Eric Demarqua Maynor (born June 11, 1987) is an American former 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 and current assistant coach for the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

of the

National Basketball Association 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 S ...

. 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

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

. As a senior, he averaged 22.4 points, 6.2 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game in the 2008–2009 season. Maynor was drafted by the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

of the NBA in 2009. He has also played for the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

and

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

Early years

Eric Demarqua Maynor was born June 11, 1987 in

Raeford, North Carolina Raeford is a city in Hoke County, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 4,611 at the 2010 census, and in 2018, the estimated population was 4,962. It is the county seat of Hoke County. History John McRae and A.A. Williford operated ...

, the third of four children of George Maynor and Barbara Robinson."Eric Maynor,"
NBA.com, Retrieved Feb. 22, 2013. Maynor's father was a former collegiate basketball player at

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

and was a 4th round selection of the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

in the 1979 NBA Draft.

High school career

Maynor began at

Hoke County High School Hoke County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 52,082. Its county seat is Raeford. Hoke County is part of the Fayetteville metropolitan statistical area. The county is home to part of th ...

in Raeford, then transferred to Westover High School in neighboring Fayetteville for his senior year to play alongside his friend and AAU teammate De'shaune Griffin. Maynor led the team to the North Carolina state championship game, scoring 25 point in a loss to

North Mecklenburg High School North Mecklenburg High School is a high school in Huntersville, North Carolina. The school mascot is the Viking, and the school colors are royal blue, red, and white. Founded in 1951, the school was integrated during the 1960s. The principal is ...

on March 14, 2005. For his outstanding performance during the season Maynor was named to the 2004/05 North Carolina All State Basketball team by the sports website NCPreps.com.

College career

Eric Maynor was a four-year player in the men's basketball program at

(VCU). He graduated from VCU with a degree in Sports Management.

Freshman season (2005–06)

Maynor played in 29 games as a Freshman at VCU, cracking the team's starting lineup by the end of the season. Maynor averaged 4.7 points and 2.2 assists in an average of 15.7 minutes per game during this first collegiate campaign.

Sophomore season (2006–07)

On March 15, 2007, Maynor scored 22 points, including the game-winning shot, in VCU's victory over

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

in the first round of the

2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 2007 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2006–07 basketball sea ...

. Maynor's last-minute heroics are also what helped VCU to overcome

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including s ...

in the 2007

Colonial Athletic Association The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

(CAA) championship game. Over the summer of 2007, Maynor was selected to represent the United States in the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

, alongside

D. J. White Dewayne "D. J." White, Jr. (born August 31, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player, who was selected in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft. Standing at , he played the power forward position. He spent the majority of his c ...

and

Michael Beasley Michael Paul Beasley Jr. (born January 9, 1989) is an American professional basketball player, who most recently played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for Kansas State Universi ...

. Maynor was only able to play two games for the American Pan-Am team, however, before he was forced from further action by a hip injury. Maynor was also named one of the 50 pre-season candidates for the men's 2007–08

John R. Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

, the nation's most prestigious college basketball honor.

Junior season (2007–08)

Maynor helped VCU win the CAA regular-season title, though the team fell in the semi-finals of the conference tournament to William & Mary. He was selected as the CAA Player of the Year and selected to the All-CAA first team. The Rams failed to reach the NCAA Tournament and went on to play in the NIT, where they lost in the first round against the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a Public university#United States, public List of research universities in the United States, research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established i ...

Senior season (2008–09)

During the 2008–09 season, Eric Maynor became VCU's all-time leader in assists"Regular Season Crown, Scoring Title on the LIne Saturday at 4 pm,"
VCU Rams Basketball, www.vcuathletics.tv/ Feb. 28, 2009. and in made free-throws. On February 28, 2009, Maynor became the leading scorer in VCU history with a floater against Georgia State. As of March 10, 2009, he had scored a school record 1,929 points. Maynor also led VCU to a second CAA title during his career, scoring 25 points in a 71–50 victory over George Mason on March 9, 2009, at the

Richmond Coliseum Richmond Coliseum is a defunct arena located in downtown Richmond, Virginia, with a capacity of 13,500 that was most often used for various large concerts. The arena opened in 1971 and the region is looking to replace the aging facility with a la ...

