Billy Owens

Billy Owens
Personal information
Born May 1, 1969
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school Carlisle (Carlisle, Pennsylvania)
College Syracuse (1988–1991)
NBA draft 1991 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall
Selected by the Sacramento Kings
Pro career 1991–2001
Position Small forward / Shooting guard
Number 30, 32, 5
Career history
1991–1994 Golden State Warriors
1994–1996 Miami Heat
1996–1998 Sacramento Kings
1999 Seattle SuperSonics
1999–2000 Philadelphia 76ers
2000 Golden State Warriors
2000–2001 Detroit Pistons
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 7,026 (11.7 ppg)
Rebounds 4,016 (6.7 rpg)
Assists 1,704 (2.8 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Billy Eugene Owens (born May 1, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player playing for several teams in the NBA. He played college basketball for Syracuse. Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania Owens playd for Carlisle High School.

Amateur career

As a high school senior, Owens averaged 34 points per game, and helped lead Carlisle High School (Pennsylvania) to four consecutive state titles. He was considered to be the second best prep player of 1988, behind Alonzo Mourning. Owens and Mourning were co-MVP's in the McDonalds' Game. Throughout his career, Owens drew some comparisons to Magic Johnson due to his great versatility, ball handling and passing skills for his height.[1]

In his three seasons with Syracuse he avaraged 17.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game out of 103 games.[2] In his junior season he was named Big East Player of the Year.[3]

Professional career

As a 6'8" small forward/shooting guard from Syracuse University, he was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the 1991 NBA Draft. However, after Owens remained a holdout beyond the start of the regular season, he was traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for high-scoring guard Mitch Richmond.[4] The trade broke up the popular "Run TMC" trio of Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway, and Chris Mullin; Owens' additional height compared to Richmond was the size that coach and general manager Don Nelson believed would complete the team.[5][6][7] Nelson said he "was under pressure to get [the team] bigger" to improve the Warriors from a good team to a great one.[8]

Owens averaged over 15 points and nearly eight rebounds during his tenure with the Warriors, including an NBA All-Rookie First Team selection in 1992. However, he never provided his expected impact and played only three seasons with Golden State.[5][6] Owens spent ten seasons with the Warriors, Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Philadelphia 76ers, and Detroit Pistons before a string of injuries finally took its toll. He also fell out of favor with many basketball analysts who felt that his lack of drive & commitment to improving his game took him out of the list of up & coming stars of his era.[9]

International career

He played for the US national team in the 1990 FIBA World Championship, winning the bronze medal.[10]

References

  1. ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1142560/index.htm Head Of The Class
  2. ↑ "Billy Owens Stats". Sports-reference.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  3. ↑ "#30 Billy Owens". orangehoops.org. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  4. ↑ Sports Illustrated
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Howard-Cooper, Scott (August 23, 2011). "Time can't fade indelible mark Run TMC left on Warriors, NBA". NBA.com. Archived from the original on February 28, 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hoffman, Benjamin (February 16, 2013). "Fascination Lingers for Three Stars of Warriors’ Brief Run". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 28, 2013.
  7. ↑ Wolff, Alexander (December 2, 1991). "The Golden West". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on February 28, 2013.
  8. ↑ Osborne, Ben (January 3, 2011). "Original Old School: Run & Shoot & Shoot…". SlamOnline.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2013.
  9. ↑ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG101141/index.htm Note From The Underground
  10. ↑ 1990 USA Basketball

External links