Aaron Shawn Holiday (born September 30, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The guard played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, where he earned All-American recognition. He was selected by the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the 2018 NBA draft with the 23rd overall pick.
Holiday played in high school in Los Angeles, where he was ranked among the top players nationally. He was a starter as a college freshman in 2015–16 before becoming the Bruins' leading reserve the following year. As a junior, he returned to the starting lineup as the Bruins' point guard, when he was named a third-team All-American and received first-team all-conference and all-defensive honors in the Pac-12. He played three seasons for Indiana before being traded to the Washington Wizards and later to the Phoenix Suns. Holiday is the younger brother of fellow NBA players Jrue and Justin Holiday.
Early life
Holiday was born in Ruston, Louisiana, to Shawn and Toya (née DeCree) Holiday. His parents both played college basketball at Arizona State, where Toya was named Pac-10 Player of the Year in 1982. Holiday attended high school at Campbell Hall in Los Angeles, where he was a four-year starter. As a freshman, he led the team in scoring, averaging 24.3 points per game. He averaged 28.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 6.0 assists as a junior before being named both CIF Southern Section IV-A and Los Angeles Daily News Player of the Year honors.
Holiday improved as a facilitator as a senior, when his scoring dropped, but his passing enabled other teammates to emerge as scoring threats. Averaging 25 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals, he led Campbell Hall to its first sectional and California regional final since 2008, and shared Daily News Player of the Year honors with Bennie Boatwright of Valley Christian. Holiday was rated a four-star college recruit as one of the top prep players in the nation, ranked No. 40 by Scout.com, No. 60 by Rivals.com, and No. 88 by ESPN.com.
College career
Freshman season
Holiday entered the University of California, Los Angeles, with a reputation as a tenacious defender capable of applying full-court pressure. After an exhibition game against the Bruins, Cal State Los Angeles coach Dieter Horton admired his ability to disrupt, calling him a "little Tasmanian devil on defense". Holiday and fellow recruit Prince Ali brought needed depth to UCLA, who were thin at guard during the previous season. In Holiday, Bruins' third-year coach Steve Alford possessed the most natural point guard he had had at the school. He hoped the freshman could help ease ball-handling duties from incumbent point guard Bryce Alford, the coach's son, who was more effective catching the ball and shooting. In a scrimmage against San Diego State which Bryce Alford mostly missed due to an injury, Holiday's performance against a strong Aztecs defense prompted their coach, Steve Fisher, to call him "by far the best player on the floor".
UCLA opened the 2015–16 season with Holiday as starter, along with Alford and Isaac Hamilton, in a three-guard lineup. Hamilton could also play point guard, but Holiday and Alford shared most of the responsibilities. In the season opener, Holiday and Tony Parker had six turnovers apiece as UCLA turned the ball over 23 times in an 84–81 overtime loss to Monmouth. On December 3, 2015, Holiday had 10 points, seven assists, and eight rebounds in an 87–77 upset over No. 1 Kentucky, the Bruins' first win over a top-ranked opponent since 2003. On January 9, 2016, he made the go-ahead three-point field goal with just over a minute remaining in an 81–74 win over Arizona State, which helped UCLA avoid falling to 1–3 in the Pac-12 Conference for the first time in almost 20 years. However, the Bruins lost their final five games of the season to finish with a 15–17 record. Holiday started all 32 games during the season, averaging 10.3 points while leading the team in both steals (1.4) and three-point field goal percentage (41.9), which also ranked sixth in the Pac-12. He was second on the team in assists (4.0). His 127 assists were the fifth-highest freshman total in school history, and the most by a UCLA freshman since his brother Jrue had 129 in 2008–09.