Eric Snow (born April 5, 1973) is an American

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 ...

coach and former professional player. He played the point guard position in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

from 1995 to 2008 and appeared in three NBA Finals. Known for his defense, Snow was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2003. Following his playing career, Snow served as an assistant coach at Florida Atlantic for two years (2014-2016) after having worked two seasons at SMU (2012–14) as the director of player development under Larry Brown, his former coach.

High school career

Snow began his basketball career at Canton McKinley High School in Canton, Ohio. He was McKinley High School's MVP for three straight seasons.

College career

Snow attended college at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. He played varsity basketball at Michigan State under head coach

Jud Heathcote George Melvin "Jud" Heathcote (May 27, 1927 – August 28, 2017) was an American basketball player and coach. He was a college basketball head coach for 24 seasons: five at the University of Montana and nineteen at Michigan State University H ...

. In his senior season, the Spartans earned a #3 seed to the 1995 NCAA Tournament, but they were upset in the first round by

Weber State University Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was found ...

NBA career

Seattle SuperSonics

After college, Snow was selected by 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 ...

with the 43rd overall pick in the

1995 NBA draft The 1995 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1995, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft to be held outside the United States and was the first draft for the two Canadian expansion teams, Toronto Raptors and Vanco ...

. He was immediately traded to the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conf ...

, where he played sparingly for the next two-and-one-half seasons.

Philadelphia 76ers

On January 18, 1998, Snow was acquired from Seattle by the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for a second-round draft pick. At the time of the trade, Snow was averaging just 4.4 minutes per game; Sixers head coach Larry Brown gave him a bigger role in Philadelphia. In his first full season in Philadelphia, he started every game he played in and averaged 35.8 minutes per game. As a pass-first, defensive-minded point guard, Snow became a stalwart of the Brown-era 76ers teams. Snow's ability to guard opposing teams' shooting guards made him an ideal complement to

Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson (; born June 7, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Answer", he played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) at both the shooting guard and point guard positions. Iver ...

, a high-scoring but unusually small shooting guard. Despite missing thirty-two games early in the 2000–01 season due to injury, Snow played a crucial role in helping the 76ers earn the top playoff seed in the Eastern Conference and ultimately reach the

2001 NBA Finals The 2001 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2000–01 season. The defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers took on the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 7 ...

, where they lost in five games to the Los Angeles Lakers. During the following season, Lakers shooting guard

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely ...

stated that nobody in the league defended him better than Snow. In 2002–03, Snow posted career highs in points per game (12.9), rebounds per game (3.7), minutes per game (37.9), field goal percentage (45.2%), and free throw percentage (85.8%). Snow's excellent free throw percentage was particularly noteworthy, as he had been a very poor foul shooter in college and early in his NBA career, averaging 52.1% from the stripe during his four seasons at Michigan State and 59.2% as a rookie. He also averaged 6.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game in 2002–03.

Cleveland Cavaliers

On July 20, 2004, Snow was traded to the Cavaliers in exchange for Kevin Ollie and Kedrick Brown. He was suspended without pay for a December 18, 2004 game against the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

after a confrontation with Paul Silas, the coach of the Cavaliers. It was the only game that Snow missed in his first three years with the Cavaliers. He had a season-high 16 points on January 22, 2005 against 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 league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

and a season-high 13 assists on April 19, 2005 against the

(which is also his high assist total as a Cavalier). Snow ranked fifth in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.56); he donated $20 for every one of his steals and assists during the 2004–05 season. Snow played in and started all 82 games for the Cavaliers in the 2005-06 season, helping the Cavaliers return to the playoffs for the first time since 1998. He started all 13 playoff games for the Cavaliers. He scored 18 points in a Game 5 victory over 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 league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

during the first round of the playoffs before losing to the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

in 7 games in the semifinals. The following season, for the fifth and final time in his career, Snow played in all 82 games. He had a season high 18 points on January 13, 2007 against the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

and a season-high 11 assists on January 20, 2007 against the

. However, he gradually lost playing time through the course of the season to

Daniel Gibson Daniel Hiram Gibson (born February 27, 1986) is an American former professional basketball player who played seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was selected by the Cavaliers in the second r ...

, until he came off the bench on January 30, 2007, bringing an end to Snow's streak of starts that lasted for 127 games. The Cavaliers made the NBA Finals and lost to the San Antonio Spurs in a sweep that year. In his 13th NBA season, Snow was named team co-captain, along with

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest pl ...

. Snow only played in 22 games that season. On March 11, 2008, it was announced that Snow would miss four to six weeks due to arthritic-related symptoms in his left knee, ending his season. After the injury, Snow conceded that he likely would not play in the NBA again. Unable to play, but still listed as an active player on the Cavaliers' roster, Snow served on Head Coach Mike Brown's staff as an unofficial assistant coach for the 2008-09 season. On April 4, 2009, Snow was given a "medically necessary" release and began working as an analyst for NBA TV.

Achievements

During his playing career, Snow reached the NBA Finals three times (and once with each of the teams on which he played): the SuperSonics in 1996, the 76ers in 2001, and the Cavaliers in 2007. All three appearances were losses. In Philadelphia and Cleveland, Snow served as team co-captain along Allen Iverson and LeBron James, respectively.

Coaching career

Snow was hired as assistant coach for the Texas Legends in 2017 through NBA's Assistant Coaches Program (ACP) after his two-year spell as assistant coach for the Florida Atlantic University. Prior to that, Snow had been the director of player development for the

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , pr ...

through 2012–2014.

