| Braxton Key | |
| Position: | Power forward / small forward |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 8 |
| Weight Lb: | 225 |
| Team: | Free agent |
| Birth Date: | 14 February 1997 |
| Birth Place: | Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. |
| High School: | |
| College: | |
| Draft Year: | 2020 |
| Career Start: | 2021 |
| Years1: | 2021–2022 |
| Team1: | Delaware Blue Coats |
| Team2: | Philadelphia 76ers |
| Years3: | 2022 |
| Team3: | Detroit Pistons |
| Years4: | 2022 |
| Team4: | →Motor City Cruise |
| Years5: | 2023 |
| Team5: | Delaware Blue Coats |
| Years6: | 2023 |
| Team6: | Vaqueros de Bayamón |
| Team7: | Denver Nuggets |
| Years8: | 2023–2024 |
| Team8: | →Grand Rapids Gold |
| Highlights: |
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Braxton Key (born February 14, 1997) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Virginia Cavaliers.
Key is the nephew of NBA player Ralph Sampson, who starred at the University of Virginia.[1] [2] Key's father Eric Key played at Radford University. Under his childhood surname of Blackwell,[3] Key played three seasons with Christ Presbyterian Academy, leading the team to a state title in 2013 and winning TSSAA's Mr. Basketball award in 2014 and 2015.[4] He then transferred to Oak Hill Academy for his senior year, where he played under his father's surname for the first time and led the team to a 45–1 record and national championship.[5] [6]
Key averaged a team-high 12 points and 5.7 rebounds per game as a freshman at Alabama. He scored a season-high 26 points against Georgia and was named to the All-SEC Freshman team.[6] As a sophomore, Key averaged 7.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.4 blocks per game. He was hobbled by a knee injury that forced him to miss some playing time.
After the season, Key transferred to Virginia and was granted an immediate eligibility waiver by the NCAA.[7] In the 2018–19 season, Key won a national championship at Virginia, scoring six points, pulling down 10 rebounds and blocking one shot in the title game against Texas Tech.[8] Key averaged 5.7 points and 5.3 rebounds as a junior, starting six games.[9] Key had surgery for a wrist injury in November 2019 and missed several games.[10] He returned to action on December 18 against Stony Brook.[11] At the conclusion of the regular season, Key was named All-ACC Honorable Mention.[12] As a senior, Key averaged 9.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game.[13]
After going undrafted in the 2020 NBA draft, Key joined the Delaware Blue Coats of the NBA G League in January 2021, after being selected in the G League draft.[14] On March 2, he posted a season-high 19 points to go with five rebounds, two assists, two steals two blocks in a 120–92 win over the NBA G League Ignite.[15]
On October 13, 2021, Key signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, but was waived the same day.[16] On October 25, he re-signed with Delaware.[17] In 43 career NBA G League games, he averaged 14.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks in 23.7 minutes.[18]
On January 5, 2022, Key signed a 10-day contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.[19] Key appeared in two games for the 76ers, scoring two points in six total minutes. After his 10-day contract expired, Key was reacquired by the Delaware Blue Coats.[20]
On March 24, 2022, Key signed a 10-day contract with the Detroit Pistons.[21] On April 3, he signed a two-way contract. On December 26, 2022, Key was waived.[22]
On January 1, 2023, Key was re-acquired by the Delaware Blue Coats,[23] and eventually helped the team win the NBA G League title.[24]
On April 14, 2023, Key signed with Vaqueros de Bayamón of the Puerto Rican league.[25] He was released on May 31.[26]
Braxton Key signed with the Dallas Mavericks for the NBA 2K24 Summer League. On July 18, 2023, Key signed a two-way contract with the Denver Nuggets.[27]
|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia| 2 || 0 || 3.2 || .500 || .000 || || 1.0 || .5 || .5 || .0 || 1.0|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit| 9 || 0 || 21.2 || .457 || .300 || .538 || 5.3 || 1.1 || 1.0 || 1.2 || 8.6|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Detroit| 3 || 0 || 3.0 || 1.000 || || 1.000 || .3 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 1.3|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Denver| 20 || 0 || 3.0 || .412 || .400 || .750 || .9 || .5 || .1 || .1 || 1.1|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 34 || 0 || 7.8 || .456 || .308 || .652 || 2.0 || .6 || .4 || .4 || 3.1
|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2016–17| style="text-align:left;"| Alabama| 34 || 30 || 29.8 || .433 || .330 || .634 || 5.7 || 2.5 || .6 || .6 || 12.0|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2017–18| style="text-align:left;"| Alabama| 26 || 17 || 25.2 || .409 || .250 || .667 || 5.3 || 1.8 || 1.0 || .4 || 7.0|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2018–19| style="text-align:left;"| Virginia| 38 || 6 || 19.8 || .433 || .305 || .731 || 5.3 || 1.0 || .9 || .6 || 5.7|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20| style="text-align:left;"| Virginia| 27 || 25 || 33.6 || .435 || .185 || .584 || 7.4 || 1.8 || 1.2 || .6 || 9.9|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 125 || 78 || 26.6 || .429 || .274 || .645 || 5.8 || 1.8 || .9 || .6 || 8.6