Paul Shirley

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Paul Shirley (born December 23, 1977 in Redwood City, California) is an American professional basketball player, currently playing for Menorca Basquet of the Spanish ACB. Shirley is 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 author of a blog for ESPN.com entitled "My So-Called Career." As of April 2007, it contains 44 column-length entries.[1]

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 2006-07 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. [2]

[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" [3]. 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.

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.

Shirley's first book, entitled "Can I Keep My Jersey?", is scheduled for release on April 24, 2007 with Random House.[4]

[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 (who eventually went on to be an NBA coach briefly) 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 and Menorca, Spain and Kazan, Russia.

Shirley wore #45 for the Bulls and Hawks and #17 for the Suns.

He has three brothers who live in the Johnson County, Kansas City area, Shirley's off-season home.

[edit] External links

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