Earl Watson

Earl Joseph Watson Jr. (born June 12, 1979)[1] is an American professional basketball coach and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, where he was a four-year starter and named all-conference as a senior in the Pac-10 (now known as the Pac-12). Watson was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in the second round of the 2001 NBA draft with the 39th overall selection. He played 13 seasons in the NBA with seven teams before becoming a coach in 2014. He was the head coach of the Phoenix Suns from 2016 to 2017.

This article is about the basketball coach and former player. For the active basketball player, see Earl Watson (basketball, born 1990).

Earl Watson

Watson with the Pacers in December 2009
Personal information
Born	(1979-06-12) June 12, 1979 Kansas City, Kansas
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	199 lb (90 kg)
Career information
High school	Washington (Kansas City, Kansas)
College	UCLA (1997–2001)
NBA draft	2001 / Round: 2 / Pick: 39th overall
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics
Playing career	2001–2014
Position	Point guard
Number	25, 8, 2, 11, 17
Coaching career	2014–present
Career history
As player:
2001–2002	Seattle SuperSonics
2002–2005	Memphis Grizzlies
2005–2006	Denver Nuggets
2006–2009	Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder
2009–2010	Indiana Pacers
2010–2013	Utah Jazz
2013–2014	Portland Trail Blazers
As coach:
2014–2015	Austin Spurs (assistant)
2015–2016	Phoenix Suns (assistant)
2016–2017	Phoenix Suns
Career highlights and awards
First-team All-Pac-10 (2001) Pac-10 All-Freshman Team (1998)
Career statistics
Points	5,593 (6.4 ppg)
Assists	3,871 (4.4 apg)
Steals	873 (1.0 spg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

High school and college career

Watson is a graduate of Washington High School in Kansas City, Kansas. In his senior year of high school he averaged 23.4 points, 8.3 assists and 14 rebounds per game.[2]

Watson was a starter in college at UCLA, at one point playing alongside future NBA All-Star Baron Davis. They were the first two freshmen to start at UCLA since the 1979 season. A four-year starter, Watson started the most consecutive games in the history of UCLA basketball.[2] As a senior in 2000–01, he averaged 14.7 points (2nd on the team, 9th in the pac-10), 5.2 assists, (1st on the team, 2nd most in the Pac-10) 3.7 rebounds, 0.3 blocks, and 1.9 steals (most in the Pac-10, most on the team) per game. He earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors.

Professional career

Watson was selected in the second round (39th overall) by the SuperSonics in the 2001 NBA draft. In the 2007–08 NBA season, Watson averaged 10.7 points and 6.8 assists with the Sonics. On February 6, 2008, Watson recorded his first-ever triple-double in a game against the Sacramento Kings. Watson logged 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in 32 minutes.[3] It was Seattle's first triple-double since Ray Allen registered one on January 28, 2004, against the Los Angeles Lakers.[3]

On July 17, 2009, Watson was waived by the Thunder.[4] He signed a one-year deal with the Indiana Pacers on July 28, 2009.[5]

He signed with the Utah Jazz on September 26, 2010.[6]

On July 10, 2013, he signed with the Portland Trail Blazers.[7]

Watson retired as a player on October 2, 2014.

NBA career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2001–02	Seattle	64	0	15.1	.453	.364	.639	1.3	2.0	.9	.1	3.6
2002–03	Memphis	79	2	17.3	.435	.341	.721	2.1	2.8	1.1	.2	5.5
2003–04	Memphis	81	14	20.6	.371	.245	.652	2.2	5.0	1.1	.2	5.7
2004–05	Memphis	80	14	22.6	.426	.319	.659	2.1	4.5	1.0	.2	7.7
2005–06	Denver	46	10	21.2	.429	.395	.627	1.9	3.5	.8	.2	7.5
2005–06	Seattle	24	0	25.1	.432	.420	.731	3.0	5.4	1.3	.1	11.5
2006–07	Seattle	77	25	27.9	.383	.329	.735	2.4	5.7	1.3	.3	9.4
2007–08	Seattle	78	73	29.1	.454	.371	.766	2.9	6.8	.9	.1	10.7
2008–09	Oklahoma City	68	18	26.1	.384	.235	.755	2.7	5.8	.7	.2	6.6
2009–10	Indiana	79	52	29.4	.426	.288	.710	3.0	5.1	1.3	.2	7.8
2010–11	Utah	80	13	19.6	.410	.336	.671	2.3	3.5	.8	.2	4.3
2011–12	Utah	50	2	20.7	.338	.192	.674	2.4	4.3	1.1	.4	3.0
2012–13	Utah	48	4	17.3	.308	.179	.680	1.8	4.0	.8	.2	2.0
2013–14	Portland	24	0	6.7	.273	.286	1.000	.6	1.2	.2	.0	0.5
Career		878	227	22.2	.411	.324	.703	2.3	4.4	1.0	.2	6.4

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2004	Memphis	4	0	15.5	.533	.000	1.000	2.3	1.8	1.3	.0	4.8
2005	Memphis	4	0	18.5	.333	.111	1.000	2.5	3.8	.8	.3	4.8
2014	Portland	4	0	3.5	.000	.000	.000	.3	.3	.0	.0	0.0
Career		12	0	12.5	.400	.077	1.000	1.7	1.9	.7	.1	3.2

Coaching career

On October 2, 2014, Watson was hired as an assistant coach by the Austin Spurs of the NBA D-League, effectively ending his 13-year playing career.[8] He joined the Phoenix Suns as their new assistant coach on July 30, 2015.[9][10] However, after a poor start to the 2015–16 season, the Suns fired coach Jeff Hornacek and replaced him with Watson as the interim head coach for the rest of the season.[11] While Watson would make his coaching debut on February 2, 2016 at home against the Toronto Raptors, it wouldn't be until February 27, almost a month later, where he'd record his first win with the Suns at home against the Memphis Grizzlies, a team he had previously played under. He would then get his first two-game winning streak on the road as a coach with victories on March 4 against the Orlando Magic and March 6 against the Grizzlies, respectively. After starting out the season with only one victory in ten games for February, he'd end the season with an 8–15 record the rest of the way, including ending the season with a 3–1 stint.

On April 19, the Suns announced that they had agreed to a three-year deal with Watson due to the positive nature he had that was instilled upon the team after he was first hired, making him the full-time head coach of the team. At the time of his promotion to permanent head coach, Watson was the second-youngest head coach in the NBA (behind only Luke Walton), being 36 when he first started coaching.[12] Watson also became the first former UCLA Bruins player to become a head coach in the NBA, as well as the first NBA head coach of Hispanic descent.[13] During Watson's first full season as head coach, he continued to promote the same philosophical mindset he had for the Suns back when he first started coaching them, but he'd also adjust the team's focus to being more involved with defense first and then offense second.[14][15]

After the Suns got off to a 0–3 start to the 2017–18 season, with two blowouts (including the worst loss in franchise history and worst season opening performance in NBA history), Watson was fired on October 22,[16] and replaced on an interim basis by associate head coach Jay Triano for the rest of the season.

Head coaching record

Legend

Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win–loss %
Playoffs	PG	Playoff games	PW	Playoff wins	PL	Playoff losses	PW–L %	Playoff win–loss %

Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW–L%	Result
Phoenix	2015–16	33	9	24	.273	4th in Pacific	—	—	—	–	Missed playoffs
Phoenix	2016–17	82	24	58	.293	5th in Pacific	—	—	—	—	Missed playoffs
Phoenix	2017–18	3	0	3	.000	(fired)	—	—	—	—	—
Career		118	33	85	.280		0	0	0	–

