Frank Kaminsky is an American professional basketball player known for turning a slow, unheralded start into one of the most decorated college careers in recent memory before spending eight seasons in the NBA. Standing 7 feet tall with a face-up shooting game that few big men of his era could match, Kaminsky led the University of Wisconsin to back-to-back Final Fours and swept the sport’s top individual honours in 2015. The Charlotte Hornets took him ninth overall that June, and he went on to play for the Hornets, Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets, reaching the 2021 NBA Finals with Phoenix along the way.
Since leaving the NBA in 2023, Kaminsky has kept playing professionally overseas, spending time with Partizan in Serbia, the Raptors 905 in the G League, and Alvark Tokyo in Japan’s B.League. As of mid-2026, he is not attached to an NBA roster and continues to weigh his next move in professional basketball.
Frank Kaminsky Quick Facts
| Full Name | Francis Stanley Kaminsky III |
| Date of Birth | April 4, 1993 |
| Age | 33 |
| Birthplace | Lisle, Illinois, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 7’0″ (2.13 m) |
| Weight | 240 lbs (109 kg) |
| PositionCentre | Centre / Power Forward |
| Jersey Numbers Worn | 44, 8, 0, 33, 47 |
| Shooting Hand | Right |
| Current Team | Free agent, most recently Alvark Tokyo (B.League) |
| Years Active | 2015 to present (NBA: 2015 to 2023) |
| NBA Draft | 2015, Round 1, Pick 9, Charlotte Hornets |
Early Life and Family Background
Kaminsky grew up in Lisle, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago, in a family built around sports. His father, Frank Kaminsky Jr., played basketball at Lewis University, and his mother, Mary, played volleyball at Northwestern. That athletic background shaped his early years, though Kaminsky did not look like a future NBA lottery pick as a kid. He was a gangly, unpolished big man well into high school, more known for his frame than his skill.
High School Basketball Career
At Benet Academy in Lisle, Kaminsky developed steadily rather than exploding onto the scene. He averaged 14.2 points and 8.7 rebounds as a senior and earned first-team all-state honours from the Chicago Sun-Times, but major programs were not lining up outside his door. Wisconsin offered him a spot, and it turned out to be one of the more important recruiting decisions in the program’s history. Few outside Madison expected Kaminsky to become a national name.
College Basketball Career at Wisconsin
Kaminsky arrived at Wisconsin in 2011 as a project centre and left in 2015 as the most decorated player in school history. Coach Bo Ryan’s system gave him room to develop a face-up, perimeter-oriented game that was rare for a player his size at the time, and by his junior year he was averaging 13.9 points and 6.3 rebounds a game.
His senior season is what cemented his legacy. Kaminsky averaged 18.8 points and 8.2 rebounds while shooting over 52 per cent from the field, and he set the Wisconsin single-game scoring record with 43 points. He led the Badgers to consecutive Final Fours in 2014 and 2015, including a run to the national championship game in 2015, where Wisconsin fell to Duke. That season, Kaminsky swept the sport’s top individual honours: unanimous national player of the year, consensus first-team All-American, the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, and Big Ten Player of the Year. Wisconsin later retired his No. 44 jersey.
NBA Draft Journey
Kaminsky declared for the 2015 NBA Draft after his senior season and tested well at the combine for a player his size, showing the shooting touch and ball skills that made him an unusual prospect at centre. The Charlotte Hornets selected him ninth overall, betting that his college production and shooting range would translate against faster, longer NBA competition. Expectations were high given his college resume, though NBA front offices also knew that stretch centres without elite athleticism often need time to find a role.
NBA Career Timeline
Charlotte Hornets (2015 to 2019)
Kaminsky spent his first four NBA seasons in Charlotte, where he settled into a rotation big man role rather than an immediate star turn. His best statistical season came in 2016-17, when he averaged 11.7 points and 4.5 rebounds a game. He remained a serviceable frontcourt piece for the Hornets, valued for his outside shooting more than rebounding or rim protection, before hitting unrestricted free agency in 2019.
Phoenix Suns (2019 to 2022)
Kaminsky joined the Suns on a one-year deal in 2019 and became a reliable bench big during Phoenix’s rise into a contender. A knee injury limited him to 39 games that first season, and he battled further knee problems in the years that followed, but he was part of the Suns roster that reached the 2021 NBA Finals, where Phoenix fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in six games. His 2021-22 season was cut short again by a knee injury that required surgery and limited him to nine games, and the Suns waived him in April 2022.
Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets (2022 to 2023)
Kaminsky signed with the Atlanta Hawks for the 2022-23 season on a veteran minimum deal. He appeared in 26 games before Atlanta traded him to the Houston Rockets in February 2023 as part of a package that also included Justin Holiday. He played out the rest of that season in Houston, closing his eighth and, so far, final NBA campaign.
Life After the NBA
Kaminsky did not return to an NBA roster for the 2023-24 season. Instead, he signed with Partizan in Serbia, where he averaged 9.0 points and 3.2 rebounds a game in ABA League play. He tried to work his way back to the NBA with a training camp deal from the Phoenix Suns ahead of the 2024-25 season, but the Suns waived him before the regular season began. He then played 25 games for the Raptors 905 in the G League, averaging 13.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists, before a right knee injury required surgery and ended his G League season early.
In late 2025, Kaminsky signed with Alvark Tokyo of Japan’s B.League. His stint there was brief. Reports in December 2025 pointed to a medical issue involving arthritis that limited his availability, and he appeared in only a handful of games for the club before the arrangement ended in January 2026. As of the middle of 2026, Kaminsky has not signed with a new team, and his next step in professional basketball is unclear.
Frank Kaminsky Career Statistics
NBA Regular Season Stats
Across 413 NBA regular season games, Kaminsky averaged 8.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists, shooting 43.0 per cent from the field, 34.9 per cent from the three-point range and 74.6 per cent from the free-throw line. His career high in a single NBA game was 31 points.
NBA Playoff Stats
Kaminsky appeared in 17 career NBA playoff games, most notably during Phoenix’s 2021 postseason run, contributing off the bench in a limited role behind the Suns’ starting frontcourt.
College Stats at Wisconsin
Over four seasons at Wisconsin, Kaminsky’s production climbed every year, peaking in his senior season with averages of 18.8 points and 8.2 rebounds on more than 52 per cent shooting from the field, numbers that helped him sweep national player of the year honours in 2015.
Stats Overseas
In his lone season with Partizan in the Serbian ABA League (2023-24), Kaminsky averaged 9.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists a game. His run with Alvark Tokyo in the 2025-26 B.League season was cut short by injury after only a small number of appearances.
Playing Style and Strengths
Kaminsky’s game has always centred on shooting touch that is unusual for a player his size. He can space the floor from three-point range, put the ball on the floor against slower defenders, and pass out of the post better than most traditional centres. His basketball IQ shows up in his decision-making, whether that means finding a cutter or knowing when to pull up instead of forcing a shot.
His limitations have been just as consistent throughout his career. Kaminsky was never an explosive athlete, which capped his ceiling as a rim protector and limited his effectiveness defending faster, more mobile forwards. Recurring knee problems added to that athletic gap over the second half of his career, and durability became as much of a question as skill in his final NBA seasons.
Career Highlights and Achievements
Kaminsky’s college resume remains the high point of his basketball career: unanimous national player of the year, consensus first-team All-American, the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, Big Ten Player of the Year, two-time first-team All-Big Ten, Big Ten tournament MOP, and a retired jersey at Wisconsin. In the NBA, his signature moment came with the 2021 Suns team that reached the Finals, giving him a championship-series appearance even though Phoenix came up short against Milwaukee.
Injuries and Comebacks
Knee injuries have shaped the back half of Kaminsky’s career. He missed extended time in Phoenix due to knee problems in both 2019-20 and 2021-22, the latter requiring surgery that ended his season after nine games. A separate right knee issue in the G League in early 2025 required another surgical procedure. Most recently, an arthritis-related medical issue disrupted his brief run with Alvark Tokyo in Japan. Each setback has slowed his attempts to stay in a rotation, whether in the NBA or overseas.
Contracts, Salary, and Career Earnings
Kaminsky’s rookie contract with Charlotte was a two-year, roughly $5.34 million deal signed in 2015, with team options that extended it through the 2018-19 season for a total of about $11.8 million. He signed a one-year, $4.77 million contract with Phoenix in 2019, then took smaller deals as his role shrank, including a one-year, roughly $1.88 million contract with Sacramento in 2020 (he was claimed off waivers by Phoenix before playing for the Kings), a one-year, $2.09 million deal with Phoenix in 2021, and a one-year, $2.46 million veteran minimum contract with Atlanta in 2022. According to Basketball-Reference, Kaminsky earned at least $22.1 million from NBA salaries over his career, not counting his overseas contracts in Serbia and Japan.
