On Sept. 17, Earl Watson was named an assistant coach for San Diego Men’s Basketball. A 13-year NBA veteran that had turned to coaching in the league since his retirement from playing in 2014 – including a stop as head coach of the Phoenix Suns – returns to college basketball under his college coach, Steve Lavin.
An All-American in high school out of Kansas City, Watson was recruited to UCLA by Lavin. It was there that he would play from 1997-2001 under the current USD head coach, making the Pac-10 All-Freshman team, four NCAA Tournaments – three times to the Sweet 16 – and Pac-10 All-Freshman Team in 2001.
He is the UCLA all-time career steals record holder with 235 across his four seasons, as well as single-game assist record holder with 16 in a NCAA Tournament second round win over Maryland on March 18, 2000. Watson is fifth all-time for the Bruins in assists with 607, third in minutes per game (33.9) and second in steals per game (1.82). He was the team leader in assists in three consecutive seasons, 1999-2001.
Watson would go on to be the 39th overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, before becoming a league veteran that several young stars looked up to, playing for seven franchises in 13 years in the league.
Across his professional career, Watson scored 5,593 points, tallying 3,871 assists and 873 steals in 19,494 minutes – 878 games – in the NBA. He averaged 22.2 minutes per game with 227 career starts. The vet reached the playoffs three times (2004 & 2005 with Memphis, 2014 with Portland), playing in 12 games.
In 2014, Watson turned to coaching. His first gig was with D-League (now G-League) side Austin Spurs as an assistant, making a move to the big leagues in 2015 as an assistant with the Suns. Prior to the start of the 2015-16 season, he was named Phoenix Suns Interim Head Coach.
He became the first UCLA alum to become a head coach in the NBA and at the time was the second-youngest head coach in the league at 36 years old.
Watson quickly earned the removal of the interim tag and stayed in that role until 2017. He was the head coach for 118 games across three seasons in sum. Most Recently, he served as an assistant on the Toronto Raptors staff from 2021-23 under Nick Nurse, helping the team to the 2021-22 NBA Playoffs.
In the NBA, Watson mentored household NBA names like Damian Lillard, Devin Booker and Scottie Barnes early in their careers.
As a Player
1997-2001 – UCLA
Drafted, 2001 NBA Draft, R:2 P:39, Seattle SuperSonics
2001-02 – Seattle SuperSonics
2002-05 – Memphis Grizzlies
2005-06 – Denver Nuggets
2006-09 – Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder
2009-10 – Indiana Pacers
2010-13 – Utah Jazz
2013-14 – Portland Trail Blazers
As a Coach
2014-15 – Assistant Coach, Austin Spurs (NBA Development League/G-League)
2015-16 – Assistant, Interim Head Coach, Phoenix Suns
2016-18 – Head Coach, Phoenix Suns
2021-23 – Assistant Coach, Toronto Raptors
2024-Present – Assistant Coach, University of San Diego