Personal life

Watson's father, Earl, is African-American and his mother, Estella, is Mexican-American. Because his maternal grandparents were born in Mexico, Watson was eligible to play for the Mexico national basketball team.[17][18] Watson has four brothers and one sister.[1] He is also involved with the local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Arizona.[13] One of his brothers, Dwayne, was a retired police officer who died due to blood clots in his legs that were dislodged during an altercation. The assailant, Tremaine Quinn, was sentenced to 36 months of probation for the action.[19] That incident would be a major driving force for Earl to take up coaching in basketball.[20] Watson founded the organization "Emagine" to positively impact the youth of his hometown Kansas City, Kansas.[21]

On May 16, 2009 he married[22] actress Jennifer Freeman.[23] They have a daughter together.[24] In August 2010, they separated and their divorce was finalized in 2015.

In August 2018, Watson became engaged to radio personality and television host Joy Taylor.[25] The couple split up and called off the engagement in November 2019.

Watson has stated he takes coaching inspiration from UCLA all-time great John Wooden.[13]

Watson is considered a supporter of the Amateur Athletic Union programs, saying that the right program and right people involved can lead towards more positive experiences for the people involved. He also stated that he likely would have never gotten a scholarship for UCLA if he didn't have the AAU around.[26] That kind of support would ultimately help lead him to join LaVar Ball's Junior Basketball Association committee.

References

1. "Earl Watson Stats, Video, Bio, Profile". NBA.com. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
2. Player Bio: Earl Watson
3. "Watson gets first career triple-double to help Sonics finish off Kings". ESPN.com. February 6, 2008. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
4. "Oklahoma City Thunder waive Earl Watson". InsideHoops.com. July 17, 2009. Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
5. "Indiana Pacers sign Earl Watson". InsideHoops.com. July 28, 2009. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
6. "Utah Jazz Signs Guard Earl Watson". NBA.com. September 26, 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
7. TRAIL BLAZERS SIGN EARL WATSON Archived July 18, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
8. "Austin Toros Announce Coaching Staff Additions". NBA.com. October 2, 2014. Archived from the original on October 14, 2014.
9. "Suns Announce Basketball Operations Staff Changes". NBA.com. July 30, 2015.
10. Coro, Paul (May 29, 2015). "Suns make coaching staff changes, drop Kenny Gattison". azcentral.com.
11. "Suns Name Earl Watson Interim Head Coach". NBA.com. February 1, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2016.
12. "Suns Name Earl Watson Head Coach". NBA.com. April 19, 2016. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
13. "Suns coach Watson has plans to win over skeptics". AZCentral.com. May 11, 2016. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
14. https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2016/09/26/phoenix-suns-embrace-3-star-guards-expect-playoffs/91148776/
15. http://www.nba.com/suns/blog/suns-using-training-camp-instill-defense-first-mindset
16. Suns Relieve Earl Watson of Head Coaching Duties, NBA.com. Published October 22, 2017. Accessed October 22, 2017.
17. Chris Perkins. "NBA Extra". Palm Beach Post. January 15, 2006. 7B.
18. Garcia, Marlen (June 14, 2007). "Richardson exporting his deep basketball knowledge". USAToday.com. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
19. http://theundefeated.com/features/earl-watson-goes-after-a-victory-close-to-his-heart/
20. Phoenix Suns' Earl Watson found great motivation to coach
21. Spotlight. Vol. 13, No. 3, April 2007
22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
23. "About". jenniferfreeman.com. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
24. "2012-13 Utah Jazz media guide" (PDF). p. 71. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
25. "FS1's Joy Taylor is Engaged to Earl Watson". thebiglead.com. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
26. http://www.brightsideofthesun.com/2016/8/22/12573540/aau-culture-ruining-basketball-suns-coach-earl-watson-would-argue-the-opposite

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Basketball-Reference.com
• Earl Watson's Student-Athlete Program
• Media related to Earl Watson at Wikimedia Commons