Paul Murphy Shirley (born December 23, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who last played for

Unicaja Málaga Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after the ...

in the Spanish ACB. Shirley is noted for briefly maintaining an online journal (

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

) while playing for the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

in 2004–05. His first journal dealt with a several-day-long road trip, while the second chronicled the Suns'

NBA Playoffs The NBA playoffs is the annual Playoffs, postseason Tournament#Knockout tournaments, tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA) held to determine the league champion. Since 1949, the four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held afte ...

run. He was later the author of a blog for

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 ...

.com entitled "My So-Called Career". Shirley was signed to a non-guaranteed contract by the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

in early October 2006, but was cut in training camp before the start of the 2006–07 season. He finished his career in Spain, playing in the ACB for ViveMenorca and Unicaja Malaga. After Shirley's playing career, he wrote a column for the Spanish newspaper El Pais, maintained a podcast (''Short Corner'') with

Justin Halpern Justin Samuel Halpern (born September 3, 1980) is the American author of the Twitter feed " Shit My Dad Says" and the best-selling book ''Sh*t My Dad Says''. He was also the co-writer and co-executive producer of a CBS television situation come ...

, and founded a writing group in Los Angeles called Writers Blok. Shirley's first book, ''Can I Keep My Jersey?'', was released in 2007. His second book, ''Stories I Tell On Dates'', came out October 17, 2017. His third book (and first novel), ''Ball Boy'', was released in February 2021.

Career

Shirley was born in

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose, California, San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 accor ...

, and grew up near the small town of

Meriden, Kansas Meriden is a city in Jefferson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 744. History Meriden was founded in 1872. It was named by a pioneer settler for his former hometown of Meriden, New Hampshir ...

. He played high school basketball at Jefferson West High School, where he was a

National Merit Finalist The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships. The program is managed by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded not-for-profit ...

. Shirley worked his way from

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album) or the title song, 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album) or the title song, 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album) or the title song, 1992 *''Walk On'', by Kellie Coffey, 200 ...

to three-year starter for the

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

basketball team. He was coached first by

Tim Floyd Timothy Fitzpatrick Floyd (born February 25, 1954) is a former American college basketball coach, most recently the head coach at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). He was formerly the head coach of several teams in the NCAA and the NBA. ...

(until Floyd left the Cyclones to become the head coach of 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 ...

) and then by

Larry Eustachy Larry Robert Eustachy (born December 1, 1955 in Alameda, California) is an American college basketball coach, most recently the head coach of the Colorado State Rams He was previously the head coach at Idaho and Eustachy was the AP Co ...

. Notable teammates included future NBA players

Jamaal Tinsley Jamaal Lee Tinsley (born February 28, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Tinsley played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball, Iowa State Cyclones. F ...

Kelvin Cato Kelvin Tavares Cato (born August 26, 1974) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'11" center from the University of South Alabama and Iowa State University, Cato played in the NBA as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers, Hou ...

, and

Marcus Fizer Darnell Marcus Lamar Fizer (born August 10, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. High school career Fizer played high school basketball at Arcadia High School in Arcadia, Louisiana. As a senior, Fizer was selected to pla ...

. After winning the

Big XII The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

's regular-season conference championship, the

Cyclones In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA basketball tournament during Shirley's junior season, losing to eventual champion Michigan State. At the end of Shirley's senior year, Iowa State became the fourth number-two seed to lose in the first round of the tournament. During his college career, Shirley earned three Academic All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

selections and, in his senior season, was named second-team Academic All-American. He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. After college, the 6'10" Shirley played

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

for thirteen different professional teams including, 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 ...

, 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 ...

, and the

, as well as

Panionios Athens Panionios G.S.S. (Greek: Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis''), the ''Pan-Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'', is a Greek multi-sport club founded in 1890. Originally ...

of the Greek A1 League,

Joventut Badalona Club Joventut Badalona, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional basketball club based in Badalona, Catalonia, Spain, playing in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup. Known to their fans as ''La Penya'' (in English, ''The Club''), it is one of only two team ...

, ViveMenorca, and

of the

Spanish ACB League The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

, and

UNICS Kazan BC UNICS () is a professional basketball club in Kazan, Russia, that plays in the VTB United League, and formerly played in the EuroLeague. On February 28, 2022, EuroLeague Basketball suspended the team because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukr ...

of the

Russian Super League The Russian Superleague (, ''Russian Championship Superleague''), commonly abbreviated as RSL, was the highest division of the main professional ice hockey league in Russia. It was considered the second-best league in the world, after the Nation ...

. Shirley also appeared in NBA preseason games with the

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

New Orleans Hornets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, and

, and played summer league games with the Timberwolves and

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

. Shirley played a total of 18 games in the NBA from 2002 to 2005 where he averaged 1.8 points and 1.1 rebounds. His final game was during his tenure with the

on April 20, 2005, in a 107–132 loss to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

where he played for 4 minutes and the only stat he recorded was 1 assist. Shirley has three younger brothers, including chartmaker Matt Shirley. He appeared in the film ''

Glory Road ''Glory Road'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (July – September 1963) and published in hardcover the same year. It was nominated for ...

'' (#50 for Iowa, uncredited) and in an episode of the TBS Sitcom ''

Ground Floor A storey (Commonwealth English) or story (American English), is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK, CAN) and ''storie ...

'' (Kevin). He also produced an unaired television pilot for Twentieth Century Fox called ''The Twelfth Man''.

Writing career

Shirley's blogs at ESPN and elsewhere contained observations on players, teams, fans, cities, sports media,

cheerleaders Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ent ...

, the game of basketball, and topics outside the athletic sphere. He commented on topics such as the USA Patriot Act, which he condemned as "

utting Utting am Ammersee (until 1953 just Utting) is a municipality in the district of Landsberg in Bavaria in Germany. History During World War II, a subcamp of Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentratio ...

the US on a fast-track to an

Orwellian ''Orwellian'' is an adjective which is used to describe a situation, an idea, or a societal condition that 20th-century author George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. It denotes an attitude and ...

destiny". His writing garnered attention from national sports media, as well as other outlets such as ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'', ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

,'' and by ESPN's

Bill Simmons William John Simmons III (born September 25, 1969) is an American podcaster, Sports journalism, sportswriter, and cultural critic who is the founder and CEO of the sports and pop culture website ''The Ringer (website), The Ringer''. Simmons fir ...

. Shirley's first book, ''Can I Keep My Jersey?'', was published on May 15, 2007, by

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

. It received positive reviews from The Onion's

AV Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in 1 ...

, which noted that it "deserves a spot next to

Ball Four ''Ball Four: My Life and Hard Times Throwing the Knuckleball in the Big Leagues'' is a book by Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Bouton, edited by Leonard Shecter and first published in 1970. The book is a diary of Bouton's 1969 season, sp ...

." A paperback version of the book was released on December 26, 2007. His second book, ''Stories I Tell On Dates'', came out October 17, 2017. A

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

of the same name followed soon after. His third book, ''Ball Boy'', was released February 2, 2021. Between 2008 and 2015, Shirley wrote a monthly column about the NBA called "Historias de un Tío Alto" (loosely: "Stories by a Tall Guy") in '' El Pais''.

ESPN dismissal

Shirley's writings have sometimes been the cause of controversy. In a Slate.com piece with Neal Pollack, he compared rooting for the San Antonio Spurs to cheering for cancer. In a 2009 column for ESPN.com, he called the Beatles overrated, drawing the ire of fellow music critics. And in 2010, he published a blog questioning the potential efficacy of relief efforts for that year's

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

in Haiti. Afterward, he was dismissed by ESPN. The company's full statement read: "He was a part-time freelance contributor. The views he expressed on another site of course do not at all reflect our company's views on the Haiti relief efforts. He will no longer contribute to ESPN."

Statistics

Collegiate statistics

Source
Cyclones.com
an

Professional statistics

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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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 ...

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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 ...

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References

External links

*
Euroleague.net Profile

ACB.com Profile (Spain)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirley, Paul 1977 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in Spain American male bloggers American bloggers American male writers American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Baloncesto Málaga players Basketball players from Kansas BC UNICS players Beijing Olympians players Chicago Bulls players Greek Basket League players Iowa State Cyclones men's basketball players Joventut Badalona players Kansas City Knights players Liga ACB players Menorca Bàsquet players Panionios B.C. players People from Jefferson County, Kansas Sportspeople from Johnson County, Kansas Sportspeople from Redwood City, California Basketball players from San Mateo County, California Phoenix Suns players Power forwards Undrafted NBA players Yakima Sun Kings players