. The Rams went on to the

2009 NCAA Tournament The 2009 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament in which 65 schools competed to determine the national champion of the men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2008–09 basketball ...

but lost to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

when Maynor missed a buzzer-beater to win the game.

Professional career

NBA

Utah Jazz (2009)

Maynor was drafted 20th overall by the

in the

2009 NBA draft The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eli ...

. He became the first VCU player ever selected in the first round of the NBA draft. Maynor signed a two-year contract with the Jazz on July 1, 2009, and made $1.3 million in his rookie season. Although he was to back up

Deron Williams Deron Michael Williams ( ; born June 26, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in the 2005 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. A thre ...

, Maynor had a positive outlook on the situation. When asked in an interview with RealCollegeBasketball.com what he thought about coming off the bench in Utah, Maynor replied, "Feel real good about it... I'm getting a chance to learn from some of the best".

Oklahoma City Thunder (2009–2013)

On December 22, 2009, Maynor, along with

Matt Harpring Matthew Joseph Harpring (born May 31, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was formerly paired with play-by-play broadcaster Craig Bolerjack as the color ...

, was traded to the

for the rights to Peter Fehse. According to a statement made by Jazz General Manager Kevin O'Connor at the time of the deal, the trade of Maynor along with the $6.5 million contract of the injured power forward Harpring was made for financial reasons, in an effort to reduce the team's liability under the NBA's punitive "luxury tax" on teams with excessive salaries.Associated Press
"Maynor Headed to Thunder,"
via ESPN, www.sports.espn.go.com/ Dec. 23, 2009. "Trading Eric was a difficult decision," O'Connor acknowledged, while noting that the team remained strong at the point guard position with star

and

Ronnie Price Ronald D'Wayne Price (born June 21, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player and current scout for the Phoenix Suns. Price grew up in Friendswood, Texas and played college basketball for one year at Nicholls State and three year ...

as a capable and proven reserve player. Maynor wound up as the backup point guard on the young Thunder team behind the emerging superstar

Russell Westbrook Russell Westbrook III (born November 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, he is a nine-time NBA All-Star and ...

, drafted by the franchise as the #4 overall pick one year prior to Maynor coming into the NBA. On January 7, 2012, the Thunder reported that Maynor had torn his right

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

(ACL) in the fourth quarter of Oklahoma City's 98–95 win over 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 ...

and would miss the remainder of the season. Without Maynor the Thunder reached the

2012 NBA Finals The 2012 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2011–12 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat defeated the Western Conference champion O ...

, but lost in five games to the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

Portland Trail Blazers (2013)

In a deal concluded just 30 minutes before the noon trade deadline on February 21, 2013, Maynor was traded to the

for the NBA rights to Greek player

Giorgos Printezis Georgios Printezis (alternate spelling: Giorgos) ( el, Γεώργιος Πρίντεζης, born February 22, 1985) is a Greek former professional basketball player who spent the majority of his career with Olympiacos of the Greek Basket League an ...

.Mike Tokito
"Late Trade Lands Backup Point Guard: Eric Maynor Moves from Thunder Bench to Playing time with Blazers,"
''The Oregonian,'' Feb. 22, 2013; pp. D1, 5. Maynor was averaging just 2.8 points and 2.0 assists in an average of about 10.6 minutes per game playing for the Thunder and had fallen to number three on the team's depth chart for point guards, with second-year player

Reggie Jackson Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cali ...

emerging to capture most of the team's backup PG minutes.Ben Golliver
"Blazers Trade For Thunder G Eric Maynor; Waive Ronnie Price,"
''Blazers Edge,'' Feb. 21, 2013. The Blazers were forced to waive reserve point guard Ronnie Price to make room on the team's 15-man roster for Maynor. Portland General Manager Neil Olshey was effusive about Maynor's style of play and his fit for the club, calling Maynor "a great guy to run our second unit while being able to play with our starters." Olshey noted that Maynor was known for making excellent decisions with the basketball while playing at a steady and reliable pace and offered the possibility that Maynor might potentially share time in the backcourt with Blazer rookie star

Damian Lillard Damian Lamonte Ollie Lillard Sr. (born July 15, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Weber State Wildcats and earned ...

. Olshey expressed hope that Maynor would mesh well with the team and make a solid long-term addition to the roster, declaring:

"You don't make moves just for 28 games, but clearly there's going to be an evaluation curve for us where we're going to have to evaluate Eric, see how he fits in with our team, our style of play, our culture.... We'll see what kind of opportunities present themselves."

Washington Wizards (2013–2014)

On July 10, 2013, Maynor signed with the

Philadelphia 76ers (2014)

On February 20, 2014, Maynor was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in a three-team trade involving the Nuggets and the Wizards. On March 17, 2014, he was waived by the 76ers.

Europe

On January 14, 2015, Maynor signed a contract with

Pallacanestro Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian basketball league system, Italian first ...

of Italy for the rest of the

2014–15 Lega Basket Serie A The 2014–15 Lega Basket Serie A was the 93rd season of the Lega Basket Serie A, the highest professional basketball league in Italy. The regular season started on 12 October 2014 and finished on 10 May 2015, after all teams had played 30 games e ...

season. On July 23, 2015, he signed a one-year contract with the Russian club

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

. On July 27, 2016, Maynor returned to Pallacanestro Varese, signing a contract for the 2016–17 season. On November 20, 2017, Maynor signed with Italian club

Orlandina Basket Orlandina Basket, known as Infodrive Capo d'Orlando for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Capo d'Orlando, Sicily. It plays in the second tier Serie A2 Basket. Founded in 1978, it was one of the youn ...

for the rest of the 2017–18 season.

The Basketball Tournament

In 2017, Maynor participated in

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 201 ...

for Ram Nation, a team of VCU alumni. Maynor averaged 13.5 PPG, 7.3 APG, and 5.5 RPG to help Ram Nation reach the Elite 8. In the Elite 8, Ram Nation lost a close game to the eventual tournament champs,

Overseas Elite Overseas Elite was an American basketball team that participated in The Basketball Tournament (TBT), an annual winner-take-all single-elimination tournament. The team won the tournament four consecutive times: 2015 (prize money $1 million), 2016 ...

. The Basketball Tournament is an annual $2 million winner-take-all tournament broadcast on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

Coaching career

In September 2019, Maynor was named Assistant Coach of the

Oklahoma City Blue The Oklahoma City Blue are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and are affiliated with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Blue play their home games at Paycom Center. The franchise began as t ...

. In August 2021, Maynor was moved from the Blue staff to the Thunder as a player development coach.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

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Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

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, 82 , , 0 , , 14.6 , , .402 , , .385 , , .729 , , 1.5 , , 2.9 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.2 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

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, 37 , , 0 , , 10.6 , , .313 , , .326 , , .810 , , .5 , , 2.0 , , .3 , , .0 , , 2.8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

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Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

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Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, 8 , , 0 , , 14.0 , , .379 , , .333 , , .500 , , 1.9 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , .3 , , 3.8 , - , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2" , Career , 267 , , 2 , , 14.6 , , .392 , , .350 , , .721 , , 1.3 , , 2.8 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.3

Playoffs

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, 6 , , 0 , , 12.7 , , .300 , , .167 , , .818 , , 1.5 , , 1.5 , , .2 , , .2 , , 3.7 , - , align="left" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

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, 17 , , 0 , , 12.9 , , .377 , , .360 , , .789 , , 1.3 , , 2.2 , , .5 , , .0 , , 4.8 , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2" , Career , 23 , , 0 , , 12.9 , , .361 , , .323 , , .800 , , 1.3 , , 2.0 , , .4 , , .0 , , 4.5

References

External links

ESPN.com Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maynor, Eric 1987 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Russia American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from North Carolina Basketball players at the 2007 Pan American Games Basketball players from North Carolina BC Nizhny Novgorod players Lega Basket Serie A players Oklahoma City Blue coaches Oklahoma City Thunder players Orlandina Basket players Pallacanestro Varese players People from Raeford, North Carolina Philadelphia 76ers players Point guards Portland Trail Blazers players Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players VCU Rams men's basketball players Washington Wizards players Pan American Games competitors for the United States 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people