Earl Cureton (born September 3, 1957) is an American retired 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. His nickname was "The Twirl".

Amateur career

Cureton played high school basketball at

Finney High School Jared W. Finney High School was a public comprehensive high school in northeastern Detroit, Michigan, United States. Located at 17200 Southampton, it was a part of Detroit Public Schools, and was in proximity to the Grosse Pointes.Foster, Terry.Det ...

in Detroit, and signed to play college basketball with Robert Morris, playing there for one season (1976–77), averaging a double-double of 17.2 ppg and 10.5 rpg, before electing to return home to play for the

University of Detroit The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Roman Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catholic universi ...

. Cureton sat out a year with the transfer but paired with future NBA player Terry Duerod to lead the Titans to the 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament, losing to Lamar 95-87 in the first round. Detroit finished ranked #20 on the season. Cureton had a stellar senior season in 1979-80, averaging 19.9 ppg and 9.1 rpg, and was inducted into the Detroit Mercy Titans Hall of Fame in 2007.

Professional career

He was drafted by the

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 ...

in the 3rd round of the 1979 NBA draft (58th overall pick). Cureton would spend three seasons in Philadelphia before returning home, signing with 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 ...

for the 1983-84 Detroit Pistons season, spending the next three seasons with Detroit. He would become a journeyman for the rest of his career, traded to 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 1987, and then playing for

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

(1987–88),

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

(1988–89, 1990–91),

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 ...

(1993–94) and finally the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

(1996–97). He played 674 NBA regular games and 54 playoff games, averaging 5.4 PPG and 4.7 RPG in 18.4 minutes per game. He won two NBA Championships: with Philadelphia 76ers in the 1982-83 NBA season and with Houston Rockets in the 1993-94 NBA season Cureton also spent time in the

Lega Basket The Lega Basket A (officially: ''Lega Società di Pallacanestro Serie A'', English: Basket League) is the organizing body, as delegated by the Italian Basketball Federation, of the top division of Italian professional men's basketball league, the ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, the LNB Pro A in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the

Venezuelan SuperLiga The Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as the SPB, is the Venezuelan first division national professional basketball league. Founded in 1974 as the Liga Especial de Baloncesto, it adopted the name Liga Profesional de Baloncesto i ...

, the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP) is the top professional basketball league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 10 teams. Despite its short history, the LNBP has established itself as the one of the most important ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and the

Liga Nacional de Básquet The Liga Nacional de Básquet (abbreviated LNB, and literally in English, "National Basketball League"), also commonly referred to as "La Liga de Básquet" ("The Basketball League"), is the top-tier level of the Argentine basketball league system ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, retiring at 39 years old from the

in February 1997.

Post-playing career

Cureton serves as a Community Ambassador for the Detroit Pistons, a position he has held since 2013. This role includes leading Pistons organizational outreach and community partnerships. Before assuming his role with the Pistons, Cureton spent several years coaching in the WNBA, the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

and 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 ...

. Cureton fulfilled a promise to his mother, returning to finish his degree at UD in 2011 and serves as a color analyst for Detroit Mercy Titans radio broadcasts.

References

External links

Earl Cureton career statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cureton, Earl 1957 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Michigan Basketball players from Detroit Centers (basketball) Charlotte Hornets players Chicago Bulls players Continental Basketball Association coaches Detroit Pistons players Detroit Mercy Titans men's basketball players Houston Rockets players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Los Angeles Clippers players Olimpia Milano players Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Philadelphia 76ers players Power forwards (basketball) Robert Morris Colonials men's basketball players Toronto Raptors players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople