Childress grew up in Compton, California where he and his brother, Chris, played basketball and did their best to stay out of trouble. The neighborhood they lived in was very tight and supportive, but they lived under constant threat of gangsters in the area. Childress attended Mayfair High School in nearby Lakewood. Besides playing basketball in high school and being named a McDonald\'s High School All-American, he also played volleyball during his senior year. He led his high school volleyball team, the Monsoons, to an undefeated record and he was voted to the All-League volleyball team. Josh has his #22 jersey retired at Mayfair.\n', '

Childress played three seasons of college basketball with Stanford, where he was named an AP first team All-American, an All-American Consensus second team honoree, the Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year and the Pac-10 Conference Tournament MVP as a junior in 2004. He then declared for the 2004 NBA draft where he was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the sixth overall pick, becoming the highest Stanford player to be drafted in the NBA.\n', '

Childress was selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks. During his rookie season in 2004–05, Childress emerged as one of two promising rookie talents for the Hawks, along with Josh Smith; as the season went on, the two showed improved play, minutes and production. Childress ranked third among rookies in double-doubles in the 2004–05 season, behind only Emeka Okafor and Dwight Howard. He was also voted to the NBA All-Rookie second team.\n', '

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