LuBara Dixon "Dickey" Simpkins (born April 6, 1972) 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 best known for his tenure with the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

in the late 1990s. He is currently a commentator for Fox Sports.

Early life

Simpkins was born on April 6, 1972, in

Fort Washington, Maryland Fort Washington is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It borders the Potomac River, situated 20 miles south of downtown Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 census, it had a popul ...

. As a 6' 9" forward/ center, Simpkins starred at

Friendly High School Friendly High School is a public high school in Friendly census-designated place in unincorporated Prince George's County, a county in the state of Maryland in the United States; it has a Fort Washington postal address.

in Maryland.

College career

Simpkins would go on to play

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 ...

Providence College Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...

. He would play four seasons for the Providence Friars basketball team, averaging 9.8 points per game during his collegiate career. During his time at Providence, Simpkins was twice named to the

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

All-Tournament team in 1993 and 1994. In 1994, he helped the Friars win the conference title and earn a spot in the 1994 NCAA tournament. In 2013, Providence inducted Simpkins into the college's athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Simpkins was selected by the

with the 21st pick in the

1994 NBA draft The 1994 NBA draft took place on June 29, 1994, at Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. Two NBA rookies of the year were picked in the first round, as Jason Kidd and Grant Hill were co-winners of the award for the 1994–95 NBA season. Kidd and Hill ...

. Behind

Luc Longley Lucien James Longley (born 19 January 1969) is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player. He was the first Australian to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played for four teams over 10 seasons. He m ...

, Bill Wennington, and later

Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Renowned for his defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best rebounding forw ...

in the Bulls' playing rotation, he saw limited action in his first few seasons as a Bull, scoring 513 points in 167 games. He earned two

NBA Championship The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern and Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league ...

rings in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, but was not on the team's active roster for either playoff run, and in fall 1997 the Bulls traded him to the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. Founded in 1946 i ...

for

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

/ forward

Scott Burrell Scott David Burrell (born January 12, 1971) is an American basketball coach and former player who is currently the men's basketball head coach at Southern Connecticut State University. He has played internationally and was also a professional b ...

. The Warriors subsequently waived Simpkins, and the Bulls claimed him. Simpkins posted a .634

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the gene ...

in 21 games, and in the spring of 1998 he participated in the playoffs for the first time of his career, earning his third championship ring. After the 1998–99 NBA lockout, the Bulls parted ways with

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

Scottie Pippen Scotty Maurice Pippen Sr. (born September 25, 1965), usually spelled Scottie Pippen, is an American former professional basketball player. He played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning six NBA championships with th ...

, Rodman and

, which provided Simpkins with significantly more playing time. During the 1999 season he emerged as a part-time starter, averaging career highs of 9.1 points and 6.8 rebounds, and in the following season, he played a career-high 1,651 minutes. After the Bulls signed Brad Miller in September 2000, the Bulls renounced their rights to Simpkins, who would spend a season 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 ...

before joining the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

during the

2001–02 NBA season The 2001–02 NBA season was the 56th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning their third straight championship, beating the New Jersey Nets 4–0 in the 2002 NBA Finals. Notab ...

. He only played one game for the Hawks, though, and spent the rest of the season in Greece and the CBA. He later played in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 2005, Simpkins joined the

Alaska Aces (PBA) The Alaska Aces were a professional basketball team in the Philippine Basketball Association since 1986 PBA season, 1986 under the ownership of Alaska Milk Corporation (AMC) and the owner of 14 PBA championships, tied with the Magnolia Hotsho ...

of the Philippine Basketball Association as replacement for Leon Derricks. He led the team to a three-game quarterfinals loss against the sixth-seeded Red Bull franchise.

Post-playing career

Simpkins has worked as a college basketball analyst for ESPN. He is the founder of the basketball development company Next Level Performance Inc. (NLP), and is a national motivational speaker. He is currently a color commentator at Fox Sports 1 (FS1) for the Big East games. He was a scout for the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team ...

and the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 59 , , 5 , , 9.9 , , .424 , , – , , .694 , , 2.6 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 3.5 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

, 60 , , 12 , , 11.4 , , .481 , , 1.000 , , .629 , , 2.6 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 3.6 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

, 48 , , 0 , , 8.2 , , .333 , , .250 , , .700 , , 1.9 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 1.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Golden State , 19 , , 0 , , 10.3 , , .458 , , .000 , , .385 , , 2.4 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 2.8 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

, 21 , , 0 , , 11.3 , , .634 , , .000 , , .591 , , 1.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 3.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 50* , , 35 , , 29.0 , , .463 , , .000 , , .645 , , 6.8 , , 1.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.3 , , 9.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 69 , , 48 , , 23.9 , , .405 , , .000 , , .542 , , 5.4 , , 1.4 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 4.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 1 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , – , , – , , – , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 327 , , 100 , , 15.9 , , .440 , , .222 , , .618 , , 3.6 , , 0.9 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 4.2

Playoffs

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1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 13, , 0, , 5.7, , .375, , –, , .444, , 1.0, , 0.2, , 0.2, , 0.1, , 1.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 13, , 0, , 5.7, , .375, , –, , .444, , 1.0, , 0.2, , 0.2, , 0.1, , 1.2

References

External links

NBA Blog SquadEurobasket.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpkins, Dickey 1972 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen Alaska Aces (PBA) players American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Lebanon American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players BC Rytas players BC UNICS players Bamberg Baskets players Basketball players from Prince George's County, Maryland Centers (basketball) Chicago Bulls draft picks Chicago Bulls players College basketball announcers in the United States Criollos de Caguas basketball players Dakota Wizards (CBA) players Golden State Warriors players Leones de Ponce basketball players Liga ACB players Makedonikos B.C. players Maroussi B.C. players Sportspeople from Fort Washington, Maryland Philippine Basketball Association imports Power forwards Providence Friars men's basketball players Rockford Lightning players