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Guard · 2010–13

Earl Watson

A record-setting four-year starter at UCLA, Earl Watson carved out thirteen NBA seasons as a second-round pick who beat the odds, joining Utah in 2010 after years in Seattle where he once posted a 23-point, 10-rebound, 10-assist triple-double. He retired in 2014 and moved straight into coaching, becoming head coach of the Phoenix Suns — the first NBA head coach of Hispanic descent.

The son of an African-American father and a Mexican-American mother from Kansas City, Kansas, Watson was eligible to play for Mexico through his grandparents. The death of his brother Dwayne, a retired police officer, became a driving force behind his turn to coaching.

HOW HE CAME & WENTHe signed with Utah on September 26, 2010, saying he chose the Jazz to win again, and spent three seasons as the veteran backup point guard. In 2013 the club let its veterans go and turned to Trey Burke. He joined Portland.

Full name
Earl Joseph Watson Jr.
Utah Jazz tenure
2010–13
Position
Guard
Born
1979, Kansas City, Kansas
Height
6′2″ (188 cm)
Weight
194 lb (88 kg)
College
UCLA
Drafted
2001, 2nd round (No. 40), Seattle
Signatures in the archive
  • 2012-13 Panini Hoops #237 Card PSA Slabbed Jazz
  • 2010-11 Utah Jazz Team-Signed Adidas Jacket

No photograph of this signature is online yet.

With the Jazz

EARL WATSON · 2010–13 · PER GAME
SEASONTEAMGMPGPPGRPGAPGSPGBPGFG%3P%FT%
2010–11UTA8019.64.32.33.50.80.2.410.336.671
2011–12UTA5020.73.02.44.31.10.4.338.192.674
2012–13UTA4817.32.01.84.00.80.2.308.179.680
JAZZ TOTAL3 SEASONS17819.33.32.23.80.90.3.370.273.673

Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗  ·  Wikipedia ↗

Did you know

EARL WATSON · 9 NOTES
  • Was part of UCLA teams that reached multiple NCAA tournaments in the late 1990s.
  • Started more consecutive games than anyone in UCLA basketball history.
  • His father was among the first Black men to enlist in the newly integrated Army after President Truman's 1948 order.
  • His only career triple-double came in February 2008, 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against Sacramento.
  • As a UCLA freshman he started alongside Baron Davis, the first pair of freshmen to open a season for the Bruins since 1979.
  • In 2013 he opened the Earl Watson Early Childhood Center, a preschool in his hometown of Kansas City, Kansas.
  • He built his AAU program Earl Watson Elite into roughly 70 travel teams up and down the West Coast.
  • 'I was spoiled early. So now, going into my 10th year, it's a chance to get back to my foundation, my roots,' Watson said on signing, after five straight losing seasons.
  • Knee trouble and an undiagnosed sports hernia cut into his minutes in 2012-13, his last season with the Jazz.