Personal life

Snow is the younger brother of former

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

Percy Snow, who also played at

and played for both the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

and the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

. He married his college girlfriend, Deshawn in 1998, the two divorced in 2010. The couple have three sons: Jarren, Darius, and Eric Jr. With second wife Carrie he has sons Noah, Graceson and Brayden His son Darius signed to play football with

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

for the class of 2020.https://www.mlive.com/sports/2019/07/4-star-michigan-state-commit-darius-snow-proud-of-family-legacy-but-wants-to-make-his-own-name.html 4-star Michigan State commit Darius Snow proud of family legacy but wants to make his own name

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1995–96 , align="left" ,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, 43 , , 1 , , 9.0 , , .420 , , .200 , , .592 , , 1.0 , , 1.7 , , .6 , , .0 , , 2.7 , - , align="left" , 1996–97 , align="left" ,

, 67 , , 0 , , 11.6 , , .451 , , .267 , , .712 , , 1.0 , , 2.4 , , .6 , , .0 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" , 1997–98 , align="left" ,

, 17 , , 0 , , 4.4 , , .435 , , .000 , , .500 , , .2 , , .8 , , .0 , , .1 , , 1.5 , - , align="left" , 1997–98 , align="left" ,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, 47 , , 0 , , 18.0 , , .429 , , .125 , , .721 , , 1.6 , , 3.5 , , 1.3 , , .1 , , 3.9 , - , align="left" , 1998–99 , align="left" ,

, 48 , , 48 , , 35.8 , , .428 , , .238 , , .733 , , 3.4 , , 6.3 , , 2.1 , , .0 , , 8.6 , - , align="left" , 1999–00 , align="left" ,

, 82 , , 80 , , 35.0 , , .430 , , .244 , , .712 , , 3.2 , , 7.6 , , 1.7 , , .1 , , 7.9 , - , align="left" , 2000–01 , align="left" ,

, 50 , , 50 , , 34.8 , , .418 , , .263 , , .792 , , 3.3 , , 7.4 , , 1.5 , , .1 , , 9.8 , - , align="left" , 2001–02 , align="left" ,

, 61 , , 61 , , 36.5 , , .442 , , .111 , , .806 , , 3.5 , , 6.6 , , 1.6 , , .2 , , 12.1 , - , align="left" , 2002–03 , align="left" ,

, 82 , , 82 , , 37.9 , , .452 , , .219 , , .858 , , 3.7 , , 6.6 , , 1.6 , , .1 , , 12.9 , - , align="left" , 2003–04 , align="left" ,

, 82 , , 82 , , 36.2 , , .413 , , .111 , , .797 , , 3.4 , , 6.9 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 10.3 , - , align="left" , 2004–05 , align="left" ,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

, 81 , , 15 , , 22.8 , , .382 , , .289 , , .738 , , 1.9 , , 3.9 , , .8 , , .2 , , 4.0 , - , align="left" , 2005–06 , align="left" ,

, 82 , , 82 , , 28.7 , , .409 , , .100 , , .688 , , 2.4 , , 4.2 , , .9 , , .2 , , 4.8 , - , align="left" , 2006–07 , align="left" ,

, 82 , , 45 , , 23.5 , , .417 , , .000 , , .637 , , 2.3 , , 4.0 , , .7 , , .2 , , 4.2 , - , align="left" , 2007–08 , align="left" ,

, 22 , , 5 , , 13.9 , , .158 , , .000 , , .455 , , .9 , , 1.9 , , .4 , , .2 , , 1.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 846 , , 551 , , 27.3 , , .424 , , .208 , , .763 , , 2.5 , , 5.0 , , 1.1 , , .1 , , 6.8

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

, align="left" ,

, 10 , , 0 , , 2.4 , , .143 , , .000 , , .000 , , .4 , , .6 , , .2 , , .0 , , .2 , - , align="left" ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, align="left" ,

, 8 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , .455 , , .500 , , .500 , , .3 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , .0 , , 1.6 , - , align="left" ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

, align="left" ,

, 8 , , 8 , , 38.3 , , .420 , , .231 , , .815 , , 4.1 , , 7.1 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 12.4 , - , align="left" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, align="left" ,

, 5 , , 4 , , 27.6 , , .484 , , .750 , , 1.000 , , 2.0 , , 7.0 , , .8 , , .2 , , 7.4 , - , align="left" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, align="left" ,

, 23 , , 9 , , 31.2 , , .414 , , .000 , , .727 , , 3.7 , , 4.5 , , 1.2 , , .1 , , 9.3 , - , align="left" , 2002 , align="left" ,

, 5 , , 5 , , 34.2 , , .321 , , .167 , , .773 , , 4.4 , , 5.4 , , 1.2 , , .0 , , 10.8 , - , align="left" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

, align="left" ,

, 12 , , 12 , , 34.6 , , .422 , , .100 , , .879 , , 3.3 , , 5.6 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , 11.5 , - , align="left" , 2006 , align="left" ,

, 13 , , 13 , , 31.4 , , .421 , , .000 , , .759 , , 3.3 , , 2.8 , , .9 , , .2 , , 6.6 , - , align="left" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

, align="left" ,

, 19 , , 0 , , 12.8 , , .316 , , .000 , , .571 , , 1.5 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , .1 , , 1.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 103 , , 51 , , 24.0 , , .404 , , .200 , , .782 , , 2.6 , , 3.6 , , .9 , , .1 , , 6.6

References

External links

*
Eric Snow
– Official Site
Shoot for the Moon Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snow, Eric 1973 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players from Canton, Ohio Cleveland Cavaliers players Florida Atlantic Owls men's basketball coaches Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players Milwaukee Bucks draft picks Philadelphia 76ers players Point guards Seattle SuperSonics players Sportspeople from Canton, Ohio