Joe Spinks

Joseph S. Spinks (born June 20, 1972^[1]) is an American-Dutch retired basketball player and coach. He played eight seasons for ABC Amsterdam in the Netherlands and is considered one of the best players to have played in the Eredivisie.^[2] Spinks also was head coach and assistant coach for Amsterdam for two years.^[3] Spink's nickname during his playing career was "The Bull".^[4]

Joe Spinks

Personal information
Born	(1972-06-20) June 20, 1972 (age 53) Asheboro, North Carolina, U.S.
Nationality	American / Dutch
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Career information
High school	Asheboro (Asheboro, North Carolina)
College	Campbell (1990–1994)
NBA draft	1994: undrafted
Playing career	1994–2006
Position	Small forward
Number	34, 8
Coaching career	2006–present
Career history
As a player:
1994–1995	Södertälje
1995–1996	Lahti
1996–1997	Vilvoorde
1997–1998	Illiabum
1998–2006	Ricoh Astronauts Amsterdam
As a coach:
2006	MyGuide Amsterdam (interim head coach)
2006–2008	Amsterdam (assistant coach)
2011–present	Eastern Guilford HS
Career highlights
6× DBL champion (1999–2002, 2005, 2008) 2× DBL Most Valuable Player (2000, 2003) 4× All-DBL Team (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004) Big South Player of the Year (1994)

College career

Spinks played for Campbell from 1990 to 1994, and helped the Fighting Camels to their first-ever NCAA tournament berth in 1994.^[5] In 2010, he was inducted into the Campbell Sports Hall of Fame.^[5]

Professional career

Spinks started his career in 1994 with Södertälje BBK of the Swedish Basketligan. In the following season, he played with Namika Lahti in the Finnish Korisliiga.

In 1996, Spinks had the opportunity to play work out for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA), however, after a torn achilles.^[6]

After stints in Belgium and Portugal, he arrived to the Amsterdam Astronauts in 1998. He would stay on the team for 12 seasons, becoming a star player and helping the team win as much as six Dutch national championships. Spinks retired from playing at age 33 due to a knee injury.^[6]

Coaching career

In 2006, Spinks took over as interim head coach of the Amsterdam Astronauts and guided them to the league semifinals.^[6] In the following two years, he was an assistant coach on the Amsterdam team that won two more Eredivisie titles.^[5] Spinks returned with his family to the United States in 2009.^[7]

Honors

Professional

Astronauts Amsterdam

• 6× Dutch Championship (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008)
• 2× Dutch Cup (2004, 2006)
• 2× DBL Most Valuable Player (2000, 2003)
• 4× All-DBL Team (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004)
• DBL Playoffs MVP(2005)^[8]
• FEB Cup MVP (2003)^[9]
• 2× DBL All-Star (2000, 2001)

College

• Big South Conference Player of the Year (1994)
• Big South Conference Rookie of the Year (1991)
• 3× First Team All-Big South Conference (1992, 1993, 1994)
• Second Team All-Big South Conference (1991)
• Campbell University Hall of Fame (2010)

Personal

Spinks is married to Dawn Gibson and has a son, Jonathan.^[5] Spinks is a Christian.^[6]