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Guard · 2019–20

Emmanuel Mudiay

War shaped Emmanuel Mudiay's childhood before basketball could. Born in Kinshasa, he lost his father as a toddler, and his mother fled the Second Congo War with her sons, winning asylum in the United States in 2001. A decade later he was one of Texas's top recruits — and he skipped college entirely, signing a $1.2 million contract in China before Denver took him seventh overall in 2015.

All-Rookie Second Team honors and a buzzer-beating 35-foot rainbow marked his Nuggets years, followed by a stretch with the Knicks and the 2019–20 season with the Jazz. He has since carried his game to Puerto Rico with the Piratas de Quebradillas.

HOW HE CAME & WENTHe signed with Utah as a free agent on July 20, 2019, for one season.

Full name
Emmanuel Kabeya Mudiay
Utah Jazz tenure
2019–20
Position
Guard
Born
1996, Kinshasa, DR Congo
Height
6′5″ (196 cm)
Weight
201 lb (91 kg)
Drafted
2015, 1st round (No. 7), Denver
Signature in the archive 2015-16 Panini Gold Standard Rookie #/199 HS

No photograph of this signature is online yet.

With the Jazz

EMMANUEL MUDIAY · 2019–20 · PER GAME
SEASONTEAMGMPGPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFG%3P%FT%
2019–20UTA5415.77.32.32.10.40.2.462.345.759
JAZZ TOTAL1 SEASON5415.77.32.32.10.40.2.462.345.759

Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗  ·  Wikipedia ↗

Did you know

EMMANUEL MUDIAY · 6 NOTES
  • Played professionally in China instead of attending SMU, an unusual route at the time.
  • He arrived in the United States speaking mostly French, though his older brother said the family soon felt like Americans.
  • He played high school ball alongside Isaiah Austin at Grace Prep, then at a Dallas charter school co-founded by Deion Sanders.
  • He chose Utah in 2019 partly for Mike Conley, saying he could look at the veteran like a big brother.
  • Puerto Rico gave his career a second act — he led the BSN in scoring at 23.6 points a game and was named 2025 MVP.
  • He said he only began wanting that MVP award after teammates chanted for him following a game in Arecibo.