Fabulous Flournoy (born 31 July 1973) is a former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

of the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

(NBA). He was previously the player-coach for the

Newcastle Eagles The Newcastle Eagles are a professional basketball club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. They play in Super League Basketball, the top-tier professional basketball league in Britain for men and women, and the European North Basketball Leag ...

, who compete in the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) was a men's professional basketball sports league, league in Great Britain. Since its establishment in 1987 the BBL represented the highest level of basketball competition within the United Kingdom. The orga ...

. He is the all-time leader in the BBL in assists, steals and blocked shots as well as 2nd all-time in rebounding and 5x BBL Coach of the Year. His 25 trophies remain a record for a coach in the league.

Playing career

Early life and college career

Born in New York City, New York, the 6'3"

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

, noted for his tenacious defense and very high standards, attended NJCAA Division 1 college Panola Junior College and was a student at McNeese State University.

British Basketball League

After finishing college in 1996, Flournoy signed for

team the Birmingham Bullets, making his debut against the Greater London Leopards on 15 September 1996. In his first season, he clocked up 780 minutes averaging 8.5 points and 7 rebounds per game. Although his minutes were marginally shaved the following season, Flournoy still featured in all of the Bullets' 36 games, while helping his team to runners-up spot in the Championship and success in the playoffs, beating London Towers in the final. The following two seasons saw his appearances drop, featuring in only 23 games in the 1999–2000 season, although he still featured in the playoff final against Manchester Giants where he posted 12 points in the Bullets' 65–74 loss. At the end of the season Flournoy signed for rival franchise Sheffield Sharks where he spent one year, playing in 34 games. With Flournoy's help, the Sharks won the BBL Northern Conference and again for Flournoy, finished as runners-up in the post-season playoffs, this time losing 75–84 to the Leicester Riders. Flournoy moved again in 2001 when he signed for the

. After two mediocre seasons, he achieved two career-high records in the 2003–04 season, where he played 1258 minutes with a 10.75 PPG average.

As a player-coach

This was also the season when his career took a different turn accepting the role of head coach of the Eagles, while still a player, leading the team to a 6th-place finish and a quarterfinal playoff exit with a 94–96 defeat to the

Towers A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

. Flournoy returned the following year and was successful with Newcastle. Clocking up 1,018 minutes, 6.92 PPG and 4.95 RPG in the 2004–05 season, Flournoy had a less than outstanding season on court. However, off-court he led the Eagles to victories in both the playoffs and the BBL Trophy, while finishing as runners-up to the Chester Jets in the Championship, and won the BBL Coach of the Season Award. The 2005–06 season would prove to be even more remarkable for Fab, averaging 8.80 PPG and picking up 1,121 minutes of action while leading the Eagles to the "Clean Sweep" of victories in the BBL Cup, Trophy, Championship and playoffs, a feat repeated in 2011 and 2015.

International career

A naturalised UK citizen, Flournoy won a bronze medal with the England national team at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. He earned 16 caps in total for England.

Awards and honours

Flournoy was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to British basketball and the community in the North East.

Post-playing career

He has also served as a colour commentator for

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

, including at the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. In 2019, Flournoy was hired as an assistant video coordinator by the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

of the NBA. The move reunited Flournoy with his former coach, Nick Nurse. Nurse was responsible for signing Flournoy to his first professional contract as a player for the Birmingham Bullets in 1996. On September 5, 2023, Flournoy became an assistant coach for the

References

External links

BBL profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flournoy, Fabulous 1973 births Living people Basketball players from New York City American emigrants to England American expatriate basketball people in the United Kingdom American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Birmingham Bullets players Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in basketball English men's basketball players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom McNeese Cowboys basketball players Members of the Order of the British Empire Newcastle Eagles players Panola College alumni Philadelphia 76ers assistant coaches Basketball player-coaches Sheffield Sharks players Small forwards Shooting guards Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Naturalised basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen