Craig Elliott "Speedy" Claxton (born May 8, 1978) 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 and the current head coach of the Hofstra University men's basketball team. Claxton won an NBA championship in 2003 as a member of the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

. In 2013, he was named as a special assistant to the head coach for the

Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...

men's basketball program, before being hired as head coach in 2021.

College

Prior to his NBA career, Claxton played at

under future

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

coach Jay Wright. At Hofstra, Claxton led the Flying Dutchmen to the America East Championship, where they defeated the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

in the championship game at Hofstra Arena. The team was defeated in the first round of the 2000 NCAA tournament by an

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

team led by Desmond Mason, Claxton's future NBA teammate with the New Orleans Hornets. Claxton donated money to help build the 5,000-seat arena in which the Hofstra team plays, and his number 10 was retired by Hofstra on January 31, 2009. Claxton was inducted into the Hofstra Hall of Fame on January 29, 2011.

NBA career

Claxton was selected by 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 ...

with the 20th overall pick of the 2000 NBA draft.NBA.com Bio
His rookie-scale contract was worth four years and $4.68 million; he opted out of the fourth year to become a free agent. Claxton missed his entire rookie season due to a knee injury suffered during the preseason. In 2002, Claxton was traded to the

for Mark Bryant, Randy Holcomb, and John Salmons, where he played on the Spurs' 2003 championship team as the backup to starting point guard

Tony Parker William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket, LDLC ASVEL of the LNB Élite and the EuroLeague. The son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career ...

. In 2003, Claxton was signed by 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 ...

to a three-year contract worth $10 million. On February 24, 2005, Claxton and Dale Davis were traded from the Warriors to the New Orleans Hornets for Baron Davis. On July 12, 2006, Claxton signed a contract worth approximately $25 million over four years with 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 ...

. Claxton only played 44 games with the Hawks, as he was injured every year after he signed with the team. During the 2006–07 season, he averaged 5.3 points and 4.4 assists per game. On June 25, 2009, Claxton and Acie Law were traded to the Golden State Warriors for Jamal Crawford. Claxton never reported to the Warriors and was waived by Golden State on February 6, 2010, without appearing in a game for them.

Post-playing career

Claxton served as a college scout with the

before joining the

men's basketball staff in 2013. On April 7, 2021, he was hired as head coach at Hofstra. For the 2022–23 season, Claxton led the Pride to the CAA regular season title and was named CAA Coach of the Year.

Personal life

Claxton's parents are from

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda is a Sovereign state, sovereign archipelagic country composed of Antigua, Barbuda, and List of islands of Antigua and Barbuda, numerous other small islands. Antigua and Barbuda has a total area of 440 km2 (170 sq mi), ...

. His sister, Lisa, played for the St. John's Red Storm women's basketball team. His brother Michael (M. Buckets) played

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 ...

for the Villanova Wildcats. Claxton has two daughters, Aniya and London, with ex-wife Meeka. The couple announced their divorce in July 2014.

NBA career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1996–97 , style="text-align:left;", Hofstra , 27 , , – , , 33.9 , , .432 , , .158 , , .706 , , 4.6 , , 3.4 , , 1.9 , , .1 , , 15.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1997–98 , style="text-align:left;", Hofstra , 31 , , – , , 34.9 , , .485 , , .182 , , .730 , , 4.6 , , 7.2 , , 2.2 , , .3 , , 16.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1998–99 , style="text-align:left;", Hofstra , 30 , , 28 , , 32.3 , , .482 , , .316 , , .801 , , 4.4 , , 5.3 , , 2.3 , , .5 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1999–2000 , style="text-align:left;", Hofstra , 31 , , 31 , , 35.1 , , .470 , , .381 , , .764 , , 5.4 , , 6.0 , , 3.3 , , .2 , , 22.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 119 , , 59 , , 34.1 , , .468 , , .322 , , .748 , , 4.8 , , 5.5 , , 2.4 , , .3 , , 16.9

NBA

Regular season

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

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 67 , , 18 , , 22.8 , , .400 , , .121 , , .838 , , 2.4 , , 3.0 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , align="left" ,

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, 30 , , 0 , , 15.7 , , .462 , , .000 , , .684 , , 1.9 , , 2.5 , , .7 , , .2 , , 5.8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Golden State , 60 , , 29 , , 26.6 , , .427 , , .182 , , .813 , , 2.6 , , 4.5 , , 1.6 , , .2 , , 10.6 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , Golden State , 46 , , 44 , , 32.6 , , .431 , , .192 , , .761 , , 3.3 , , 6.2 , , 1.9 , , .1 , , 13.1 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, 16 , , 3 , , 22.8 , , .373 , , .111 , , .610 , , 1.9 , , 5.5 , , 1.4 , , .1 , , 6.8 , - , align="left" , , align="left" , New Orleans/Oklahoma City , 71 , , 3 , , 28.4 , , .413 , , .270 , , .769 , , 2.7 , , 4.8 , , 1.5 , , .1 , , 12.3 , - , 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 ...

, 42 , , 31 , , 25.1 , , .327 , , .214 , , .550 , , 1.9 , , 4.4 , , 1.7 , , .1 , , 5.3 , - , align="left" , , align="left" ,

, 2 , , 0 , , 7.5 , , .286 , , .000 , , .500 , , .0 , , 1.5 , , .0 , , .0 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 334 , , 128 , , 25.6 , , .409 , , .193 , , .762 , , 2.5 , , 4.3 , , 1.5 , , .1 , , 9.3

Playoffs

, - , align="left" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, align="left" ,

, 5 , , 0 , , 9.8 , , .333 , , .000 , , .667 , , .2 , , 2.8 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 2.4 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

† , align="left" ,

, 24 , , 0 , , 13.6 , , .438 , , .000 , , .750 , , 1.9 , , 1.9 , , .7 , , .2 , , 5.2 , - , align="left" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, align="left" ,

, 1 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 30 , , 0 , , 12.6 , , .427 , , .000 , , .740 , , 1.5 , , 2.0 , , .7 , , .2 , , 4.6

Head coaching record

College

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Claxton, Speedy 1978 births Living people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen African-American basketball coaches American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players American people of Antigua and Barbuda descent Atlanta Hawks players Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from Nassau County, New York College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Golden State Warriors players Hofstra Pride men's basketball coaches Hofstra Pride men's basketball players Hofstra University alumni New Orleans Hornets players People from Hempstead (village), New York Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Philadelphia 76ers players Point guards San Antonio Spurs players Sportspeople from Hempstead, New York