Earl Boykins is a blur on the court, darting here, zigzagging there, handling the ball as if it were a yo-yo.
At 1.65m, the NBA's smallest player is a marvel in a sport dominated by giants. Coming off the bench, he has teamed with rookie sensation Carmelo Anthony to help lead the surprising Denver Nuggets to their best start in eight years.
"When you're out on the court, no one really cares about your height," he said. "They only care about what you're able to do. So I don't think of myself as a 5-5 player. I think of myself as an NBA player."
Nicknamed Earl the Squirrel in college because of his size, Boykins now is known by his teammates as Earl the Pearl. So small as a child that he was carried around in a gym bag, Boykins has turned his size into a big-time advantage.
One of the league's quickest players since breaking in with the New Jersey Nets in 1998, Boykins penetrates, dishes, disrupts and plays full-court defense. Now he has added scoring to his repertoire, averaging 13.5 points in an early bid for the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award.
He has scored in double figures in 10 games this season for the Nuggets, who were 8-6 going into Friday night's home game against the Dallas Mavericks. That includes 11 points in the fourth quarter of a 106-101 win over the Orlando Magic on Nov. 14, when Boykins finished with 27 points.
"When you're 5-5 you have to be able to do everything," he said. "Because anything you can't do, the negative people are going to hold it against you."
The negative people must include those NBA scouts who didn't think Boykins was worth drafting out of Eastern Michigan University.
"Not being drafted just set me back a little bit," Boykins said. "I always knew I would make it to this level. I just had to take the long road," including a year in the CBA.
Growing up, Boykins admired the play of Isiah Thomas, but he idolized his father, Cleveland police Officer Willie Williams, whose skills were on display only in neighborhood pickup games. By age 13, Boykins was invited to join those games.
Teammates say he is tough, and Boykins proves it. Although he weighs just 60kg, he can bench press 135kg (300 pounds).
"It's a shame that there's that 5-5 label on who he is," coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "He's not only quick, but he can make shots, can finish on drives, can create for his teammates. And he's a tenacious ... defender. He's just a darn good basketball player."
Boykins' instant offense has been a revelation. His best year came last season when he averaged 8.8 points at Golden State.
"Just more minutes," he explained. "The more minutes you get on the court, the more opportunities you get to score. It's just that simple.''
Denver's major free-agent acquisition in the offseason was point guard Andre Miller, but GM Kiki Vandeweghe knew he needed a competent backup if the team was to run at a feverish pace as planned. Boykins was a perfect fit, and he was signed to a five-year, US$12 million contract.
The signings reunited Miller and Boykins, who played together in Cleveland in 1999-2000.
"I'm part of the foundation as this franchise rebuilds," Boykins said. "I'm getting the chance that I didn't get in other places."
A crowd favorite in Denver, Boykins has made a habit of being a scoring threat late in games. With Golden State last season, he scored at least 10 points in the fourth quarter 12 times.
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Cycling great Marianne Vos won the opening stage of the women’s Tour de France with a brilliant late attack on Saturday. The 38-year-old Dutchwoman overtook her Visma–Lease a Bike teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot approaching the line, and then held off Mauritian rider Kim Le Court in the closing meters of a grueling uphill finish. Ferrand-Prevot looked set to win the stage, but the Frenchwoman attacked too early from 600m and could not withstand the late surge from Vos, who punched the air with her left fist as she crossed the line. Moments later, Vos hugged an exhausted-looking Ferrand-Prevot, the Paris-Roubaix winner. “I didn’t know if
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
RSS