Wikipedia

Earl Boykins

Earl Antoine Boykins[1] (born June 2, 1976)[2] is a former American professional basketball player. Standing at 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m) in height, he is the second-shortest player in NBA history behind Muggsy Bogues, who is 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m) tall. He was the head coach for the Douglas County High School boys varsity basketball team. He is now serving as an assistant coach for the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Miners.[3]

Earl Boykins
Boykins with the Washington Wizards in 2009
UTEP Miners
PositionAssistant coach
LeagueConference USA
Personal information
Born (1976-06-02) June 2, 1976 (age 47)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Listed height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Listed weight133 lb (60 kg)
Career information
High schoolCleveland Central Catholic
(Cleveland, Ohio)
CollegeEastern Michigan (1994–1998)
NBA draft1998: undrafted
Playing career1998–2012
PositionPoint guard
Number7, 5, 11, 12, 6
Coaching career2013–present
Career history
As player:
1998–1999Rockford Lightning
1999New Jersey Nets
1999Cleveland Cavaliers
1999Orlando Magic
2000Cleveland Cavaliers
2000–2002Los Angeles Clippers
2002–2003Golden State Warriors
2003–2007Denver Nuggets
2007Milwaukee Bucks
2008Charlotte Bobcats
2008–2009Virtus Bologna
2009–2010Washington Wizards
2010–2011Milwaukee Bucks
2012Houston Rockets
As coach:
2013–2019Douglas County HS
2021–presentUTEP (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points5,791 (8.9 ppg)
Rebounds877 (1.3 rpg)
Assists2,092 (3.2 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's Basketball
Representing  United States
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1997 Trapani Team competition

Early life edit

Boykins was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1976. As a child his 5' 8" father, Willie Williams, would sneak Boykins into a gym in his gym bag. Boykins grew up playing in recreational leagues with his father and other grown men.[4] Boykins played high school basketball at Cleveland Central Catholic High School where he averaged 24.6 points per game and led the school to a 23–2 record as a senior. In 2015, The Plain Dealer ranked him the best Cleveland-area high school basketball player of the 1990s.[5] Eastern Michigan and Iowa were the only two Division I basketball programs to offer Boykins an athletic scholarship, though Iowa later withdrew its offer.[6][7]

College edit

Boykins played college basketball at Eastern Michigan University from 1994 to 1998. Eastern Michigan won the MAC tournament in 1996 and 1998. He earned All-Mid-American Conference first-team honors in his junior and senior year. Also, during his senior season, Boykins was second in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship in scoring, with an average of 26.8 points per game. He holds the career record for total assists (624) at Eastern Michigan University.[2] In his last game he scored 18 points in a losing effort to Michigan State.[8] On February 27, 2011, Boykins' No. 11 jersey was retired and raised to the rafters in a ceremony at Eastern Michigan University's Convocation Center.[9]

Pro career edit

First NBA Stint edit

Boykins was never drafted by an NBA team, but he was signed to short-term contracts by five different NBA teams before signing a five-year, $13.7 million contract with the Denver Nuggets prior to the 2003–2004 season.[10] On November 11, 2004, Boykins scored 32 points in a 117–109 Nuggets' home win over the Detroit Pistons, making him the shortest player in NBA history to score 30 or more points during a game.[11] After spending three full seasons and a portion of a fourth season with Denver, Boykins was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in January 2007.[12] After finishing the season in Milwaukee, Boykins opted out of his contract; he later signed with the Charlotte Bobcats partway through the 2007–2008 season and finished the season there.[13]

Italy edit

Following the 2007–08 NBA season, Boykins was an unrestricted free agent. Instead of signing with an NBA team, he decided to play basketball in Europe and signed a one-year, $3.5 million net income contract with Virtus Bologna of the Italian A League.[14] The one-year deal made Boykins the highest-paid basketball player in the Italian League and included income from Bologna's sponsorship and marketing arms, which is not an option for NBA players because of salary-cap restrictions.[15]

On December 26, 2008, it was announced by Virtus owner Claudio Sabatini that Boykins was cut from the club due to behavioral issues after Boykins flew home to the United States in order to see his sick son.[16][17] However, a few days later, thanks to the intervention of Virtus general manager Andrea Luchi, it was announced that Boykins was staying with the club.[15][18] On April 26, 2009, his team won the EuroChallenge Cup by defeating Cholet Basket. In June 2009, he was released by Virtus.

Return to NBA edit

Boykins signed with the Washington Wizards in November 2009, making his return to the National Basketball Association. Boykins was a much-needed addition to the Wizards, after guards Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton were suspended for the remainder of the current season after a misdemeanor gun possession charge stemming from a locker room incident. In the December 2, 2009, game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Boykins sank two free throws to clinch the Wizards' victory.

 
Boykins playing for the Bucks in 2011

On August 19, 2010, the Bucks signed him to a one-year deal.[19] Boykins signed a 10-day contract with the Houston Rockets on March 26, 2012.[20] Boykins has not played in the NBA since.

The Basketball Tournament (TBT) edit

In the summer of 2017, Boykins competed in The Basketball Tournament on ESPN for Paul Champions. Competing for the $2 million grand prize, Boykins helped lead his team to two victories in the TBT Jamboree which secured Paul Champions' spot as one of the 64 teams in the tournament. During the Jamboree, Boykins averaged 24.5 points, 4.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game. In their first-round match up, Boykins scored a game-high 25 points, helping the Champions to a 78–74 victory over the Talladega Knights; a team led by former NBA players Josh Boone and Gary Forbes. Boykins and the Champions would eventually fall in the second-round to the number one seeded Untouchables.[21]

Career statistics edit

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season edit

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1998–99 New Jersey 5 0 10.2 .476 .200 .000 .8 1.2 .2 .0 4.2
1998–99 Cleveland 17 0 10.0 .345 .154 .667 .8 1.6 .3 .0 2.6
1999–00 Orlando 1 0 8.0 .750 .000 .000 1.0 3.0 .0 .0 6.0
1999–00 Cleveland 25 0 10.1 .473 .400 .783 1.0 1.8 .5 .0 5.3
2000–01 L.A. Clippers 10 0 14.9 .397 .125 .824 1.1 3.2 .5 .0 6.5
2001–02 L.A. Clippers 68 2 11.2 .400 .310 .770 .8 2.1 .3 .0 4.1
2002–03 Golden State 68 0 19.4 .429 .377 .865 1.3 3.3 .6 .1 8.8
2003–04 Denver 82 3 22.5 .419 .322 .877 1.7 3.6 .6 .0 10.2
2004–05 Denver 82 5 26.4 .413 .337 .921 1.7 4.5 1.0 .1 12.4
2005–06 Denver 60 0 25.7 .410 .346 .874 1.4 3.8 .8 .1 12.6
2006–07 Denver 31 4 28.3 .413 .373 .908 2.0 4.3 .8 .1 15.2
2006–07 Milwaukee 35 19 33.0 .427 .419 .886 2.2 4.5 .9 .0 14.0
2007–08 Charlotte 36 0 16.0 .355 .318 .831 .9 2.7 .4 .0 5.1
2009–10 Washington 67 1 16.7 .427 .317 .865 1.1 2.6 .4 .0 6.6
2010–11 Milwaukee 57 0 15.1 .443 .380 .841 1.0 2.5 .7 .1 7.2
2011–12 Houston 8 0 13.9 .333 .222 .867 1.4 2.1 .1 .0 4.9
Career 652 34 19.9 .417 .348 .876 1.3 3.2 .6 .1 8.9

Playoffs edit

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2004 Denver 5 0 24.2 .444 .357 .857 2.4 3.8 1.0 .2 13.4
2005 Denver 5 1 30.4 .397 .000 .895 1.0 3.8 .8 .2 14.2
2006 Denver 5 0 28.0 .322 .211 .795 1.4 4.0 .8 .0 11.0
Career 15 1 27.5 .389 .225 .837 1.6 3.9 .9 .1 12.9

Coaching career edit

In 2014, Boykins was hired as the head coach of the Douglas County High School boys varsity team in Castle Rock, Colorado.[22]

In 2021, Boykins was hired as an assistant coach with the UTEP Miners.[23]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Player Profile". FIBA.
  2. ^ a b "Bio". NBA. June 2, 1976. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  3. ^ "Former NBA point guard Earl Boykins taking over Colorado high school basketball program - MaxWire National Blog - MaxPreps". Archived from the original on August 12, 2014.
  4. ^ Wolff, Alexander (November 17, 1997). "The Best Little Player in America if You Believe the Official Listings, Eastern Michigan's Senior Point Guard, Earl Boykins, Keeps Getting Smaller as His Scoring Grows". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  5. ^ Wright, Branson (February 13, 2015). "Earl Boykins takes top spot on Plain Dealer All-Decade basketball team for 1990s (photos, video, poll)". Plain Dealer. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  6. ^ Yantz, Tom (March 16, 1996). "Confident Guards Run Eastern Michigan's Game". Hartford Courant. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  7. ^ Bacon, John U. (March 3, 2011). "Earl Boykins: The little guy that outlasted them all". Michigan Radio. Retrieved December 30, 2016.
  8. ^ "Spartans Advance". The New York Times. March 13, 1998. p. C3.
  9. ^ "Earl Boykins' No. 11 Jersey To Be Retired Sunday, Feb. 27". Eastern Michigan Athletics. February 23, 2011. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  10. ^ Broussard, Chris (November 9, 2003). "Inside the N.B.A.; At 5-5, Boykins Has Overcome Big Obstacles". New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  11. ^ "Boykins adds career-high 32 in win". ESPN. November 11, 2004. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  12. ^ "Bucks get Boykins in trade with Nuggets". Reuters. January 11, 2007. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  13. ^ Finnan, Bob (February 1, 2008). "Boykins Signs with Bobcats". News-Herald.com. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  14. ^ "Cats' Boykins latest NBA player to bolt for Europe, signs $3.5 million net pay deal". ESPN. August 6, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Agent: Boykins to stay in Italy". ESPN. December 29, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
  16. ^ Matteo Manna. "Boykins cut from Virtus for behavior". Tripladoppia.com. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  17. ^ Tjarks, Jonathan (March 12, 2012). "Boykins cut by Virtus Bologna". Realgm.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2009. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  18. ^ Talkbasket.net Boykins to stay with Virtus. Archived January 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ "Bucks sign point guard Boykins to one-year deal". NBA.com. August 19, 2010. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  20. ^ "Rockets sign Earl Boykins to 10-day contract". Archived from the original on February 17, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
  21. ^ "Player card of Earl Boykins on MyStatsOnline.com".
  22. ^ Ben Macaluso (March 3, 2016). "Earl Boykins is back, building Colorado basketball from the ground up". Mile High Sports. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  23. ^ "UTEP Miners men's basketball introduces new staff, Earl Boykins".

External links edit

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