Jared Sullinger has officially announced his retirement from professional basketball at the age of 34. After completing a 14-year playing career spanning the NBA and elite international leagues, the former Boston Celtics forward is returning to his alma mater Ohio State University as the Director of Player Development.
Selected 21st overall in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Celtics, Sullinger played four seasons in Boston averaging 11.1 points and 7.7 rebounds over 258 games with the franchise. He later had a brief, injury-marred 11-game stint with the Toronto Raptors. Sullinger’s two main obstacles which prevented him from having a longer NBA career were his weight issues at times as well as the changing NBA game which was pivoting away from the traditional post game.
It’s not hard to imagine that Sullinger would have had a more successful and longer NBA tenure if he had played in an earlier era. Following his NBA career, Sullinger played 9 seasons internationally. He spent the majority of his time in the Chinese Basketball Association playing for the Guangdong Southern Tigers and Shenzhen Leopards, while also winning a league MVP title during stints in South Korea and Puerto Rico.
We wish Jared the best in his post playing career.
