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Eric Maynor
Eric Maynor
Maynor with the Wizards.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Position: Assistant coach
League: NBA/NBA G League
Personal information
Full name: Eric Demarqua Maynor
Born: June 11, 1987 (1987-06-11) (age 37)
Raeford, North Carolina
Nationality: Flag of the United States American
Physical stats
Listed height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight: 175 lbs (79 kg)
National Basketball Association career
Debut: 2009 for the New York Knicks
Final season: 2014 for the Philadelphia 76ers
Career information
High school: Hoke County
(Raeford, North Carolina)
Westover
(Fayetteville, North Carolina)
College: VCU (20052009)
NBA Draft: 2009 / Round: 1 / Pick: 20th
Selected by the Utah Jazz
Playing career: 2009–2018 (9 years)
Coaching career: 2019–present (5 years)
Position: Point Guard
Number: 3, 6, 11
Career history
As player:
2009 Utah Jazz
20092013 Oklahoma City Thunder
2013 Portland Trail Blazers
2013–2014 Washington Wizards
2014 Philadelphia 76ers
2015 Varese
2015–2016 Nizhny Novgorod
2016–2017 Varese
2017–2018 Orlandina
As coach:
20192021 Oklahoma City Blue (Assistant coach)
2021–present Oklahoma City Thunder (Player development)
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points: 1,141 (4.3 PPG)
Rebounds: 348 (1.3 RPG)
Assists: 760 (2.8 APG)
Steals: 111 (1.2 SPG)
Blocks: 20 (0.1 BPG)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball–Reference.com

Eric Demarqua Maynor (born June 11, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Virginia Commonwealth University. As a senior, he averaged 22.4 points, 6.2 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game in the 2008–2009 season.

Maynor was drafted by the Utah Jazz of the NBA in 2009. He has also played for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers, Washington Wizards, and Philadelphia 76ers.

Early years[]

Maynor was born on June 11, 1987 in Raeford, North Carolina, the third of four children of George Maynor and Barbara Robinson. Maynor's father was a former collegiate basketball player at East Carolina University and was a fourth round selection of the Chicago Bulls in the 1979 NBA Draft.

High school career[]

Maynor began at Hoke County High School in Raeford, then transferred to Westover High School in neighboring Fayetteville for his senior year to play alongside his friend and AAU teammate De'shaune Griffin. Maynor led the team to the North Carolina State Championship game, scoring 25 point in a loss to North Mecklenburg High School on March 14, 2005. For his outstanding performance during the season Maynor was named to the 2004/05 North Carolina All State Basketball team by the sports website NCPreps.com.

College career[]

Maynor was a four–year player in the men's basketball program at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He graduated from VCU with a degree in Sports Management.

Freshman season (2005–06)[]

Maynor played in 29 games as a Freshman at VCU, cracking the team's starting lineup by the end of the season. Maynor averaged 4.7 points and 2.2 assists in an average of 15.7 minutes per game during this first collegiate campaign.

Sophomore season (2006–07)[]

On March 15, 2007, Maynor scored 22 points, including the game–winning shot, in VCU's victory over Duke in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. Maynor's last–minute heroics are also what helped VCU to overcome George Mason in the 2007 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championship game.

Over the summer of 2007, Maynor was selected to represent the United States in the Pan American Games, alongside D.J. White and Michael Beasley. Maynor was only able to play two games for the American Pan–Am team, however, before he was forced from further action by a hip injury. Maynor was also named one of the 50 pre–season candidates for the men's 2007–08 John R. Wooden Award, the nation's most prestigious college basketball honor.

Junior season (2007–08)[]

Maynor helped VCU win the CAA regular–season title, though the team fell in the semi–finals of the conference tournament to William & Mary. He was selected as the CAA Player of the Year and selected to the All–CAA First Team. The Rams failed to reach the NCAA Tournament and went on to play in the NIT, where they lost in the first round against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Senior season (2008–09)[]

During the 2008–09 season, Maynor became VCU's all–time leader in assists and in made free–throws. On February 28, 2009, Maynor became the leading scorer in VCU history with a floater against Georgia State. As of March 10, 2009, he had scored a school record 1,929 points. Maynor also led VCU to a second CAA title during his career, scoring 25 points in a 71–50 victory over George Mason on March 9, 2009, at the Richmond Coliseum. The Rams went on to the 2009 NCAA Tournament, but lost to UCLA when Maynor missed a buzzer–beater to win the game.

Professional career[]

NBA[]

Utah Jazz (2009)[]

Eric Maynor Jazz

Maynor with the Jazz in 2009.

Maynor was drafted 20th overall by the Utah Jazz in the 2009 NBA Draft. He became the first VCU player ever selected in the first round of the NBA Draft.

Maynor signed a two–year contract with the Jazz on July 1, 2009, and made $1.3 million in his rookie season. Although he was to back up Deron Williams, Maynor had a positive outlook on the situation. When asked in an interview with RealCollegeBasketball.com what he thought about coming off the bench in Utah, Maynor replied, "Feel real good about it... I'm getting a chance to learn from some of the best."

Oklahoma City Thunder (2009–2013)[]

Eric Maynor OKC

Maynor with the Thunder.

