Walter L. Sharpe III (born July 18, 1986) is an 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 plays for

Yulon Luxgen Dinos The Yulon Luxgen Dinos are a basketball team in the Super Basketball League in Taiwan. It was founded in 1965 by Yulon Motor's (or the Taiwanese Car Manufacturer Luxgen) Chairman as a First Division amateur basketball team. It has also been membe ...

of the

Super Basketball League The Super Basketball League (超級籃球聯賽), often abbreviated as the SBL, is a semi-professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Taiwan. Current clubs Currently, there are four teams competing in the SBL. They are ...

(SBL).

Early career

Sharpe attended Parker High School in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. Considered a four-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, Sharpe was listed as the No. 9 power forward and the No. 44 player in the nation in 2004. He later signed with

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

. Sharpe's career at Mississippi State was suspended frequently during his freshman season, declared academically ineligible during his sophomore season and eventually left the team. He transferred to 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 ...

, where he averaged 14.2 points per game in 12 games before being declared academically ineligible for the spring semester of the 2007–08 season.

Professional career

He was selected as the 32nd overall pick by the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

in the 2008 NBA draft. Shortly after being drafted, the Sonics traded his rights to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

. Shortly after being drafted, Sharpe was diagnosed with

narcolepsy Narcolepsy is a long-term neurological disorder that involves a decreased ability to regulate sleep–wake cycles. Symptoms often include periods of excessive daytime sleepiness and brief involuntary sleep episodes. About 70% of those affec ...

, a sleeping disorder that causes excessive sleepiness. On July 13, 2009, he was traded along with

Arron Afflalo Arron Agustin Afflalo (born October 15, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. As a junior, he was named a consensus All-America ...

to the

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 ...

for a second-round pick in the

2011 NBA draft The 2011 NBA draft was held on June 23, 2011, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (23:00 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. Kia Motors was the presenting sponsor ...

. On July 31, 2009, he was traded along with

Sonny Weems Clarence "Sonny" Weems (born July 8, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Shanxi Loongs of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He played college basketball for the University of Arkansas and the University of Arkansas ...

and cash considerations to the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

for

Malik Allen Malik Omar Allen (born June 27, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player, currently serving as an assistant coach for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Professional career After four years at Villano ...

. On October 26, 2009, he was waived by the Bucks. On December 9, 2011, Sharpe signed with the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

for the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season's training camp. On December 23, two days before the start of the regular season, Sharpe was waived by the Grizzlies. In March 2013, he signed with

GlobalPort Batang Pier The NorthPort Batang Pier is a Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) team that first played in the 2012–13 PBA season. The team took over the franchise of the Powerade Tigers in 2012 after it was sold to Sultan 900 Capital, Inc. Besides Nor ...

of the PBA, replacing

Justin Williams Justin Craig Williams (born October 4, 1981) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey right winger. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, and Washingto ...

as their import. On March 19, 2013, GlobalPort Batang Pier terminated his contract due to "conduct unbecoming of a professional basketball player" after a controversial photo of him sleeping on parking lot pavement went viral. GlobalPort Batang Pier team manager BJ Manalo said that they "will not tolerate actions of any local or foreign player who destroys the integrity" of both their team and that of the PBA. Sharpe played only two games in the PBA.GlobalPort gives sleeping import Sharpe the boot
/ref> On July 1, 2014, he signed with

Brujos de Guayama Brujos de Guayama is a Puerto Rican professional basketball team of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional based in Guayama, Puerto Rico. Despite being in the league since 1971, the team has not won any BSN Championships but have made 2 finals appeara ...

of Puerto Rico. He left Guayama after appearing in only one game. On February 9, 2015, he signed with

Cocodrilos de Caracas Cocodrilos de Caracas () is a Venezuelan professional basketball club based in Caracas. Established in 1990, the club competes in the Venezuelan SuperLiga and has won six national championships. The Cocodrilos' home games are played at the Parque N ...

of Venezuela for the 2015 LPB season.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

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References

External links

NBA ProfileProfile
at Eurobasket.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpe, Walter 1986 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in the Dominican Republic American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Taiwan American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Basketball players from Birmingham, Alabama Cocodrilos de Caracas players Dakota Wizards players Detroit Pistons players Fort Wayne Mad Ants players Idaho Stampede players Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball players New Mexico Thunderbirds players NorthPort Batang Pier players People with narcolepsy Philippine Basketball Association imports Power forwards (basketball) Seattle SuperSonics draft picks Small forwards Soles de Mexicali players UAB Blazers men's basketball players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people Taiwan Beer basketball players Yulon Luxgen Dinos players Kinmen Kaoliang Liquor basketball players Super Basketball League imports Brujos de Guayama players