Paul Shirley
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Paul Shirley (born December 23, 1977 in Redwood City, California) is a professional basketball player, most noted for briefly maintaining an online journal while playing for the Phoenix Suns in 2004-05. His first journal dealt with a several-day-long road trip, while the second chronicled the Suns' NBA Playoffs run. After their playoff elimination, the Suns did not re-sign him, as he rarely played in his twelfth man position. He is the former author of a blog for ESPN entitled "My So-Called Career."
Shirley was signed to a non-guaranteed contract by the Minnesota Timberwolves in early October, but was cut in training camp before the start of the 2006-7 season. On an ESPN.com chat on October 23rd, Shirley referenced the $10 million, 5 year contract of Mark Madsen as the reason why he was released. [1]
[edit] Writing career
Shirley's first two blogs have gained notoriety for their witty, literate, frank, and sometimes sarcastic observations on players, teams, fans, cities, sports media, cheerleaders, the game of basketball, and topics outside the athletic sphere. Much of their popularity is due to their sharp divergence from common expectations: Shirley employs a rich vocabulary, openly criticizes fans and the general public, and makes forays into controversial, sophisticated topics such as the USA Patriot Act, which he condemned as "[putting] the US on a fast-track to an Orwellian destiny" [2]. His writing garnered attention from national sports media, as well as other outlets such as Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, and the British Broadcasting Corporation.
He is now working on a book deal with Random House, writing about his experiences playing for a multitude of professional basketball teams. His current blog on ESPN chronicles Paul's life while trying to get signed by an NBA team.
In ESPN blog entries #21 and #22, Shirley revealed that he was working on a pilot episode of a television show based on his experiences in the NBA. Later blogs stated that the sitcom (working title: "The Twelfth Man") was not picked up for the fall but will be shopped at other networks.
However, after writing 40 articles for ESPN, he decided to stop writing for the website, so he could focus on renewing his basketball career. [3]
[edit] Personal history
Shirley grew up in the small town of Meriden, Kansas and played high school basketball there. He went to Iowa State University on a National Merit academic scholarship, majoring in mechanical engineering. He worked his way from walk-on to three year starter for the Cyclones basketball team, which was coached by Tim Floyd and featured future NBA players Jamaal Tinsley and Marcus Fizer. The Cyclones progressed to the Elite 8 of the NCAA basketball tournament his junior season. In his college career, he earned three Academic All-Big 12 selections and, in his senior season, was named second-team Academic All-American. Since graduating, the 6'10" Shirley has played power forward for twelve different professional teams in addition to the Suns, including the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, and teams in Barcelona, Spain and Kazan, Russia.
Shirley wore #45 for the Bulls and Hawks and #17 for the Suns.
He has two brothers who live in the Johnson County, Kansas City area, ostensibly Shirley's off-season home.
