Billy Owens Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Billy Owens

Owens ("right") with young fan at 2024 Jr. 76ers Basketball Camp

Personal information

Born

May 1, 1969 (age 56)
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, U.S.

High school

Carlisle (Carlisle, Pennsylvania)

Listed height

6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)

Listed weight

220 lb (100 kg)

Career information

College

Syracuse (1988–1991)

NBA Draft

1991 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall

Selected by the Sacramento Kings

Pro career

1991–2001

Coaching career

2010–2018

Career history

As player:

1991–1994

Golden State Warriors

1994–1996

1996–1998

1999

1999–2000

2000

Golden State Warriors

2000–2001

Detroit Pistons

As coach:

2010–2018

Rutgers–Camden (assistant)

Career highlights and awards

NBA All-Rookie First Team (1992)
Consensus first-team All-American (1991)
Third-team All-American – NABC, UPI (1990)
Big East Player of the Year (1991)
2× First-team All-Big East (1990, 1991)
No. 30 retired by Syracuse Orange
McDonald's All-American Game MVP (1988)
First-team Parade All-American (1988)
Third-team Parade All-American (1987)

Career NBA statistics

Points

7,026 (11.7 ppg)

Rebounds

4,016 (6.7 rpg)

Assists

1,704 (2.8 apg)

Medals

Men's Basketball

Representing United States
FIBA Americas Championship
Silver	1989 Mexico City	Team competition
World Championship
Bronze	1990 Buenos Aires	Team competition
Goodwill Games
Silver	1990 Seattle	Team competition

Billy Eugene Owens (born May 1, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Syracuse, where he was an All-American and the 1991 Big East Conference Player of the Year. Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Owens played for Carlisle High School.

Amateur career
Professional career
Coaching
National team
NBA player statistics
- Regular season
- Playoffs
See also

Amateur career

As a high school senior, Owens averaged 34 points per game, and helped lead Carlisle High School (Pennsylvania) to four consecutive state titles. He was considered to be the second best prep player of 1988, behind Alonzo Mourning. Owens and Mourning were co-MVPs in the McDonald's' Game. Throughout his career, Owens drew some comparisons to Magic Johnson due to his great versatility, ball handling and passing skills for his height.

In his three seasons with Syracuse he averaged 17.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game out of 103 games. In his junior season he was named Big East Player of the Year.

Professional career

As a 6'8" small forward/shooting guard from Syracuse University, he was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the 1991 NBA draft. However, after Owens remained a holdout beyond the start of the regular season, he was traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for high-scoring guard Mitch Richmond. The trade broke up the popular "Run TMC" trio of Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway, and Chris Mullin; Owens' additional height compared to Richmond was the size that coach and general manager Don Nelson believed would complete the team. Nelson said he "was under pressure to get [the team] bigger" to improve the Warriors from a good team to a great one.

Owens averaged over 15 points and nearly eight rebounds during his tenure with the Warriors, including an NBA All-Rookie First Team selection in 1992. The Warriors improved from 44 to 55 wins in his first season. However, Owens was injured during his second season, and he never reached the level of play the team hoped for. Owens spent ten seasons with the Warriors, Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics, Philadelphia 76ers, and Detroit Pistons before a string of injuries finally took its toll; his career ended in 2001.

Coaching

From 2010 to 2018, Owens served as an assistant coach for the men's basketball team at Division III Rutgers-Camden. In practice, players asked Owens how they should prepare themselves for professional careers. "I don't sugar-coat it because then you're playing with young kids' minds," Owens said. "For them to have their dreams crushed can do serious damage to them when they become real adults."

National team

He played for the US national team in the 1990 FIBA World Championship, winning the bronze medal. In the same year, he also represented the United States at the Goodwill Games in Seattle and led the team in scoring en route to a silver medal.

NBA player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1991–92	Golden State	80	77	31.4	.525	.111	.654	8.0	2.4	1.1	0.8	14.3
1992–93	Golden State	37	37	32.5	.501	.091	.639	7.1	3.9	0.9	0.8	16.5
1993–94	Golden State	79	72	34.7	.507	.200	.610	8.1	4.1	1.1	0.8	15.0
1994–95	Miami	70	60	32.8	.491	.091	.620	7.2	3.5	1.1	0.4	14.3
1995–96	Miami	40	40	34.7	.505	.000	.633	7.2	3.4	0.8	0.6	14.8
1995–96	Sacramento	22	11	27.0	.420	.417	.643	5.7	3.2	0.9	0.7	9.9
1996–97	Sacramento	66	56	30.2	.467	.347	.697	5.9	2.8	0.9	0.4	11.0
1997–98	Sacramento	78	78	30.1	.464	.371	.589	7.5	2.8	1.2	0.5	10.5
1998–99	Seattle	21	19	21.5	.394	.455	.800	3.8	1.8	0.6	0.2	7.8
1999–00	Philadelphia	46	7	20.0	.434	.333	.594	4.2	1.3	0.6	0.3	5.9
1999–00	Golden State	16	4	24.1	.380	.286	.595	6.8	2.4	0.4	0.3	6.4
2000–01	Detroit	45	14	17.6	.383	.150	.475	4.6	1.2	0.7	0.3	4.4
Career		600	475	29.4	.481	.291	.629	6.7	2.8	0.9	0.5	11.7

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1992	Golden State	4	4	39.3	.526	–	.630	8.3	3.3	2.0	0.5	19.3
1994	Golden State	3	3	42.3	.500	.000	.750	10.0	4.3	1.3	0.7	19.7
1996	Sacramento	4	4	32.8	.441	.000	.500	6.5	3.5	1.0	0.3	8.3
Career		11	11	37.7	.496	.000	.644	8.1	3.6	1.5	0.5	15.4

Billy Owens facts for kids

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