his education as he dropped out of college just after two years.
Basketball Career
High School Career
Mitchell played basketball for the Dutchtown High School in Atlanta and earned widespread praise from the spectators. After that, he played for the Center of Life Christian Academy (CLCA) in Miami.
He always believed he had much to learn, so he spent much time practicing shots and dunks on his school court.
He played for around two seasons for the CLCA but later learned that his time with them would not guarantee NCAA eligibility. Consequently, he transferred back to L.G. Pinkton and averaged 20.5 points and 13.2 rebounds in his senior season.
He was a leading scorer for his team in the Class 4A Region II Tournament that season. For his fantastic performance, Rivals.com ranked him the 12th-best senior recruit in the class of 2010.
Similarly, Mitchell earned several honors, including the Dallas Morning News Player of the Year, leaving behind Perry Jones from Duncanville. He was also named to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches All-Star team in 2010.
College Career
Mitchell had initially intended to play college basketball for the Missouri Tigers, but his plan failed because of the NCAA eligibility issues. He missed the 2010-11 season for the same reason.
He eventually chose to play for the North Texas Mean Green men in 2011. However, his first college season made him forget all the hurdles he faced while newly joining the college.
As a redshirt freshman, Mitchell finished the season with an average of 14.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. He was the only freshman to record a double-double in NCAA Division I that season, besides Anthony Davis.
Various popular sports agencies and analysts had projected that he would be among the first-round picks in the 2012 draft if he declared for the draft that year, but he decided to stay in North Texas for his sophomore season.
Professional Career
Career In America
The Detroit Pistons selected Mitchell with the 37th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft. With that pick, he became the first North Texas alum to get drafted after John Horrocks back in 1984.
Tony signed a rookie-scaled contract with the Pistons on July 19, 2013. Even though there was some hype about his NBA entry, the club offered him significantly less playtime in his rookie season.
Playing only 21 matches, he averaged 1.0 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. Apart from NBA regular season matches, he played for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and Grand Rapids Drive in the minor league until 2014.
He also stayed briefly with the Phoenix Suns in late 2014 before moving abroad to try his luck in foreign leagues.
Foreign League Career
Tony signed with the Puerto Rican club, Atletico de San German, on February 5, 2015, and set off overseas for his first foreign league appearance. After playing for around eight months in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) League, he returned to America.
However, his stay in his home country did not last long, as his time with the Golden State Warriors lasted only a month. Then, he traveled across various countries playing in foreign leagues such as the Venezuelan league, Chinese NBL, Israeli Liga Leumit, etc., until 2017.
Moreover, he had a brief stint with the Star Hotshots of the Philippine Basketball Association and Metros de Santiago of the Dominican league LNB in 2017.
He won his first and only league championship with the Taipei Fubon Braves when they lifted the Taiwanese league in 2019.
Besides, Mitchell played for NLEX Road Warriors before joining Brujos de Guayama of the BSN, and for the 2020-21 season, he joined Leones de Ponce.
In 2022, the professional basketball player joined Al-Naft SC in the Iraqi Basketball League.
In 2023, he joined Cocodrilos de Caracas in the Venezuelan SuperLiga for the 2023 season.
Awards & Achievements
Some of his awards and achievements include:
- Taiwan League champion (2019)
- Sun Belt Freshman of the Year (2012)
- Second-team All-Sun Belt (2013)
- First-team All-Sun Belt (2012)
- Gold medal at the FIBA Americas U18 Championship (2010)
- Texas 12-4A Player of the Year (2010)
- Texas Class 4A All-State (2010)
Net Worth & Earnings
Tony Mitchell is reported to have a net worth ranging between $1 million to $2 million as of 2024. Even though a few websites mention it to be $1.5 million, the exact amount is debatable.
Anyways, the player has mainly made money through league games. He had started his professional league journey with the NBA team, Detroit Pistons, for the 2013-14 season and was paid around $490k.
He joined the Phoenix Suns the following season for a one-year contract worth around $816k, but they released him before playing any games.
Despite his brief time in the NBA, he collected little over $1 million from the league.
His earnings from the foreign leagues are unknown but seeing his lifestyle, one can confirm that he has earned a considerable amount of money through basketball games.
Personal Life
The basketball player is not very comfortable talking about his personal life. In addition, he did not get enough media exposure as he mostly played in leagues outside of America.
However, we have acquired some information about his personal life from his social media posts. He has around five kids from different women.
He had posted pictures of them on his Instagram on March 8, giving them a shoutout on International women’s day.
Tony hilariously likes to introduce his kids as The Mitchell 5, and their names are Hayden, Tony III, Prince, Jaxson, and Dio Mitchell.
He had two of his five kids, namely Tony III and Jaxson, with Jasmine Godbolt. Tony had met her when they were studying together at the University of North Texas.
Godbolt was also a basketball athlete for North Texas during her college days.
However, his exact relationship status at present is not known. But, it seems he still has friendly relations with every woman he was with at some point in his life.
Age & Body Features
As of 2024, Tony Mitchell is 32 years old.
About his physical stats, Mitchell stands tall at 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 meters) and weighs around 107 kg (235 pounds).
He looked a bit bulky in his initial years, but he has now maintained his body as he regularly goes to the gym for routine workouts. As a result, he has an athletic physique.
Furthermore, he has tattoos on his body parts as well.
Social Media
Tony Mitchell has an Instagram under the handle @toni_tony_tone13, but it has fewer followers and is not verified yet.
He mainly posts pictures related to his personal and professional life. His posts feature his kids and birthday wishes for his close ones in recent times.
Likewise, he sometimes posts stuff related to basketball as well.
Instagram: 29.2k followers
Popularity
Playing for different teams in different leagues, he has gained fans worldwide.
The above graph gives brief information about the popularity of Tony Mitchell based on Google searches in the United States over a year.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to Tony Mitchell in 2021?
Tony Mitchell was quite inactive for some time after he appeared for the Leones de Ponce in the BSN League. But he officially confirmed that he got back with Maccabi Haifa in Israel in 2022. He shared the good news with his fans on his Instagram account in March 2022. In 2023, he plays for Cocodrilos de Caracas in the Venezuelan SuperLiga.
