One team is very dominant in Big3, the most popular basketball 3×3 league in the world. One player in that team has marked a season that has just ended. This player played for some period in NBA, so he has experience in those basketball circles also.
Do you have in mind someone? If you cannot guess right away, I will tell you who it is. Earl Clark, the player of Trilogy, has just won the Big3 title. Here is a little story about how Earl reached unimaginable heights in basketball on one rim. Sit and enjoy paragraphs.
How did Earl start with college career?
Earl was a freshman for the Louisville Cardinals. Clark formed a young group with Derrick Caracter, Edgar Sosa, and Jerry Smith in 2006. They won 8 of their last 10 games and got an invitation to the NCAA tournament. The NCAA tournament is a competition that determines the winner of NCAA division 1 of college basketball.
Earl Clark decided to not apply for the NBA draft. This player decided instead to return to the University of Louisville for the 2008-2009 season. It turned out to be a good decision as Lousiville won Big East Title.
How did Clark begin his professional career?
During his junior career, Clark pointed out that he will join NBA Draft in 2009 and give an advantage to NBA over his senior career. Agent Dan Fegan signed Earl as his client soon after the end of the 2008-2009 season. Earl Clark was chosen 14 overall by the Phoenix Suns in the summer of 2009.
However, this player didn’t have such a good time in Arizona. He had his first three-pointer in a game in 2010. Suns sent him to Iowa Energy, an American minor league basketball team. The reason was the hero of our story had 2.7 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 7.6 minutes per game during 45 games.
What happened with Earl Clark after?
Earl Clark was sent to Orlando in December 2010 together with Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu for Vince Karter, Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus, a right to choose a first-round pick in 2011, and 3 million dollars in cash. The hero of these paragraphs had his first double-double with 14 scored points and made 11 rebounds.
The summer of 2011 was turbulent for this player. Lockout happened in NBA and he made deal with Zhejiang Lions. However, his departure from China came soon and his return to Orlando occurred in December 2011.
How did his career continue?
Earl was traded to Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 2012 in a trade that included four teams: Orlando, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver, and Philadelphia. In early 2013, Clark proved why LA Lakers brought him in the previous summer. Earl Clark scored 22 points and made 13 rebounds in a game against San Antonio Spurs.
This player got a chance occasionally, but after the injuries of Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol received more opportunities. His coach praised him after such a brilliant performance and second double-double in his career. Later Gasol returned.
What occurred with Earl Clark after Gasol’s return?
Pau’s comeback to La Lakers squad after injury meant practically Earl’s return to the bench. Clark signed soon contract with Cleveland Cavaliers on July 2013. Everything happened so fast in our hero’s career back then.
This player made deal with Philadelphia in early 2014. He was exchanged together with Henry Sims for Spencer Hawes. Earl Clark was waived by Philadelphia on February 21, 2014. Earl signed a 10-day deal then with New York Knicks and one more 10-days contract after that. Unfortunately, the extension of the contract was not offered to Clark by New York Knicks.
Where did Earl Clark go after New York?
Earl had one more official engagement in the NBA club.It was Brooklyn Nets. Clark signed with them a 10-days contract in March 2015. They offered him a multi-year deal one month later and he accepted it. He was forsaken by Nets five months after that and was forced to look new club for his career.
This player signed the deal with Turkish club Besiktas in 2016. Hero of our story extended collaboration with Besiktas for one year. Earl continued staying in Europe as he found a new club Buducnost for a 2018/2019 season.
How did he retire from basketball?
On July 19, 2019, Clark signed with Spanish club Burgos. Earl scored 12.2 points and made 5.9 rebounds per game in the Spanish ACB league. The pandemic came in 2020 and Clark returned to the USA to be with his family. A mutual agreement was made in May 2020 between Burgos and Earl Clark to not extend his playing for this Spanish team.
Soon after that Clark signed for Herbalife Gran Canaria and came back to the Spanish league. The next station for him was NBA G League where he signed a contract for Sioux Falls Skyforce in December of 2021.
Did Earl participate in the Big 3 league?
In meantime, Clark played for Tri State in Fireball’s 3×3 league. They picked him with the 2nd overall pick in the Draft Pool 2021 in May. Tri State finished second in the regular part of the season with a 6-2 score.
Earl Clark played again together with Jason Richardson after they collaborated in Orlando in NBA ten and a half years earlier. As I mentioned earlier, Tri State was stopped in the semifinal against Trilogy. Tri State eventually won in the game for third place against Triplets. That was some kind of consolation for Earl Clark and Tri State.
What happened with Earl Clark in his second season in Fireball?
Earl was chosen by Trilogy in Draft Pool in 2022. Clark joined current champions of Big3 as co-captain. Trilogy made a fantastic team for that fifth season. They justified the role of favorite because the title from 2021 was convincingly defended.
Aliens were waiting for them in the semifinal, but couldn’t avoid defeat. The Trilogy was dominant in the final game against Power and Earl Clark played a big role in the victory. His contribution to an excellent season was enormous. Hardly anyone of the opponent players could defend him throughout the whole season. Trilogy’s teamwork brought them the third title.
How can we describe Earl’s playing style?
Clark’s athleticism and ball-handling skills are evident. It enables him to easily create mismatches and play strong defense. Earl likes to shoot from the perimeter and his efficiency throughout his career in that segment is not great, but not too bad. Earl Clark is a power forward who sometimes wants to be a guard.
His performance is affected by his mood strongly on a particular day. He is unpredictable for guarding and not prone to dunks so much. His lacking of psychical strength is one of his greatest characteristics. His potential is not deniable, though.
Earl Clark is having a solid career regarding results in Big3. It’s somehow clear that Trilogy had faith in him when they signed him this year. It paid off to them in the end, despite some flaws he possesses in his game. Earl is an attractive player for spectators and naturally catches the attention of supporters.
His flexibility is one of his main virtues. It looks like high-tempo and dynamic Fireball suits his style and personality on the court. Just finished season proved that constatation. We can expect a lot more from him in the upcoming years. Earl is just warming up.
Add Comment