Craig Elliott "Speedy" Claxton (born May 8, 1978) is an American former professional basketball 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. In 2013, he was named as a special assistant to the head coach for the Hofstra University men's basketball program, before being hired as head coach in 2021.
 Claxton in 1998 playing for Hofstra | |
| Hofstra Pride | |
|---|---|
| Position | Head coach |
| League | Coastal Athletic Association |
| Personal information | |
| Born | May 8, 1978 Hempstead, New York, U.S. |
| Listed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Listed weight | 166 lb (75 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Christ the King (Queens, New York) |
| College | Hofstra (1996–2000) |
| NBA draft | 2000: 1st round, 20th overall pick |
| Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers | |
| Playing career | 2000–2009 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Number | 12, 10, 5 |
| Coaching career | 2013–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 2000–2002 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 2002–2003 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2003–2005 | Golden State Warriors |
| 2005–2006 | New Orleans Hornets[a] |
| 2006–2009 | Atlanta Hawks |
| As coach: | |
| 2013–2021 | Hofstra (assistant) |
| 2021–present | Hofstra |
| Career highlights and awards | |
As player:
As coach:
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 3,096 (9.3 ppg) |
| Assists | 1,441 (4.3 apg) |
| Steals | 503 (1.5 spg) |
| Stats at NBA.com | |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
College
editPrior to his NBA career, Claxton played at Hofstra University under future Villanova University coach Jay Wright. At Hofstra, Claxton led the Flying Dutchmen to the America East Championship, where they defeated the University of Delaware in the championship game at Hofstra Arena. The team was defeated in the first round of the 2000 NCAA tournament by an Oklahoma State 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
editClaxton was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 20th overall pick of the 2000 NBA draft.[1] 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 San Antonio Spurs 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.
In 2003, Claxton was signed by the Golden State Warriors 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. 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.[2] 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
editClaxton served as a college scout with the Golden State Warriors[3] before joining the Hofstra University men's basketball staff in 2013.[4] On April 7, 2021, he was hired as head coach at Hofstra.[5]
For the 2022–23 season, Claxton led the Pride to the CAA regular season title and was named CAA Coach of the Year.[6]
Personal life
editClaxton's parents are from Antigua and Barbuda. His sister, Lisa, played for the St. John's Red Storm women's basketball team.[1] His brother Michael (M. Buckets) played college basketball for the Villanova Wildcats. Claxton has two daughters, Aniya and London, with ex-wife Meeka. The couple announced their divorce in July 2014.[7]
NBA career statistics
edit| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Won an NBA championship |
Regular season
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | Philadelphia | 67 | 18 | 22.8 | .400 | .121 | .838 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 1.4 | .1 | 7.2 |
| 2002–03† | San Antonio | 30 | 0 | 15.7 | .462 | .000 | .684 | 1.9 | 2.5 | .7 | .2 | 5.8 |
| 2003–04 | Golden State | 60 | 29 | 26.6 | .427 | .182 | .813 | 2.6 | 4.5 | 1.6 | .2 | 10.6 |
| 2004–05 | Golden State | 46 | 44 | 32.6 | .431 | .192 | .761 | 3.3 | 6.2 | 1.9 | .1 | 13.1 |
| 2004–05 | New Orleans | 16 | 3 | 22.8 | .373 | .111 | .610 | 1.9 | 5.5 | 1.4 | .1 | 6.8 |
| 2005–06 | New Orleans/Oklahoma City | 71 | 3 | 28.4 | .413 | .270 | .769 | 2.7 | 4.8 | 1.5 | .1 | 12.3 |
| 2006–07 | Atlanta | 42 | 31 | 25.1 | .327 | .214 | .550 | 1.9 | 4.4 | 1.7 | .1 | 5.3 |
| 2008–09 | Atlanta | 2 | 0 | 7.5 | .286 | .000 | .500 | .0 | 1.5 | .0 | .0 | 2.5 |
| Career | 334 | 128 | 25.6 | .409 | .193 | .762 | 2.5 | 4.3 | 1.5 | .1 | 9.3 | |
Playoffs
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Philadelphia | 5 | 0 | 9.8 | .333 | .000 | .667 | .2 | 2.8 | 1.0 | .0 | 2.4 |
| 2003† | San Antonio | 24 | 0 | 13.6 | .438 | .000 | .750 | 1.9 | 1.9 | .7 | .2 | 5.2 |
| 2009 | Atlanta | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 |
| Career | 30 | 0 | 12.6 | .427 | .000 | .740 | 1.5 | 2.0 | .7 | .2 | 4.6 | |
Head coaching record
editCollege
edit| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hofstra Pride (Coastal Athletic Association) (2021–present) | |||||||||
| 2021–22 | Hofstra | 21–11 | 13–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 2022–23 | Hofstra | 25–10 | 16–2 | T–1st | NIT Second Round | ||||
| 2023–24 | Hofstra | 20–13 | 12–6 | T–3rd | |||||
| Hofstra: | 66–34 (.660) | 41–13 (.759) | |||||||
| Total: | 66–34 (.660) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
Notes
edit- ^ During the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, the team was known as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets during their temporary relocation to Oklahoma City due to Hurricane Katrina.
References
edit- ^ a b NBA.com Bio Archived 2007-07-01 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Warriors Acquire Acie Law and Speedy Claxton From Atlanta Hawks". NBA.com. June 25, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
- ^ Warriors might be focusing in on Monroe
- ^ Mihalich Announces Staff; Claxton Returns To Program
- ^ "MBB: Past. Present. Future. Claxton To Lead The Hofstra Men's Basketball Program". Hofstra University Athletics. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ "Estrada, Williams Collect Back-to-Back Major CAA Awards" (Press release). Colonial Athletic Association. March 2, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
- ^ ""My Next Chapter" By: @MeekaClaxton | Think Pynk". Archived from the original on July 19, 2014.