Dickey Simpkins

LuBara Dixon "Dickey" Simpkins (born April 6, 1972^[1]) is an American former professional basketball player best known for his tenure with the Chicago Bulls in the late 1990s. He is currently a commentator for Fox Sports.^[2]

Dickey Simpkins

Personal information
Born	(1972-04-06) April 6, 1972 (age 53) Fort Washington, Maryland, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	248 lb (112 kg)
Career information
High school	Friendly (Fort Washington, Maryland)
College	Providence (1990–1994)
NBA draft	1994: 1st round, 21st overall pick
Drafted by	Chicago Bulls
Playing career	1994–2006
Position	Power forward / center
Number	8, 0
Career history
1994–1997	Chicago Bulls
1997–1998	Golden State Warriors
1998–2000	Chicago Bulls
2000–2001	Makedonikos
2001	Atlanta Hawks
2001–2002	Rockford Lightning
2002	Maroussi
2002	Criollos de Caguas
2002–2003	UNICS Kazan
2003–2004	Lietuvos Rytas
2004	Leones de Ponce
2004–2005	Dakota Wizards
2005	Plus Pujol Lleida
2005	Alaska Aces
2005	Blue Stars Beirut
2006	Brose Bamberg
Career highlights
3× NBA champion (1996–1998) BSN champion (2004) Russian Cup champion (2003) CBA rebounding leader (2002)
Career NBA statistics
Points	1,388 (4.2 ppg)
Rebounds	1,187 (3.6 rpg)
Assists	305 (0.9 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Early life

Simpkins was born on April 6, 1972, in Fort Washington, Maryland. As a 6' 9" forward/center, Simpkins starred at Friendly High School in Maryland.

College career

Simpkins would go on to play college basketball at Providence College. He would play four seasons for the Providence Friars basketball team, averaging 9.8 points per game during his collegiate career. During his time at Providence, Simpkins was twice named to the Big East All-Tournament team in 1993 and 1994. In 1994, he helped the Friars win the conference title and earn a spot in the 1994 NCAA tournament. In 2013, Providence inducted Simpkins into the college's athletic Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Simpkins was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 21st pick in the 1994 NBA draft. Behind Luc Longley, Bill Wennington, and later Dennis Rodman in the Bulls' playing rotation, he saw limited action in his first few seasons as a Bull, scoring 513 points in 167 games. He earned two NBA Championship rings in 1996 and 1997, but was not on the team's active roster for either playoff run, and in fall 1997 the Bulls traded him to the Golden State Warriors for guard/forward Scott Burrell.

The Warriors subsequently waived Simpkins, and the Bulls claimed him. Simpkins posted a .634 field goal percentage in 21 games, and in the spring of 1998 he participated in the playoffs for the first time of his career, earning his third championship ring. After the 1998–99 NBA lockout, the Bulls parted ways with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Rodman and Luc Longley, which provided Simpkins with significantly more playing time. During the 1999 season he emerged as a part-time starter, averaging career highs of 9.1 points and 6.8 rebounds, and in the following season, he played a career-high 1,651 minutes.

After the Bulls signed Brad Miller in September 2000, the Bulls renounced their rights to Simpkins, who would spend a season in Greece before joining the Atlanta Hawks during the 2001–02 NBA season. He only played one game for the Hawks, though, and spent the rest of the season in Greece and the CBA. He later played in Russia, Puerto Rico, Lithuania, Spain, Philippines, Lebanon, and Germany.^[3] In 2005, Simpkins joined the Alaska Aces (PBA) of the Philippine Basketball Association as replacement for Leon Derricks.^[4] He led the team to a three-game quarterfinals loss against the sixth-seeded Red Bull franchise.^[5]

Post-playing career

Simpkins has worked as a college basketball analyst for ESPN. He is the founder of the basketball development company Next Level Performance Inc. (NLP), and is a national motivational speaker. He is currently a color commentator at Fox Sports 1 (FS1) for the Big East games.

He was a scout for the Charlotte Hornets^[6] and the Washington Wizards.^[2]

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
†	Won an NBA championship	*	Led the league

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1994–95	Chicago	59	5	9.9	.424	–	.694	2.6	0.6	0.2	0.1	3.5
1995–96†	Chicago	60	12	11.4	.481	1.000	.629	2.6	0.6	0.2	0.1	3.6
1996–97†	Chicago	48	0	8.2	.333	.250	.700	1.9	0.6	0.1	0.1	1.9
1997–98	Golden State	19	0	10.3	.458	.000	.385	2.4	0.8	0.3	0.1	2.8
1997–98†	Chicago	21	0	11.3	.634	.000	.591	1.5	0.8	0.2	0.1	3.7
1998–99	Chicago	50*	35	29.0	.463	.000	.645	6.8	1.3	0.7	0.3	9.1
1999–00	Chicago	69	48	23.9	.405	.000	.542	5.4	1.4	0.3	0.3	4.2
2001–02	Atlanta	1	0	3.0	–	–	–	0.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Career		327	100	15.9	.440	.222	.618	3.6	0.9	0.3	0.2	4.2

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1998	Chicago	13	0	5.7	.375	–	.444	1.0	0.2	0.2	0.1	1.2
Career		13	0	5.7	.375	–	.444	1.0	0.2	0.2	0.1	1.2