Brian Joshua Cook, born on December 4, 1980, in Lincoln, Illinois ,is an American professional basketball player.
Cook was drafted out of the University of Illinois, by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 24th pick of the first round of the 2003 NBA Draft . His father Norm Cook, an All-American for the Kansas Jayhawks and played briefly for the Boston Celtics, also his uncle Joe Cook, who played basketball for Duke University from 1988-1990.
Wearing shirt No. 34 cook played at Power Forward position. His listed height and weight are 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) and 250 lb (113 kg) respectively. Lon Kruger recruited him to play center for the Illinois Fighting Illini, and was the third consecutive Illinois Mr. Basketball to sign with Illinois.
At the University of Illinois Cook played 132 games in four years, and led the Illini in rebounding in each season. Cook was a versatile scorer from both inside and outside the paint, utilizing his height to score in the post and hitting three-point shots when left open. During his first year at Illinois Cook earn co Big Ten Freshman of the year honors.
In the 2002-03 season as a senior, Cook led the Fighting Illini in scoring with 20.0 points per game, and received the Most Valuable Player of the Big Ten Conference. That same season, Cook was named Second-Team All-American by Associated Press gave him Third-Team All-American award, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and The Basketball Times, as well as Big Ten Player of the Year and First-Team All-Big Ten by both the coaches and the media.
in the 2001 NCAA Tournament Cook helped lead the Illini to a number one seed. Cook was projected to be a top 10 draft pick in the NBA Draft, but ultimately slipped to the L.A. Lakers 24th pick. With 1748 total points, and an average of 13.2 points per game, Cook left Illinois as the school’s third all-time leading scorer.
A quick career information includes at college he played for Illinois, NBA Draft 2003 / 1st round, (24th overall) Selected by the Los Angeles Lakers and his Pro career 2003–present.A brief Career history highlights include he played with Los Angeles Lakers (2003–07), Orlando Magic (2007–09), Houston Rockets (2009–10) and for Los Angeles Clippers (2010–Present).
His main career awards and achievements are Big Ten Men’s Basketball Player of the Year (2002–03) and Illini All-Century Team (2004).