Greg Monroe · Biography

Gregory Keith Monroe Jr. was born on June 4, 1990, in Louisiana and grew up in Harvey, a suburb of New Orleans, where he developed as a player at Helen Cox High School. A 6-foot-10 center and power forward, he spent nine seasons in the NBA between 2010 and 2022. His longest stints were with the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks. He also played in the EuroLeague with Bayern Munich and Khimki, and he retired in 2024.

High school and Georgetown

At Helen Cox he was named Louisiana Mr. Basketball in 2007 and again in 2008. As a senior in 2007-08 he averaged 21.0 points and 14.0 rebounds. He was a McDonald’s All-American and a first-team Parade All-American, and he won the Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year award. Rivals ranked him the top power forward in the class of 2008. On October 15, 2007, he committed to Georgetown, choosing the Hoyas over Duke, LSU and Kansas.

As a freshman in 2008-09 he was named Big East Rookie of the Year after averaging 12.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals. As a sophomore in 2009-10 he took on a bigger role in the Hoyas’ offense, averaging about 16 points, nearly 10 rebounds and 3.7 assists. He made first-team All-Big East and was a third-team All-American for the AP and the NABC. He also won the Pete Newell Big Man Award. On April 17, 2010, he declared for the NBA draft and gave up his last two years of college eligibility.

Five seasons in Detroit

The Detroit Pistons took him with the seventh overall pick in the 2010 draft and signed him on July 6. He made his debut off the bench against Chicago on October 30, 2010. His first start came on December 10 against Minnesota, when he had 8 points and 15 rebounds. On February 23, 2011, he scored 27 points with 12 rebounds against Indiana. He finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting and made the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

In the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season he started all 66 games he played and appeared in the Rising Stars Challenge. In 2013-14 he finished his third straight season with more than 1,000 points and 600 rebounds. Since 1994-95, only Grant Hill had done that for the franchise. In September 2014 he signed Detroit’s qualifying offer, a one-year deal that made him an unrestricted free agent in 2015. That season began with a two-game suspension over an impaired-driving incident in February 2014. On December 3, 2014, he scored 29 points in an overtime loss to Boston.

Milwaukee and the Bledsoe trade

On July 9, 2015, Monroe signed a three-year, $50 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks. He opened with 22 points and 14 rebounds against the New York Knicks on October 28, 2015. In 2016-17 he moved to a bench role. He scored 28 points against Philadelphia on January 25, 2017, and averaged 13.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in six playoff games that spring. On November 7, 2017, Milwaukee traded him to the Phoenix Suns for Eric Bledsoe, with a protected first-round pick and a second-round pick also going to Phoenix. He debuted for the Suns on November 16 with 20 points and 11 rebounds against Houston, and on January 24, 2018, he grabbed 17 rebounds against Indiana. Phoenix waived him on February 1, 2018.

Boston, Toronto and Philadelphia

The Boston Celtics signed him on February 8, 2018. On April 6 he came off the bench to post 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against Chicago. It was the first triple-double by a Celtics center since Robert Parish in 1987. He joined the Toronto Raptors on August 10, 2018. On February 7, 2019, Toronto traded him to Brooklyn, and the Nets waived him right away. He finished that season on a ten-day contract with Boston, signed on March 24, 2019, and then signed with the Philadelphia 76ers on April 4.

Europe, the G League and a return to the NBA

On July 25, 2019, he signed with Bayern Munich, his first club outside the United States. In the 2019-20 EuroLeague he played 28 games, 24 of them as a starter, and averaged 12.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and a 16.8 PIR. Khimki signed him on July 30, 2020. That November he was named VTB United League player of the week after posting 28 points and 10 rebounds in an 86-78 win over CSKA Moscow. The club terminated his contract on January 23, 2021.

In November 2021 he joined the Capital City Go-Go in the G League and averaged 10.4 points and 8.8 rebounds. The 2021-22 season brought him back to the NBA on ten-day deals with Minnesota (December 27, 2021), Washington (January 6, 2022), Milwaukee (February 5) and Utah (March 28). On April 7, 2022, the Timberwolves signed him for the rest of the season. He then played for the Shanxi Loongs in China from December 2022 to January 2023, and in March 2023 he signed with Osos de Manatí of Puerto Rico’s BSN.

Career numbers and retirement

Monroe played mostly in the low post, rebounded well and was a good passer for a center, with 2.1 assists per game in the NBA. He finished his NBA career with 646 regular-season games and 417 starts. He totaled 8,402 points, 5,293 rebounds and 1,376 assists, averaging 13.0 points and 8.2 rebounds, and he also played 29 playoff games. On September 26, 2024, he announced his retirement and joined the New Orleans Pelicans as a player development assistant on Willie Green’s staff.