Kevin Burleson

American basketball player and coach

Kevin Burleson

Kevin Burleson in 2005 with the Charlotte Bobcats.

Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Position| Head coach
League| NBA G League
Personal information
Born|  (1979-04-09) April 9, 1979 (age 44)
Seattle, Washington
Nationality| American
Listed height| 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight| 205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school| O'Dea (Seattle, Washington)
College| Minnesota (1999–2003)
NBA draft| 2003: undrafted
Playing career| 2003–2013
Position| Point guard
Number| 12
Coaching career| 2017–present
Career history
As player:
2003–2004| USC Heidelberg
2004–2005| Walter Tigers Tübingen
2005–2006| Charlotte Bobcats
2006–2007| Fort Worth Flyers
2007–2008| Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi
2009| Idaho Stampede
2009–2010| CSU Asesoft Ploieşti
2012–2013| Al-Ittihad Alexandria
As coach:
2017–2018| Iowa Wolves (assistant)
2018–2019| Memphis Grizzlies (assistant)
2019–2022| Minnesota Timberwolves (assistant)
2022–present| Rio Grande Valley Vipers
Career highlights and awards

* Romanian League champion (2010)

Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Kevin Burleson (born April 9, 1979) is an American professional basketball coach, and a former professional basketball player. He is currently the head coach of Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League.

He played college basketball for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and began his professional career in the German basketball league. He played for the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 2005–06.

## Early life[edit]

Burleson was born in Seattle, Washington. He was born to a prolific sporting family: his father, Al Burleson, played defensive back in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the United States Football League (USFL). His older brother Alvin Jr. played college football for the University of Washington Huskies and the Western Illinois University Leathernecks. His younger brother Nate was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL), while younger brother Lyndale played college basketball for the University of Nevada Wolf Pack.[1][2] Kevin and Nate Burleson are one of only two sets of siblings in which one played in the NBA and one in the NFL.[3] Like his brothers he played several sports early on, but gave up baseball as he found it too slow, and gave up football for fear of an injury that would prevent him from playing basketball.[1]

Burleson graduated from O'Dea High School after transferring from Garfield High School after his freshman year.[1] At O'Dea, Burleson earned three letters in basketball and one in track and field and played basketball under coach Phil Lumpkin. In his junior year, Burleson helped O'Dea go undefeated through a 29-game season and win the state title.[4]

## College career[edit]

Burleson was offered a basketball scholarship to the University of Washington, but opted instead to attend the University of Minnesota for a chance to play in the Big Ten Conference.[1] He played for the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball team from 1999 to 2003 after redshirting the 1998–99 season. Minnesota made the 2001 National Invitation Tournament (NIT), and Burleson scored a season-high 21 points in Minnesota's win over Villanova in the first round. As a junior, Burleson led Minnesota with 146 assists and had an assist/turnover ratio 146–58.[4]

## Professional career[edit]

Burleson began his professional career in Germany. He played for the USC Heidelberg in the 2003–2004 season and for the Walter Tigers Tübingen of Basketball Bundesliga in the 2004–2005 season. He was then signed by the Charlotte Bobcats of the NBA on August 31, 2005. He played with the Bobcats for the 2005–2006 season, but was subsequently cut.

In the 2006 NBA Development League draft, the Fort Worth Flyers picked Burleson as the fourth overall pick in the first round.[5] Burleson played for the Flyers for the 2006–07 season, then signed with the Turkish Basketball League team Mersin Büyükşehir Belediye for the 2007–2008 season.[6] In January 2009 he signed with the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League the day after being traded from the Iowa Energy.[6][7] Burleson finished his career with the Egyptian team Al-Ittihad Alexandria.[8]

## Coaching Career[edit]

On June 15, 2018, Burleson was hired as assistant coach/player development coach for the Memphis Grizzlies.[9] On June 27, 2019, Burleson was hired by the Minnesota Timberwolves as a player development coach.[10]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Raley, Dan (September 13, 2006). "Burlesons are the first family of Seattle sports". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
2. ^ "Sonics sign Moore weeks after losing James". ESPN. August 31, 2005. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
3. ^ Duff, Bob (October 18, 2010). "Lions' Burleson proud of Canadian roots". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved October 19, 2010.[permanent dead link]
4. ^ a b "Kevin Burleson". Minnesota Golden Gophers. Archived from the original on November 2, 2003. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
5. ^ 2006 D-League draft results Archived 2007-02-19 at the Wayback Machine
6. ^ a b "Stampede sign former NBA player Kevin Burleson". KBOI-TV. January 29, 2009. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
7. ^ Transactions, D-League, 2008–09 Archived 2015-12-19 at the Wayback Machine
8. ^ "Kevin Burleson | EuroChallenge (2010) | FIBA Europe".
9. ^ "Memphis Grizzlies announce assistant coaching staff". NBA.com. June 15, 2018. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
10. ^ "Minnesota Timberwolves Add to Coaching Staff". NBA.com. June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2019.

## External links[edit]

* NBA.com Profile – Kevin Burleson
* Minnesota Golden Gophers bio (archived)
*   * Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com

* v
* t
* e

Rio Grande Valley Vipers current roster

* 00 Samuels (TW)
* 0 Lecque
* 1 Occeus
* 4 Days
* 6 Obiesie
* 8 Culver
* 13 Knight
* 14 Hinton (TW)
* 19 Williams (TW)
* 23 Reaves
* 26 Spalding
* 60 Mayer
* 66 Mitchell

* Head coach: Burleson
* Assistant coaches: Harville
* Keck

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*[t]: Discuss this template
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