Former NBA player Earl Cureton makes guest appearance at NPB
Earl the Twirl: My Life in Basketball
The life and career of former NBA player and basketball coach Earl Cureton is a study in the payoff of perseverance. He is the Johnny Cash of the NBA. Truly, he’s “been everywhere, man.” Indeed, Earl, who was not born with other-worldly talent, can be thought of as the Patron Saint of Basketball Patience. He’s the professional game’s Job.
Earl, after a growth spurt that got him first to 6’ 4” and then to 6’ 9” as a young man, succeeded in the game in high school, at two different colleges, on seven NBA teams and a handful of others in countries abroad—from France to Argentina to Italy (twice)—and later he went on to coach successfully in several leagues, from the ABA to the CBA, USBL and WNBA.
Since, he has worked as a broadcaster, a team ambassador and even a strength and conditioning coach in the NBA. Earl boasts a list of longtime friends like Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Muggsy Bogues and Isiah Thomas. He was teammates with Michael Jordan, Moses Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon. He won two historic NBA championships, hitting a huge hook shot over Kareem in the 1983 Finals and providing much-needed backup minutes for Houston in 1994.
Today, Earl sometimes thinks of himself a “Jack of all trades but a master of none.” But that’s not totally accurate. While he has a great deal of experience in basketball over many years, his subject of mastery is hanging on and not giving up. It’s a lesson we could all learn from when it comes to our own dreams. We all know about the game’s stars like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. But what about those who aren’t as heralded—what are their lives like? That’s exactly what this book is about.
In the NBA’s golden era of Magic and Bird, Jordan and Dr. J there was also Earl Cureton. But while those all-stars and MVPs soared over their competition with speed, hops and shooting ability, Earl scraped and clawed with savvy and hunger to stay in the league for a dozen seasons, eventually winning two coveted championships some 11 years apart. Few people can boast two rings. But Earl can.
Earl is open-minded and affable. He’s a great storyteller, able to remember detail after detail. And he’s kept the faith throughout decades of ups and downs, what he calls his “rollercoaster” professional life and career in the game. Fitting for someone nicknamed “The Twirl,” given that title by legendary coach and broadcaster, Dick Vitale. Indeed, perhaps more than any other, Earl’s life offers a window into the universe of professional basketball, and it does so from angles rarely discussed.
Somehow, Earl has always knew this book would come to exist. Even if he didn’t know how, exactly. But that was no real concern to him in the moment. The continuance of a dream was all that mattered. Such is the lot for the Patron Saint of Basketball Patience. Earl has faith. It’s his super-power. From his growth spurts in college to his call-up in ’94 with the Houston Rockets just two days before the playoffs, his life is a working-class, professional sports fairytale. or locals and visitors alike!