Byron Stewart Dinkins (born June 15, 1967) is a retired American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who played two seasons in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

, from 1989 to 1991. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for

UNC Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine colle ...

. After his stint in the NBA Dinkins pursued a professional career in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

College career

After graduating East Mecklenburg Dinkins was recruited by

. He stayed with the 49ers for four seasons averaging 15.5

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

, 2.8 rebounds per game, 4.8 assists per game and 1.2 steals per game in 107 games. Dinkins achieved career-high in scoring during his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

season averaging 21.4 points per game. Dinkins led his school to winning the Sun Belt tournament and earned himself the honors of Sun Belt Player of the Year. He was also named in the All-Sun Belt first team in his junior and

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

seasons.

Professional career

NBA

A 6'1" (1.86 m) guard born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

and from the

University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs through nine colle ...

, Dinkins played for the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

during the 1989–90 NBA season and split time with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

and

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

during the 1990–91 season. In his NBA career, Dinkins played in 45 games and scored a total of 151 points.

Greece

Although Dinkins never played for an NBA team after 1991, he did have a prosperous basketball career playing professionally in the Greek League for Peristeri Athens,

Panionios Athens Panionios G.S.S. (Greek: Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'', is a Greek multi-sport club founded in 1890. Originally ...

Panathinaikos Athens Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club b ...

(1996–1997), and

Iraklis Thessaloniki Gymnasticos Syllogos Iraklis ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής, en, Gymnastics Club Heracles), commonly referred to as Iraklis, is a Greek multi-sports club based in Thessaloniki. The club was founded in 1908 as "Mace ...

. In the 1996–97 season he played with

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

and in September 1996, he helped them win the

FIBA Intercontinental Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, also commonly referred to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs, or the FIBA Club World Cup, is a professional basketball clubs competition that is endorsed by FIBA and the NBA. Historically, its purpose has be ...

. He led the Greek League in assists per game in 1996 and 2000.

Personal life

After his basketball playing career ended, Dinkins returned to his birthplace of

. He now serves as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the Carmel Christian School varsity boys basketball team, and the middle school's gym teacher. Basketball player K. C. Rivers is his nephew.

References

External links

Career stats at basketball-reference.comEurobasket.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinkins, Byron 1967 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Cyprus American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Greece American men's basketball players Basketball players from Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte 49ers men's basketball players Columbus Horizon players Greek Basket League players High school basketball coaches in the United States Houston Rockets players Indiana Pacers players Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C. players Panathinaikos B.C. players Panionios B.C. players Peristeri B.C. players Point guards Rapid City Thrillers players San Antonio Spurs players Sportspeople from Charlotte, North Carolina Undrafted National Basketball Association players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople