Earl Boykins

Washington Wizards  – No. 12
Point Guard
Born	June 2, 1976 (1976-06-02) (age 33) Cleveland, Ohio
Nationality	American
Listed height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Listed weight	139 lb (63 kg)
College	Eastern Michigan
Draft	Undrafted
Pro career	1999–present
Former teams	Rockford Lightning (CBA) (1998–1999) New Jersey Nets (1999) Cleveland Cavaliers (1999, 2000) Orlando Magic (1999) Los Angeles Clippers (2001–2002) Golden State Warriors (2002–2003) Denver Nuggets (2003–2007) Milwaukee Bucks (2007) Charlotte Bobcats (2008) Virtus Bologna (Italy) (2008–2009)
Awards	1998 Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award [1]

Earl Antoine Boykins (born June 2, 1976, in Cleveland, Ohio) ^[2] is an American professional basketball player currently playing for the Washington Wizards. Standing at 5 feet, 5 inches in height, he was the second shortest player in NBA history behind Muggsy Bogues, who was 5 feet, 3 inches tall.^[2] Also, Boykins' NBA listed weight of 133 pounds, made him the lightest player in NBA history. Despite his light weight, he is reportedly able to bench press 315 pounds.^[2] His current playing weight is 139 pounds (63 kg). ^[3] After playing with the pro club Virtus Bologna in the 2008-2009 season, he signed with the Washington Wizards on November 11, 2009.

[edit] College

Boykins played college basketball at Eastern Michigan University from 1994 to 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]

[edit] NBA

Boykins was never drafted by an NBA team, but he was signed to short-term contracts by various NBA teams. The organization he spent the most time with was the Denver Nuggets, as he played for them from the 2003-04 season to about midway through the 2006-07 season. 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.^[4]

[edit] Washington Wizards

Boykins signed with the Washington Wizards in November 2009, making his return to the National Basketball Association. As a much needed addition to the injury-plagued Wizards, Boykins comes off the bench in relief of Gilbert Arenas. In the December 2, 2009, game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Boykins sank two free throws to clinch the Wizards' victory.

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Regular season

[edit] Playoffs

[edit] Italy

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, as he signed a one-year, $3.5 million net income contract with Virtus Bologna of the Italian A League.^[5] 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. ^[6]

On December 26, 2008, it was announced by Virtus general manager 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. ^[7][8] However, a few days later it was announced that Boykins was staying with the club. ^[9][10] In June 2009 he was released by Virtus and he's now a member of the Washington Wizards in light of recent injuries to the Wizards backcourt.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• NBA.com Player Profile
• Italian A League Player Profile
• Boykins Article at SportsIllustrated.com
• Stats at Basketball-Reference.com