Timothy Eugene Legler (born December 26, 1966) 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 who played in 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 ...
(NBA). He is currently an
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 ...
basketball analyst and co-host/analyst on
SiriusXM NBA Radio
Since 2008, Sirius XM Radio has had a similar channel lineup, with a few differences based on whether the individual has a Sirius, XM, or SiriusXM radio. For technical reasons, separate radios continue to be manufactured for the separate services ...
.
College career
Legler attended
La Salle University
La Salle University () is a private, Catholic university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The university was founded in 1863 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and named for St. Jean-Baptiste de La Salle.
History
La ...
, where he became an Academic All-American and scored 1,699 career points in four seasons for the
men's basketball team. He was named to the First Team All-Big 5 (1987) and All-MAAC teams (1987 and 1988). Legler's 3.40 GPA earned him a place on the 1988 GTE Academic All-American Team. He was a career 43 percent three-point shooter. Legler led La Salle to the 1987
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at regional sites and traditionally at Madison Square Garden (Final Four) in New York City ...
championship game at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
as well as the
1988 NCAA tournament. He was inducted into the
Philadelphia Big 5
The Big 5 is an informal association of college athletic programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is not a conference, but rather a group of NCAA Division I basketball schools who compete for the city’s collegiate championship.
The Big 5 c ...
Hall of Fame
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...
in 1995 and the La Salle Hall of Athletes in 1997.
NBA career
Legler went undrafted in the
1988 NBA draft
The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their i ...
and went to play basketball in Europe. After playing a few seasons in Europe, he came back to the United States and played in the
Continental Basketball Association
The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...
(CBA) with the Omaha Racers. He led Omaha to a CBA championship while leading the league in scoring.
Legler played in the NBA at the
shooting guard
The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...
position from 1989 to 2000. He is probably known most as a player in
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 ...
, where he played four seasons (two with the
Washington Bullets and two with the renamed
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 ...
) from 1995 to 1999. His best NBA season was in 1995–96, when he ranked first in the league in both three-point field goal percentage and true shooting percentage, ranked second in turnover ratio, and won the 1996
Three-Point Shootout
The Three-Point Contest is a National Basketball Association (NBA) contest held on the Saturday before the annual All-Star Game as part of All-Star Weekend.
The 2019 iteration of the contest involved ten participants. From its introduction in 19 ...
during All-Star Weekend. He holds the record for a 3-round aggregate of (23, 22 and 20 out of 30 each) 65 points (out of 90).
Legler was well known as an accurate three-point shooter and made 260 of his 604 attempts from that range in his career, an accuracy of 43 percent. This figure ranks fifth on the all-time list, behind only
Steve Kerr
Stephen Douglas Kerr (born September 27, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a nine-time NBA champion, havi ...
,
Hubert Davis
Hubert Ira Davis Jr. (born May 17, 1970) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels men's team. Before his coaching career, Davis played for North Carolina from 19 ...
,
Dražen Petrović, and
Stephen Curry
Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, ...
. Legler also played for the
Phoenix Suns
The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...
,
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...
,
Utah Jazz,
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...
, and
Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...
. His career ended due to a recurring knee problem. During his 10 seasons in the league, Legler made a little over $5.1 million in salary.
Legler was one of three NBA players to finish a season shooting better than 50 percent from the field, better than 50 percent from the three-point line, and better than 80 percent from the free-throw line (the others were
Steve Kerr
Stephen Douglas Kerr (born September 27, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a nine-time NBA champion, havi ...
and
Detlef Schrempf
Detlef Schrempf (born January 21, 1963) is a German-American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Washington Huskies from 1981 to 1985, and was drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA) by the ...
).
Post-NBA career
Legler currently appears regularly on the
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 ...
programs ''
NBA Shootaround'', ''
NBA Fastbreak'', ''
First Take'' and ''
NBA Coast to Coast
''NBA Coast to Coast'' (formerly known as ''NBA Fastbreak Tuesday'' and ''NBA Nation'') was a weekly NBA-themed studio program which aired Tuesday nights on ESPN2.SportsCenter
''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television show, television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of United States, American cable television, cable and satellite television television network, network ESPN. The show ...