Frank Kaminsky Net Worth
Public estimates of Frank Kaminsky’s net worth vary widely, ranging from roughly $5 million to more than $20 million depending on the source. None of these figures come from Kaminsky himself or a verified financial disclosure, so they should be treated as rough estimates rather than confirmed numbers.
What is documented is his NBA salary history, which totals north of $22 million across eight seasons, supplemented by additional income from his time overseas in Serbia and Japan. Based on his known career earnings, a net worth somewhere in the $10 million to $20 million range is a reasonable estimate, though the true figure depends on factors like taxes, agent fees, investments and personal spending that are not publicly available.
Personal Life
Kaminsky married sports broadcaster Ashley Brewer in July 2023 at a beachside ceremony in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, after the two had legally married at a Los Angeles courthouse earlier that year. The couple met in 2017 when Kaminsky reached out to Brewer, who was then working as a sports anchor in Los Angeles, and they began dating a few years later. Brewer has worked as a sports anchor and reporter for outlets including ESPN and ABC7 Los Angeles, and she competed as a swimmer at the University of Texas and USC before her broadcasting career. In March 2025, Kaminsky announced on social media that the couple was expecting their first child.
Kaminsky graduated from the University of Wisconsin after four years in Madison. Away from basketball, he has been open about his close ties to his family and to the Chicago area where he grew up.
Latest News and Career Updates
Kaminsky’s most recent professional stop was Alvark Tokyo in Japan’s B.League, a deal he signed in late 2025 after reports described the negotiations coming together quickly. A medical issue involving arthritis disrupted that stint within weeks, and by mid-2026 he had not signed with a new club. Where his career goes next, whether that means another NBA training camp opportunity, a return to Europe or Asia, or retirement, remains an open question.
Frank Kaminsky Legacy
At Wisconsin, Kaminsky’s legacy is secure. He is one of the most decorated players in program history, a fixture in Badgers trivia for a generation, and a symbol of what a slow-developing prospect can become with the right system and patience. His NBA legacy is more modest but still respectable: a first-round pick who carved out an eight-year career as a shooting big man, made a Finals appearance, and outlasted many of the players drafted around him. For young shooting forwards and centres who do not fit the traditional athletic mould, Kaminsky’s path from underrated recruit to national player of the year remains a useful example of development winning out over hype.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Frank Kaminsky?
Frank Kaminsky is an American professional basketball player, best known for his college career at Wisconsin and eight NBA seasons with the Charlotte Hornets, Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets.
How old is Frank Kaminsky?
Kaminsky was born on April 4, 1993, making him 33 years old as of mid-2026.
How tall is Frank Kaminsky?
He stands 7 feet tall (2.13 meters) and weighs about 240 pounds.
What team does Frank Kaminsky play for?
He is not currently on an NBA roster. His most recent professional team was Alvark Tokyo of Japan’s B.League, a stint that ended in early 2026.
Is Frank Kaminsky still in the NBA?
No. His last NBA season was 2022-23, split between the Atlanta Hawks and Houston Rockets. He has since played overseas and in the G League.
Where did Frank Kaminsky go to college?
He played at the University of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2015.
When was Frank Kaminsky drafted?
The Charlotte Hornets selected him ninth overall in the 2015 NBA Draft.
What position does Frank Kaminsky play?
He plays centre and power forward.
What is Frank Kaminsky’s net worth?
Public estimates vary widely and are not independently verified, but they generally fall between $5 million and more than $20 million, with his documented NBA salary history alone totalling more than $22 million.
Has Frank Kaminsky played overseas?
Yes. He played for Partizan in Serbia during the 2023-24 season and briefly for Alvark Tokyo in Japan in late 2025 and early 2026.
Has Frank Kaminsky won an NBA championship?
No. He reached the 2021 NBA Finals with the Phoenix Suns, but Phoenix lost to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Conclusion
Frank Kaminsky’s basketball story is really two stories in one. At Wisconsin, he was as good as college basketball gets: a unanimous national player of the year who helped drag the Badgers to back-to-back Final Fours. In the NBA, he settled into a steadier, less flashy role as a shooting big man who stuck around for eight seasons and reached a Finals with Phoenix along the way. Injuries have complicated the last few years of his career, and where he plays next is still unsettled. Whatever comes next, his run from underrated Chicago-area recruit to college basketball’s top individual honour is not going anywhere.