On December 22, 2009, Maynor, along with Matt Harpring, was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the rights to Peter Fehse. According to a statement made by Jazz General Manager Kevin O'Connor at the time of the deal, the trade of Maynor along with the $6.5 million contract of the injured Power Forward Harpring was made for financial reasons, in an effort to reduce the team's liability under the NBA's punitive "luxury tax" on teams with excessive salaries.

"Trading Eric was a difficult decision", O'Connor acknowledged, while noting that the team remained strong at the Point Guard position with star Deron Williams and Ronnie Price as a capable and proven reserve player.

Maynor wound up as the backup Point Guard on the young Thunder team behind the emerging superstar Russell Westbrook, drafted by the franchise as the #4 overall pick one year prior to Maynor coming into the NBA.

On January 7, 2012, the Thunder reported that Maynor had torn his right anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the fourth quarter of Oklahoma City's 98–95 win over the Houston Rockets and would miss the remainder of the season. Without Maynor, the Thunder reached the 2012 NBA Finals, but lost in five games to the Miami Heat.

Portland Trail Blazers (2013)[]

Eric Maynor Blazers

Maynor with the Blazers in 2013.

In a deal concluded just 30 minutes before the noon trade deadline on February 21, 2013, Maynor was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers for the NBA rights to Greek player Giorgos Printezis. Maynor was averaging just 2.8 points and 2.0 assists in an average of about 10.6 minutes per game playing for the Thunder and had fallen to number three on the team's depth chart for point guards, with second-year player Reggie Jackson emerging to capture most of the team's backup PG minutes. The Blazers were forced to waive reserve point guard Ronnie Price to make room on the team's 15–man roster for Maynor.

Portland General Manager Neil Olshey was effusive about Maynor's style of play and his fit for the club, calling Maynor "a great guy to run our second unit while being able to play with our starters." Olshey noted that Maynor was known for making excellent decisions with the basketball while playing at a steady and reliable pace and offered the possibility that Maynor might potentially share time in the backcourt with Blazer rookie star Damian Lillard.

Olshey expressed hope that Maynor would mesh well with the team and make a solid long–term addition to the roster, declaring:

"You don't make moves just for 28 games, but clearly there's going to be an evaluation curve for us where we're going to have to evaluate Eric, see how he fits in with our team, our style of play, our culture.... We'll see what kind of opportunities present themselves."

Washington Wizards (2013–2014)[]

On July 10, 2013, Maynor signed with the Washington Wizards.

Philadelphia 76ers (2014)[]

Eric Maynor 76ers

Maynor with the 76ers in 2014.

On February 20, 2014, Maynor was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in a three–team trade involving the Nuggets and Wizards. On March 17, 2014, he was waived by the 76ers.

Europe[]

On January 14, 2015, Maynor signed a contract with Pallacanestro Varese of Italy for the rest of the 2014–15 Lega Basket Serie A season.

On July 23, 2015, he signed a one–year contract with the Russian club Nizhny Novgorod.

On July 27, 2016, Maynor returned to Pallacanestro Varese, signing a contract for the 2016–17 season.

On November 20, 2017, Maynor signed with Italian club Orlandina Basket for the rest of the 2017–18 season.

The Basketball Tournament[]

In 2017, Maynor participated in The Basketball Tournament for Ram Nation, a team of VCU alumni. Maynor averaged 13.5 PPG, 7.3 APG, and 5.5 RPG to help Ram Nation reach the Elite 8. In the Elite 8, Ram Nation lost a close game to the eventual tournament champs, Overseas Elite. The Basketball Tournament is an annual $2 million winner–take–all tournament broadcast on ESPN.

Coaching career[]

In September 2019, Maynor was named Assistant Coach of the Oklahoma City Blue.

In August 2021, Maynor was moved from the Blue staff to the Thunder as a player development coach.

NBA career statistics[]

Legend
  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

Regular season[]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2009–10 Utah 26 2 14.0 .391 .208 .758 1.5 3.1 .5 .1 5.2
2009–10 Oklahoma City 55 0 16.5 .434 .362 .692 1.7 3.4 .5 .1 4.5
2010–11 Oklahoma City 82 0 14.6 .402 .385 .729 1.5 2.9 .4 .1 4.2
2011–12 Oklahoma City 9 0 15.2 .359 .353 1.000 1.4 2.4 .6 .0 4.2
2012–13 Oklahoma City 37 0 10.6 .313 .326 .810 .5 2.0 .3 .0 2.8
2012–13 Portland 27 0 21.2 .422 .380 .683 1.0 4.0 .4 .0 6.9
2013–14 Washington 23 0 9.3 .292 .320 .667 1.0 1.7 .2 .0 2.3
2013–14 Philadelphia 8 0 14.0 .379 .333 .500 1.9 1.5 .5 .3 3.8
Career 267 2 14.6 .392 .350 .721 1.3 2.8 .4 .1 4.3

Playoffs[]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2010 Oklahoma City 6 0 12.7 .300 .167 .818 1.5 1.5 .2 .2 3.7
2011 Oklahoma City 17 0 12.9 .377 .360 .789 1.3 2.2 .5 .0 4.8
Career 23 0 12.9 .361 .323 .800 1.3 2.0 .4 .0 4.5
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