Willie Ricardo Burton (born May 26, 1968) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who was selected by 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 Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

in the first round (9th overall pick) in the 1990 NBA draft from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

. Burton played for numerous NBA teams as a journeyman from 1990 to 1999. He also played in Europe for several seasons. He was born in

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 t ...

where he attended high school at St. Martin De Porres. Willie has three children with Carla Burton.

High school career

Burton attended high school at

St. Martin De Porres Martín de Porres Velázquez (9 December 1579 – 3 November 1639) was a Peruvian lay brother of the Dominican Order who was beatified in 1837 by Pope Gregory XVI and canonized in 1962 by Pope John XXIII. He is the patron saint of mixed-r ...

. The school won the Michigan Class C state championship in 1985 and 1986. Burton was inducted into the Detroit Catholic High School Hall of Fame in 1990.

College career

The University of Minnesota reached the Sweet Sixteen during Burton's junior year (1989) and the Elite Eight during his senior season (1990).http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=39209&SPID=3302&DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=274536 Burton finished his college career as the Golden Gophers' second all-time leading scorer, with 1,800 points. He was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 1990, a second-team All-Big Ten selection in 1989 and honorable mention All-Big Ten in 1988. After sharing team MVP honors in 1988, he was the team's sole MVP in 1989 and 1990. Burton was entered in the University of Minnesota Hall of Fame in 2013, and his #34 jersey was retired January 26, 2020.

Professional career

Burton was selected by the

in the 1st round (9th overall pick) in the 1990 NBA draft from the

. He earned Second-Team All-Rookie Team status, averaging 12 ppg in his rookie campaign. Burton scored 53 points in a game for the Philadelphia 76ers against his former Heat team on December 13, 1994. Burton only attempted 19 field goals in the game, which is the second fewest field goal attempts in a 50-point game.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

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, 68 , , 50 , , 23.3 , , .450 , , .400 , , .800 , , 3.6 , , 1.8 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 26 , , 8 , , 17.3 , , .383 , , .333 , , .717 , , 2.7 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 0.6 , , 7.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 53 , , 1 , , 13.2 , , .438 , , .200 , , .759 , , 2.6 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 7.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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Charlotte 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 ...

, 3 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , .143 , , .000 , , .500 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 316 , , 118 , , 21.1 , , .424 , , .345 , , .786 , , 2.9 , , 1.2 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 10.3

Playoffs

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Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Willie 1968 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Russia American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Detroit Charlotte Hornets players Denver Nuggets draft picks Florida Beachdogs players Great Lakes Storm players Idaho Stampede (CBA) players Irakleio B.C. players Miami Heat draft picks Miami Heat players Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball players PBC Ural Great players Philadelphia 76ers players Quad City Thunder players San Antonio Spurs players Shooting guards Small forwards Saint Martin de Porres High School (Detroit) alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople