Theodore "Blue" Edwards (born October 31, 1965) 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 played ten seasons in the

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

(NBA). Edwards now coaches at his alma mater,

Greene Central High School Greene Central High School is a public high school located in Greene County, North Carolina. The middle school feeding upcoming students into Greene Central is Greene County Middle School. The school mascot is the Ram. It is one of five schools o ...

Snow Hill, North Carolina Snow Hill is a town in Greene County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,595 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Greene County and is part of the Greenville Metropolitan Area. Snow Hill hosts numerous tennis tournaments ...

Early life

Edwards' hometown was

Walstonburg, North Carolina Walstonburg is a town in Greene County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 219 at the 2010 census. It is located north of Snow Hill on North Carolina Highway 91. The town is part of the Greenville Metropolitan Area. History The ...

. He attended Greene Central High School, in Snow Hill, North Carolina where he played on the basketball team.

College basketball career

From 1984 to 1986, Edwards played basketball at

Louisburg College Louisburg College is a private Methodist-affiliated two-year college in Louisburg, North Carolina. History Louisburg College has its roots in two schools: Franklin Male Academy, which was chartered in 1787, re-chartered in 1802 but held its fir ...

Louisburg, North Carolina Louisburg is a town in Franklin County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,064. It is the county seat of Franklin County. The town is located approximately 29 miles northeast of the state capital, Ra ...

. In the late 1980s, he played for East Carolina University. In 1988–89, Edwards scored 773 points, the most points in a single season for ECU. He also finished sixth in the nation in scoring. In 1987, Edwards was suspended from the season after being found guilty of breaking and entering. In 1994, Edwards became a member of the East Carolina University Athletics Hall of Fame.

NBA career

He was selected by the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

with the 21st overall pick of the

1989 NBA draft The 1989 NBA draft took place on June 27, 1989, in New York City. Despite eight of the top ten picks being considered busts, including the first two picks Pervis Ellison and Danny Ferry, the draft produced many talented players such as Shawn Ke ...

out of East Carolina University and was a member of the 1990 NBA All-Rookie 2nd team. He was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in 1992 and tied for scoring with Frank Brickowski for the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

during the 1992–93 season with 16.9 points per game (although at 16.85, Edwards' average was slightly lower than Brickowski's 16.89). Edwards was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies with the 26th selection in the 1995 NBA Expansion Draft, having been left unprotected by the

. He recorded the first

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in the history of the

Vancouver Grizzlies The Vancouver Grizzlies were a Canadian professional basketball team based in Vancouver. They were part of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was established in 1995, along w ...

(also his first) on March 1, 1996, against the Dallas Mavericks with 15 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. In the Grizzlies' first season, he ranked fourth overall in points per game (12.7). Edwards won several games with last-second shots, including a game winning bucket against the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

that ended the Grizzlies' 23-game losing streak. The shot prevented the Grizzlies from tying the

record for most consecutive losses. He also hit a last-second game winning shot against the Philadelphia 76ers. He was also the only Grizzly to play and start all 82 games. Due to Edwards' dunking ability, he was invited to the 1990

NBA Slam Dunk Contest The NBA Slam Dunk Contest (officially known as the AT&T Slam Dunk) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) competition held during the NBA All-Star Weekend. ''Sports Illustrated'' wrote "the dunk contest was the best halftime inventio ...

in which he did not take part due to injury, and was replaced by David Benoit. However, he did take part in the 1991 event, placing 6th. Edwards wore number 30 throughout his career until he moved to the Miami Heat where he wore 32 as 30 was in use by

Terry Porter Terry Porter (born April 8, 1963) is an American former college basketball coach and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was most recently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Portland. A native of Wis ...

. After his NBA career, Edwards played overseas.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1989–90 , align="left" ,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, 82 , , 49 , , 23.0 , , .507 , , .300 , , .719 , , 3.1 , , 1.8 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 8.9 , - , align="left" ,

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, align="left" ,

, 62 , , 56 , , 26.0 , , .526 , , .250 , , .701 , , 3.2 , , 1.7 , , 0.9 , , 0.5 , , 9.3 , - , align="left" , 1991–92 , align="left" ,

, 81 , , 81 , , 28.2 , , .522 , , .379 , , .774 , , 3.7 , , 1.7 , , 1.0 , , 0.6 , , 12.6 , - , align="left" ,

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

, 82 , , 81 , , 33.3 , , .512 , , .349 , , .790 , , 4.7 , , 2.6 , , 1.6 , , 0.5 , , 16.9 , - , align="left" , 1993–94 , align="left" ,

, 82 , , 64 , , 28.3 , , .478 , , .358 , , .799 , , 4.0 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , 0.3 , , 11.6 , - , align="left" , 1994–95 , align="left" ,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, 31 , , 7 , , 16.4 , , .426 , , .256 , , .896 , , 2.1 , , 1.5 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 7.1 , - , align="left" , 1994–95 , align="left" ,

, 36 , , 0 , , 16.8 , , .495 , , .344 , , .762 , , 1.8 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 6.6 , - , align="left" , 1995–96 , align="left" ,

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, 82 , , 82 , , 33.8 , , .419 , , .343 , , .755 , , 4.2 , , 2.6 , , 1.4 , , 0.6 , , 12.7 , - , align="left" , 1996–97 , align="left" ,

, 61 , , 12 , , 23.6 , , .397 , , .281 , , .817 , , 3.1 , , 1.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 7.8 , - , align="left" , 1997–98 , align="left" ,

, 81 , , 20 , , 24.3 , , .439 , , .333 , , .837 , , 2.7 , , 2.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.3 , , 10.8 , - , align="left" , 1998–99 , align="left" ,

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 ...

, 24 , , 0 , , 11.8 , , .444 , , .400 , , .692 , , 1.4 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 3.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 704 , , 452 , , 26.1 , , .475 , , .335 , , .779 , , 3.4 , , 2.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.4 , , 10.8

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1989–90 , align="left" ,

, 5 , , 0 , , 18.8 , , .538 , , .333 , , .875 , , 3.6 , , 1.6 , , 1.4 , , 0.4 , , 7.2 , - , align="left" ,

, align="left" ,

, 9 , , 9 , , 26.8 , , .481 , , .500 , , .800 , , 3.1 , , 1.8 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 10.1 , - , align="left" , 1991–92 , align="left" ,

, 16 , , 7 , , 22.1 , , .468 , , .200 , , .719 , , 3.2 , , 1.1 , , 1.4 , , 0.2 , , 8.1 , - , align="left" , 1994-95 , align="left" ,

, 4 , , 0 , , 8.3 , , .333 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , 1.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 2.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 34 , , 16 , , 21.2 , , .473 , , .313 , , .767 , , 3.0 , , 1.3 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 7.8

Child custody issue

At the end of 2001, Edwards was involved in a highly publicized child custody case in Canada. While playing for the Vancouver Grizzlies in the spring of 1996, Edwards, who was married, started an affair with Canadian citizen Kimberly Van de Perre. He had at least two other affairs. During the affair with Kimberly, she became pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy named Elijah, in June 1997. When Elijah was three months old, Ms. Van de Perre began proceedings for custody and child support, naming Edwards as the father of the child. Edwards responded initially by seeking joint custody and liberal access, but later changed his response to seek sole custody. After a lengthy trial that ran from the fall of 1998 to early 1999, the trial judge released his decision and awarded sole custody to the mother. Edwards was given considerable access — four one-week periods quarterly throughout the year, shared time at

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

and on Elijah's birthday and additional access upon short notice when he was in

. Edwards appealed this decision. During the hearing at the

British Columbia Court of Appeal The British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) is the highest appellate court in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1910 following the 1907 Court of Appeal Act. The BCCA hears appeals from the Supreme Court of Britis ...

, the Court invited Mrs. Edwards to apply to be admitted as a party and to request joint custody of Elijah with her husband. Mrs. Edwards is also an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

. This new, joint application for custody was successful, and Elijah was placed in the custody of Edwards and his wife. The Court of Appeals' decision was stayed to allow the mother the opportunity to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, with the result that Elijah remained primarily in his mother's care throughout these proceedings. In 2001 the Supreme Court of Canada restored the trial decision and awarded custody to Elijah's mother; the Court concluded that in this case there was no evidence introduced that race should be "an important consideration". After the Supreme Court affirmed that the mother should have sole custody, the father ceased visiting and paying child support. In 2009, the Canadian Television Network produced and aired a made-for-TV movie based on the custody battle story entitled "Playing for Keeps", which is released in the US under the title "What Color Is Love?".

References

*Van de Perre v. Edwards,

001 001, O01, or OO1 may refer to: *1 (number), a number, a numeral *001, fictional British agent, see 00 Agent *001, former emergency telephone number for the Norwegian fire brigade (until 1986) *AM-RB 001, the code-name for the Aston Martin Valkyrie ...

2 S.C.R. 1014, 2001 SCC 60 *Van de Perre v. Edwards, 2004 CarswellBC 867 (BCSC)

External links

Blue Edwards NBA statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Blue 1965 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Greece American men's basketball players Basketball players from North Carolina Basketball players from Washington, D.C. Boston Celtics players Dafnis B.C. players East Carolina Pirates men's basketball players Louisburg Hurricanes men's basketball players Miami Heat players Milwaukee Bucks players Olympiacos B.C. players People from Greene County, North Carolina Shooting guards Small forwards Utah Jazz draft picks Utah Jazz players Vancouver Grizzlies expansion draft picks Vancouver Grizzlies players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople