Eric Gordon was the seventh overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2008 NBA Draft. He spent three seasons with the Clippers and five with New Orleans before signing as a free agent with Houston on 7/9/16. While injuries limited to Gordon to 36 games played in 2019-20, he the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2016-17 and was runner-up for the award in 2017-18. Over a seven-season span from 2013-14 through 2019-20, Gordon was one of seven players with at least 400 games played to have averaged at least 2.5 3-pointers made while shooting 37.0% or better from behind-the-arc. He hit 200+ 3-pointers while playing fewer than 2,200 minutes in consecutive seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19, joining J.J. Redick as the only players in league history to have accomplished that feat in multiple seasons. Entering 2020-21, Gordon averaged 16.6 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.5 rebounds in 665 career games with 511 starts.

Gordon was an early entry candidate for the 2008 NBA Draft following his freshman season at Indiana. He set the Hoosiers and conference all-time record for scoring as a freshman with 669 points and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and First Team All-Big Ten. Gordon earned Second Team All-America honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Third Team distinction from The Associated Press.