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Charles Gaines — news, coverage & facts — IJR

CBA and Europe

After the end of his senior season, Gaines was automatically eligible for the 2004 NBA draft, during which he went undrafted. He was selected with the 4th pick in the 8th round of the 2004 National Basketball Development League draft by the Huntsville Flight (46th overall), but instead of signing with the team Gaines decided to join the Michigan Mayhem, which played in the Continental Basketball Association: in the 2004–05 season he played 44 games (30 starts) and averaged 18.3 points, 11.4 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.5 blocks per game. He was named a CBA All-Star and was the league's rebounding leader. He then moved to Italy, and joined Serie A side Viola Reggio Calabria, playing 9 games and averaging 14.4 points and 8.8 rebounds in 28.3 minutes per game. In 2005 he also played for the Minot Minutemen of the All-American Professional Basketball League.

Gaines moved to France for the 2005 06 season, signing for ASVEL. He played 33 LNB Pro A games (30 starts), averaging 13.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 28.6 minutes per game. He also played 14 games in the 2005–06 ULEB Cup, averaging 12 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.

In 2006 he played in the Orlando Summer League for the Indiana Pacers, appearing in 5 games and averaging 4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in 11.2 minutes per game. He then moved to Spain, joining Joventut Badalona and played 34 games (30 starts), averaging 11.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists in 25.7 minutes per game. He won ACB Player of the Month Award in March 2007 and finished the 2006–07 ACB season as the 5th best rebounder with an average of 7.8 per game. He also made his debut in the Euroleague, and played 20 games during the 2006–07 Euroleague averaging 10.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

In the summer of 2007 he was called up by the Orlando Magic to play in the Orlando Summer League: in 3 games played he posted averages of 6.3 points 3.3 rebounds per game. Later that year he signed for Galatasaray in the Turkish Basketball League. He played 28 games that season, averaging 12.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 0.9 assists playing 25.7 minutes per game. He also appeared in the 2007–08 ULEB Cup, playing 17 games with averages of 12.4 points and 7.3 rebounds.

Chinese Basketball Association

Gaines signed for the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in 2009 and played 10 games in the playoffs of the 2008–09 Chinese Basketball Association season, averaging 29.5 points and 10.4 rebounds in 37.3 minutes per game. He stayed with the team for the 2009–10 season and posted averages of 30.4 points and 10.7 rebounds in 39.4 minutes per game over 43 appearances. On February 26, 2010, Gaines recorded a career-high 47 points against the Qingdao Eagles. He ranked second in scoring with 30.4 points per game behind Andre Emmett for the 2009–10 season and was a first-team All-CBA selection.

In 2010 Gaines signed for the Qingdao Eagles for the 2010–11 CBA season. On December 15, 2010, Gaines scored 43 points (along with 16 rebounds) against the Beijing Ducks. At the end of the season he recorded averages of 33.2 points, 13.1 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game in 32 appearances: he was the league's top scorer, the 5th best rebounder and was again named in the All-CBA First Team.

In 2011 he moved to the Shanxi Brave Dragons to play the 2011–12 season. He earned his first and only All-Star selection in 2012, and played for the Northern All-Stars team. During the All-Star game he posted a game-high 10 rebounds along with 24 points. on February 28, 2012, Gaines had a 20–20 game, scoring 29 points and recording 23 rebounds against the Shanghai Sharks. He finished the season averaging 29.1 points (4th in the league) and 14.3 rebounds (3rd in the league), and was named Foreign Player of the Week 3 times (weeks 3, 8 and 11).

On January 2, 2013, in a game against the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, Gaines scored 60 points and posted 29 rebounds, both career-highs. In the same game Quincy Douby scored a CBA record 75 points. In the 2012–13 season he was named 3 times Foreign Player of the Week (weeks 1, 4 and 5), and made the All-CBA second team with averages of 31.5 points, 15.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. In the 2013–14 season he was named Foreign Player of the Week on Week 2 and was the league rebounding leader with 14.1 rebounds per game. He repeated this feat in the following season, during which he averaged 16.4 rebounds per game playing for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls. In the 2015–16 season he was the 8th best rebounder in the league with an 11.7 per game average.