Byron Stewart Dinkins (born June 15, 1967) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player, who played two seasons in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, from 1989 to 1991. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for

UNC Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte, or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs thr ...

. After his stint in the NBA, Dinkins pursued a professional career in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

College career

Dinkins, a

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

, that was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, attended and graduated from East Mecklenburg, where he played high school basketball. After high school, Dinkins was recruited to play

. He stayed with the

Charlotte 49ers The Charlotte 49ers are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina. The 49ers compete at the Nati ...

for four seasons, as he averaged 15.5

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

, 2.8 rebounds per game, 4.8 assists per game, and 1.2 steals per game, in 107 games played. Dinkins achieved a career-high in scoring, during his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

season, as he averaged 21.4 points per game. Dinkins led his school to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament title. He was also honored as the Sun Belt Player of the Year. Dinkins was also named to the All-Sun Belt Conference First Team in his junior and

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

seasons.

Professional career

NBA

Dinkins played in the

, with the

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 of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

, during the

1989–90 NBA season The 1989–90 NBA season was the 44th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Detroit Pistons winning their second consecutive NBA Championship, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 4 games to 1 in the NBA Finals. ...

. He split time with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

and

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, during the 1990–91 season. In his NBA career, Dinkins played in a total of 45 games played, and he scored a total of 151 points, for a soring average of 3.4 points per game.

Greece

Although Dinkins never played for an

team after 1991, he did have a prosperous professional

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

basketball career playing in the Greek League for Peristeri Athens, Panionios Athens,

Panathinaikos Athens Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of ...

, and

Iraklis Thessaloniki Gymnastikos Syllogos Thessalonikis "Iraklis" (), commonly referred to as Iraklis Thessaloniki, is a multi–sporting club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. G.S. Iraklis Thessalonikis was founded on 29 November 1908 and i ...

. Dinkins led the Greek League in assists per game, in the 1995–96 season. In the 1996–97 season, he played with

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

, and in September 1996, he helped them win the 1996 edition of the

FIBA Intercontinental Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, previously known to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs and the FIBA Club World Cup, is an annual international men's basketball competition organised by FIBA, the sport's global governing body. The competit ...

Personal life

After his basketball playing career ended, Dinkins returned to his birthplace of

. He now serves as the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

of the Carmel Christian School varsity boys basketball team, and the middle school's gym teacher. Professional basketball player K. C. Rivers, is his

nephew In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of an individual's sibling or sibling-in-law. A niece is female and a nephew is male, and they would call their parents' siblings aunt or uncle ...

References

External links

Career stats at basketball-reference.comEurobasket.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinkins, Byron 1967 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Cyprus American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Greece American men's basketball players Basketball players from Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte 49ers men's basketball players Columbus Horizon players Greek Basket League players High school basketball coaches in the United States Houston Rockets players Indiana Pacers players Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C. players Panathinaikos B.C. players Panionios B.C. players Peristeri B.C. players Point guards Rapid City Thrillers players San Antonio Spurs players Sportspeople from Charlotte, North Carolina Undrafted NBA players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen