Matthew Gordon Bullard (born June 5, 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 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 ...

and former color analyst for 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) ...

on AT&T SportsNet Southwest. Bullard played 12 years professionally and 11 years in the NBA, most notably with the

from 1990 to 1994, and then again from 1996 to 2001. Other teams he played for include 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 ...

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

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

in Greece.

Early life

Matt Bullard went to Valley High School in West Des Moines,

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. He went

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

after graduating from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

in 1990.

Professional career

Bullard played nine seasons with the

(1990–94, 1996–2001) and one season each with both the

(1995–96) and the

(2001–02). He also played in the 1994–95 season for the Greek League power

. He has career averages of 5.3 points and two rebounds per game. He was known affectionately in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

as "Air Bullard" in part for his ability to get extreme height on his three-point shots (due to his height at 2.08 m, 6 ft 10 in) and partly as good-natured ribbing about his poor vertical jump, but Bullard was also a fan favorite and an essential part to Houston's first championship in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Post–basketball life

In 2004, Bullard lost to Dee Brown on the

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

program ''

Dream Job ''Dream Job'' is an American reality television series made by ESPN, which premiered on February 22, 2004. It was the network's second reality show, with two editions of '' Beg, Borrow & Deal'' having previously aired. However, this was the firs ...

'' in the finals as they competed for a coveted sports analyst position on the sports network. When asked about losing to Dee Brown, Bullard remarked "at least it wasn't Pete Chilcutt". He and

Clyde Drexler Clyde Austin Drexler (born June 22, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player who currently works as the commissioner of the Big3 3-on-3 basketball league. Nicknamed "Clyde the Glide", he played 15 seasons in the National Bask ...

shared color commentating duties for local Houston Rockets game telecasts alongside long-time play-by-play man Bill Worrell. On June 2, 2021, Bullard announced that his tenure with AT&T SportsNet Southwest was done and he would not be part of its broadcast lineup for the 2021-22 NBA season.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

, - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 18 , , 0 , , 3.5 , , .452 , , .000 , , .647 , , .8 , , .1 , , .2 , , .0 , , 2.2 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 80 , , 7 , , 16.0 , , .459 , , .386 , , .760 , , 2.8 , , .9 , , .3 , , .3 , , 6.4 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 79 , , 4 , , 17.2 , , .431 , , .374 , , .784 , , 2.8 , , 1.4 , , .4 , , .1 , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , align="left" ,

, 65 , , 0 , , 11.2 , , .345 , , .325 , , .769 , , 1.3 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .1 , , 3.5 , - , align="left" , , 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 ...

, 46 , , 0 , , 10.0 , , .407 , , .361 , , .800 , , 1.3 , , .4 , , .4 , , .2 , , 3.8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 71 , , 12 , , 14.4 , , .401 , , .366 , , .735 , , 1.6 , , .9 , , .3 , , .3 , , 4.5 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 67 , , 24 , , 17.8 , , .450 , , .416 , , .741 , , 2.2 , , .9 , , .5 , , .4 , , 7.0 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 41 , , 0 , , 10.1 , , .377 , , .387 , , .700 , , 1.0 , , .4 , , .3 , , .1 , , 2.9 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 56 , , 27 , , 18.3 , , .409 , , .446 , , .833 , , 2.5 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .2 , , 6.8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 61 , , 5 , , 16.4 , , .423 , , .404 , , .714 , , 2.1 , , .7 , , .2 , , .1 , , 5.8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Charlotte , 31 , , 0 , , 11.3 , , .339 , , .281 , , .917 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , .1 , , .1 , , 3.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 615 , , 79 , , 14.4 , , .418 , , .384 , , .768 , , 2.0 , , .9 , , .3 , , .2 , , 5.3

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, align="left" ,

, 12 , , 0 , , 14.1 , , .476 , , .536 , , 1.000 , , 1.9 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .4 , , 5.1 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;" ,

† , align="left" ,

, 10 , , 0 , , 5.5 , , .214 , , .200 , , .750 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .1 , , .2 , , 1.6 , - , align="left" ,

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 ...

, align="left" ,

, 4 , , 0 , , 12.8 , , .333 , , .500 , , .500 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , .0 , , .5 , , 3.5 , - , align="left" ,

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 ...

, align="left" ,

, 2 , , 0 , , 3.5 , , 1.000 , , 1.000 , , – , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" ,

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 ...

, align="left" ,

, 5 , , 4 , , 14.0 , , .333 , , .300 , , 1.000 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , .0 , , 3.4 , - , align="left" ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, align="left" ,

, 2 , , 0 , , 4.0 , , 1.000 , , 1.000 , , 1.000 , , .0 , , .5 , , .0 , , .0 , , 3.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 35 , , 4 , , 10.3 , , .400 , , .458 , , .818 , , 1.4 , , .5 , , .2 , , .3 , , 3.5

References

External links

*
Matt Bullard - Hawkeye Sports NewsMatt Bullard
at the Houston Rockets Fan Site
Matt Bullard Basketball Camp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullard, Matt 1967 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Greece American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball players from Des Moines, Iowa Charlotte Hornets players Colorado Buffaloes men's basketball players FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States FISU World University Games silver medalists for the United States Greek Basket League players Houston Rockets players Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball players Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1989 Summer Universiade P.A.O.K. BC players Participants in American reality television series Power forwards Summer World University Games medalists in basketball Undrafted NBA players United States men's national basketball team players