# Aaron Brooks (basketball)
**Aaron Brooks** (Aaron Jamal Brooks, born 1985) is an American former professional basketball player, a 6-foot, 161-pound point guard who won the NBA Most Improved Player Award in 2009-10 with the [Houston Rockets](https://www.edgepedia.org/houston-rockets) and later joined the [New York Knicks](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-knicks) coaching staff.[1](https://www.nba.com/player/201166/aaron-brooks) • [2](https://goducks.com/news/2020/11/25/mens-basketball-brooks-hired-by-knicks)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1985; Seattle, Washington native; 6'0" (1.83 m), 161 lb (73 kg)[1](https://www.nba.com/player/201166/aaron-brooks) • [2](https://goducks.com/news/2020/11/25/mens-basketball-brooks-hired-by-knicks) |
| Draft | First round, 26th overall, by the Houston Rockets in 2007 out of Oregon[1](https://www.nba.com/player/201166/aaron-brooks) |
| Signature season | 2009-10: 19.6 points, 5.3 assists, 2.6 rebounds in 35.6 minutes per game, starting all 82 games[2](https://goducks.com/news/2020/11/25/mens-basketball-brooks-hired-by-knicks) |
| Award | NBA Most Improved Player, 2009-10; 62 of 123 first-place votes, 403 total points[3](https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2010/04/22/Aaron-Brooks-voted-NBAs-Most-Improved/64831271963916/) |
| NBA career | 10 seasons, 645 games (183 starts), 9.7 points and 3.0 assists per game, with seven teams[2](https://goducks.com/news/2020/11/25/mens-basketball-brooks-hired-by-knicks) |
| College honors | Oregon Hall of Fame (2017); 1,511 career points, 471 assists, 127 steals; Wooden Award finalist[4](https://goducks.com/honors/hall-of-fame/aaron-brooks/55) |
| Post-playing role | New York Knicks coaching staff, two-way liaison at the NBA and G-League levels, from November 2020[2](https://goducks.com/news/2020/11/25/mens-basketball-brooks-hired-by-knicks) |
## The 2009-10 Most Improved Player season
Brooks won the award after raising his scoring average from 11.2 points per game in 2008-09 to 19.6 in 2009-10, an increase of 8.4 points that was the highest in the NBA that season.[3](https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2010/04/22/Aaron-Brooks-voted-NBAs-Most-Improved/64831271963916/) He started all 82 games for Houston, averaging 19.6 points, 5.3 assists, and 2.6 rebounds in 35.6 minutes.[2](https://goducks.com/news/2020/11/25/mens-basketball-brooks-hired-by-knicks)
The season also carried two statistical markers. He set a Rockets team record with 209 three-pointers, and he became just the sixth player in NBA history to record at least 200 three-point shots and 400 assists in the same season.[3](https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2010/04/22/Aaron-Brooks-voted-NBAs-Most-Improved/64831271963916/) Across the full season he made 2.5 threes per game at 39.8 percent and shot 43.2 percent from the field overall.[5](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/2010-most-improved-player)
**The voting.** A panel of 123 sportswriters and broadcasters decided the award, with 5 points for a first-place mention, 3 for second, and 1 for third. Brooks received 62 first-place votes and totaled 403 points. Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City, Marc Gasol of Memphis, and George Hill of San Antonio tied for second with 101 points each.[3](https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2010/04/22/Aaron-Brooks-voted-NBAs-Most-Improved/64831271963916/) The league announced the result on April 22, 2010.[3](https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2010/04/22/Aaron-Brooks-voted-NBAs-Most-Improved/64831271963916/)
The award has since been used as a reference point in debates about how the honor is judged. A 2019 analytics article on the Most Improved Player vote described Brooks' 2009 win as an example of the award rewarding a jump in opportunity rather than a jump in true skill, a criticism that grew as advanced statistics such as true shooting percentage became more prominent in award discussions.[6](https://fansided.com/2019/03/20/nylon-calculus-most-improved-player-d-angleo-russell/)
## College career at Oregon
Brooks was a four-year starter at the [University of Oregon](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-oregon) and a two-time team MVP. He averaged 17.7 points per game as a senior in 2006-07, leading the Pac-10 in scoring, and was the Ducks' only finalist for the John R. Wooden Award as the nation's top player within a 39-year span. He graduated among only five players in school history to rank in the top 10 in career scoring (1,511 points), assists (471), and steals (127).[4](https://goducks.com/honors/hall-of-fame/aaron-brooks/55)
His senior season produced the deepest postseason run of his college career. After leading Oregon to the 2007 Pac-10 Tournament title with wins over Arizona, California, and USC, he sparked the Ducks to the NCAA Elite Eight, where they lost 85-77 to eventual national champion Florida in the closest game of the Gators' tournament; Brooks scored 27 points in that game.[4](https://goducks.com/honors/hall-of-fame/aaron-brooks/55) His best-remembered moment came earlier that season, on January 6, 2007, when his running jumper with 13 seconds left lifted Oregon to a 68-66 upset of No. 1 UCLA at McArthur Court.[4](https://goducks.com/honors/hall-of-fame/aaron-brooks/55) He was named all-Pac-10 first team and a first-team All-American by the Wooden Award.[2](https://goducks.com/news/2020/11/25/mens-basketball-brooks-hired-by-knicks) Oregon inducted him into its athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.[4](https://goducks.com/honors/hall-of-fame/aaron-brooks/55)
## NBA career
The Houston Rockets selected Brooks 26th overall in the 2007 [NBA draft](https://www.edgepedia.org/nba-draft), and he signed a four-year rookie scale contract worth $5,193,491 on July 7, 2007.[1](https://www.nba.com/player/201166/aaron-brooks) • [7](https://www.shamsports.com/players/aaron-brooks) He spent his first four seasons with Houston, including the 2009-10 award season, and appeared for the Rockets again in later stints.[8](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/bio/_/id/3192/aaron-brooks)
After leaving Houston he played for the [Phoenix Suns](https://www.edgepedia.org/phoenix-suns) (2010-11), the [Sacramento Kings](https://www.edgepedia.org/sacramento-kings) (a 2012-13 stint), the [Denver Nuggets](https://www.edgepedia.org/denver-nuggets) (2013-14), the Chicago Bulls (2014-2016), the Indiana Pacers (2016-17), and the Minnesota Timberwolves (2017-18).[8](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/bio/_/id/3192/aaron-brooks) Across 10 NBA seasons he played 645 games with 183 starts, averaging 9.7 points and 3.0 assists per game.[2](https://goducks.com/news/2020/11/25/mens-basketball-brooks-hired-by-knicks) His final professional stop before retirement was a 2019 season with the Illawarra Hawks in Australia.[2](https://goducks.com/news/2020/11/25/mens-basketball-brooks-hired-by-knicks)
## After playing
In November 2020 the New York Knicks added Brooks to their coaching staff as a two-way liaison, assisting the team at both the NBA and G-League levels. The hire reunited him with Knicks head coach [Tom Thibodeau](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-thibodeau), for whom he had played in Chicago in 2014-15 and in Minnesota in 2017-18.[2](https://goducks.com/news/2020/11/25/mens-basketball-brooks-hired-by-knicks)
## References
1. [Aaron Brooks player profile, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/player/201166/aaron-brooks)
2. [Brooks Hired By Knicks, University of Oregon Athletics (November 25, 2020)](https://goducks.com/news/2020/11/25/mens-basketball-brooks-hired-by-knicks)
3. [Aaron Brooks voted NBA's Most Improved, UPI.com (April 22, 2010)](https://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2010/04/22/Aaron-Brooks-voted-NBAs-Most-Improved/64831271963916/)
4. [Aaron Brooks (2017), University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame](https://goducks.com/honors/hall-of-fame/aaron-brooks/55)
5. [2010 Most Improved Player, StatMuse](https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/2010-most-improved-player)
6. [Nylon Calculus: Who has the inside track for Most Improved Player?, FanSided (March 20, 2019)](https://fansided.com/2019/03/20/nylon-calculus-most-improved-player-d-angleo-russell/)
7. [Aaron Brooks contract history, ShamSports](https://www.shamsports.com/players/aaron-brooks)
8. [Aaron Brooks Biography, ESPN](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/bio/_/id/3192/aaron-brooks)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Basketball and court team sports › Basketball players and coaches (biographies) › NBA players, 2011–2018 › NBA guards, 2011–2018*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license