Paul Shirley facts for kids

Paul Murphy Shirley (born December 23, 1977) is an American who used to play professional basketball. He was a power forward and played for many teams, including Unicaja Málaga in Spain.

Paul Shirley is also known for writing. He kept an online journal, or blog, when he played for the Phoenix Suns in 2004–05. He wrote about his team's road trips and their journey through the NBA Playoffs. Later, he wrote another blog for ESPN.com called "My So-Called Career."

After his basketball career, Paul Shirley continued to write. He wrote columns for a Spanish newspaper called El Pais. He also had a podcast called Short Corner with Justin Halpern. He even started a writing group in Los Angeles called Writers Blok.

Paul Shirley has written three books. His first book, Can I Keep My Jersey?, came out in 2007. His second book, Stories I Tell On Dates, was released in 2017. His third book, which was his first novel, is called Ball Boy and was published in 2021.

Paul Shirley's Basketball Journey

Paul Shirley was born in Redwood City, California. He grew up near a small town in Kansas called Meriden, Kansas. He played high school basketball at Jefferson West High School. He was also a very good student and was a National Merit Finalist.

Shirley started playing basketball at Iowa State as a "walk-on," meaning he wasn't given a scholarship at first. But he worked hard and became a starter for three years. He played under coaches Tim Floyd and Larry Eustachy. Some of his teammates later played in the NBA, like Jamaal Tinsley, Kelvin Cato, and Marcus Fizer.

In his junior year, Paul Shirley's team, the Iowa State Cyclones, won their conference championship. They made it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA basketball tournament, which is a big college championship. They lost to Michigan State, who went on to win the whole tournament. In his senior year, his team had a tough loss in the first round of the tournament.

While in college, Shirley was recognized for his strong academics. He was named Academic All-Big 12 three times. In his final year, he was even named second-team Academic All-American. He earned a college degree in mechanical engineering.

After college, Paul Shirley, who is 6 feet 10 inches tall, played power forward for many professional teams. He played for 13 different teams around the world. In the NBA, he played for the Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks, and the Chicago Bulls. He also played in Greece, Spain, and Russia.

Shirley also played in preseason games for NBA teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves. He played in summer league games for the Timberwolves and Cleveland Cavaliers.

In total, Paul Shirley played 18 games in the NBA between 2002 and 2005. He averaged 1.8 points and 1.1 rebounds per game. His last NBA game was on April 20, 2005, with the Phoenix Suns. He played for 4 minutes and had one assist in that game.

Paul Shirley has three younger brothers, including a well-known chartmaker named Matt Shirley. Paul also appeared in the movie Glory Road and in an episode of the TV show Ground Floor. He also helped produce a TV show pilot called The Twelfth Man.

Paul Shirley's Writing Career

Paul Shirley's blogs for ESPN and other places were full of his thoughts. He wrote about basketball players, teams, fans, cities, and even topics outside of sports. For example, he shared his opinions on the USA Patriot Act. His writing caught the attention of major sports news outlets and other publications like Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal.

His first book, Can I Keep My Jersey?, was published on May 15, 2007. It received good reviews. A paperback version came out later that year.

His second book, Stories I Tell On Dates, was released on October 17, 2017. A podcast with the same name was started soon after.

His third book, Ball Boy, was released on February 2, 2021.

Between 2008 and 2015, Shirley wrote a monthly column about the NBA for the Spanish newspaper El Pais. The column was called "Historias de un Tío Alto," which means "Stories by a Tall Guy."

ESPN Controversy

Sometimes, Paul Shirley's writings caused a stir. In one article, he compared rooting for the San Antonio Spurs basketball team to cheering for cancer. In 2009, he wrote an ESPN.com column saying that the Beatles were overrated, which upset some music fans. In 2010, he wrote a blog post where he shared opinions that some found controversial about help for the earthquake in Haiti. After this, he was no longer a contributor for ESPN. The company stated that his views did not reflect their own.

Statistics

Collegiate statistics

Source: Cyclones.com and Sports-Reference.com

Professional statistics

Regular season

See also

In Spanish: Paul Shirley para niños