'' and various shows on
ESPN Radio
ESPN Radio, which is alternately platform-agnostically branded as ESPN Audio, is an American sports radio network and extension of the ESPN television network. It was launched on January 1, 1992, under the original banner of "SportsRadio ESPN". ...
. He has worked at the network since 1999.
Legler was considered a front-runner for the vacant La Salle head coaching job in 2018, but the position was ultimately given to
Ashley Howard.
Personal life
Legler also attended
John Randolph Tucker High School
John Randolph Tucker High School is a public high school in the West End of Henrico County, Virginia, United States. It is named after lawyer and judge John Randolph Tucker. Its students and faculty often refer to themselves as “Tigers," and loc ...
in
Henrico County, Virginia
Henrico County , officially the County of Henrico, is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 334,389 making it the fifth-most populous county in Virginia. Henrico County is incl ...
and
St. Mary's Catholic School in
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
, image_map =
, mapsize = 250 px
, map_caption = Location within Virginia
, pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
, pushpin_label = Richmond
, pushpin_m ...
. In 2002, he earned an
MBA from the
Wharton School
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...
at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
. He is married to Christina (Fuller) who is a former
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...
Cheerleader
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...
. Legler has two children with his ex-wife Jennifer and resides in the Philadelphia area.
[An Issue That Follows the NBA Like a White Shadow]
''Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', February 19, 2006
Career statistics
NBA
Source
Regular season
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
, style="text-align:left;",
Phoenix
, 11 , , 0 , , 7.5 , , .379 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , .7 , , .5 , , .2 , , .0 , , 2.5
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
, style="text-align:left;",
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, 10 , , 0 , , 14.8 , , .347 , , .250 , , .833 , , 1.8 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , .0 , , 5.8
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
, style="text-align:left;",
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 ...
, 3 , , 0 , , 1.7 , , .333 , , – , , – , , .3 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .7
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
, style="text-align:left;",
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, 30 , , 0 , , 21.0 , , .437 , , .338 , , .803 , , 1.9 , , 1.5 , , .8 , , .2 , , 9.6
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
, style="text-align:left;",
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, 79 , , 0 , , 16.7 , , .438 , , .374 , , .840 , , 1.6 , , 1.5 , , .7 , , .2 , , 8.3
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
, style="text-align:left;",
Golden State
, 24 , , 0 , , 15.5 , , .522 , , .520 , , .882 , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , .5 , , .0 , , 7.3
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
, style="text-align:left;",
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 ...
, 77 , , 0 , , 23.1 , , .507 , , style="background:#CFECEC; width:1em", .522* , , .863 , , 1.8 , , 1.8 , , .6 , , .2 , , 9.4
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
, style="text-align:left;",
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 ...
, 15 , , 0 , , 12.1 , , .313 , , .276 , , .857 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .2 , , .3 , , 2.9
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
, style="text-align:left;",
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 ...
, 8 , , 0 , , 9.5 , , .158 , , .000 , , .750 , , .5 , , .4 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.1
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
, style="text-align:left;",
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 ...
, 30 , , 0 , , 12.6 , , .443 , , .400 , , .500 , , 1.3 , , .7 , , .1 , , .1 , , 4.0
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
, style="text-align:left;",
Golden State
, 23 , , 4 , , 12.3 , , .359 , , .333 , , .778 , , 1.0 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .0 , , 3.3
, - class="sortbottom"
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career
, 310 , , 4 , , 16.9 , , .447 , , .431 , , .840 , , 1.6 , , 1.3 , , .5 , , .1 , , 7.0
Playoffs
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
, style="text-align:left;",
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 ...
, 3 , , 0 , , 6.3 , , .000 , , .000 , , .500 , , .3 , , .7 , , .0 , , .0 , , .3
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Legler, Tim
1966 births
Living people
American expatriate basketball people in France
American men's basketball players
Basketball players from Washington, D.C.
Dallas Mavericks players
Denver Nuggets players
Disney people
ESPN people
Golden State Warriors players
La Salle Explorers men's basketball players
Limoges CSP players
National Basketball Association broadcasters
Omaha Racers players
Phoenix Suns players
Rochester Flyers players
Shooting guards
Basketball players from Richmond, Virginia
Undrafted National Basketball Association players
Utah Jazz players
Washington Bullets players
Washington Wizards players
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni