Earl Boykins

Earl Boykins was born June 2,1976 in Cleveland Ohio. Earl was born a very small child and growing up wasn't projected to be very tall. He fought all the obstacles that were thrown at him in his basketball career and he has defied the odds and overcome them all.

Earl Boykins played for Cleveland's Central Catholic High School and played varsity from his sophomore season onward. He was the leading scorer in the state his senior season. He went on to play college basketball at Eastern Michigan. His freshman year he was listed at 5'7" because his coach was ashamed to have such a small guard on his team. Afterwards Earl told his coach that he was going to be the best player he has ever coached, and that's exactly what he did. During his freshman year he averaged 12.5ppg, 2.4rpg, 4.5apg and 0.1bpg. His best year was his senior year when he averaged 25.7ppg adding 2.3rpg and 5.5apg. Boykins was an honorable mention All-American as a senior, when he finished 2nd in the nation in scoring and All-Mid-American conference first team member as a Junior and a Senior. He started all of his 122 games in college except for one and averaged 18.1ppg in his college career. Earl entered the 1998-1999 NBA draft expecting to be a first round pick -- yet he wasn't even drafted.

During the 1998-1999 season Earl signed two 10-day contracts with the Cleveland Cavaliers then was signed for the remainder of the season. Later he was waived then signed by the New Jersy Nets, then later waived again by the Nets. Earl scored 6 points in his NBA debut in a 76-69 win over the Atlanta Hawks. During the 1999-2000 season, he signed two more 10-day contracts with the Cavaliers then signed as a free agent with the Orlando Magic. The Magic waived Earl a month later. In the 2002-2003 season he signed with the Golden State Warriors. There, Earl was finally given a chance to show what he could do and he took full advantage, averaging 8.8ppg and 3.2apg.

Earl Boykins signed with the Denver Nuggets for the 2003-2004 season. Previously he had given an interview with ESPN's Dan Le Batard;
DL: Outside of Golden State, the most under-rated team NBA team is blank.
EB: Probably the Denver Nuggets.
DL: They're terrible, Earl.
EB: They're not as bad as people think. If you don't come to play, they'll beat you. You have to play hard in order to beat that team. You just can't show up. Some teams you can show up and win. That team, you have to play.

The Nuggets signed him. He is an energetic player providing energy off the bench on both offense and defense. He is the NBA's leading scorer off the bench. At this point in the season he is averaging 10.5ppg,1.70rpg and 4.1apg.

Earl Boykins has been fighting the odds his entire basketball life. He has heard the doubters but has proven that hard work and determination are the key ingredients to fulfilling the dream of a 5'5" NBA star.