Dwayne Morton

Dwayne Morton
Player information
Full name	Dwayne Lamont Morton
birthday	August 8, 1971
place of birth	Louisville (KY), USA
size	201 cm
position	Small forward
college	Louisville
NBA draft	1994 , 45th Pick Golden State Warriors
Clubs as active
1991–1994 Louisville Cardinals ( NCAA ) 1994–1995 Golden State Warriors 1995–1996 Hapoel Eilat 1996 Florida Sharks ( USBL ) 1996 Florida Beach Dogs 1996–1997 Newcastle Eagles 1997 Bayer Giants Leverkusen 1998–1999 London Towers 1999–2001 Hitachi Honso / SunRockers 2002 Indiana Legends ( ABA ) 2002–2003 CSKA Sofia 2003 Leneros de Los Minas 2003–2004 JA Vichy 2004–2005 Angers BC 49 2005 00000 00000 00000 00000 00000 00000Constituyentes de San Cristóbal 2005–2006 Levski Sofia 2006–2008 Balkan Botevgrad 2008–2009 Levski Sofia 2009–2010 Chernomorez Burgas 2010–2012 Balkan Botevgrad

Dwayne Lamont Morton (born August 8, 1971 in Louisville , Kentucky ) is a retired American basketball player . After a short career in the highest endowed professional league, the NBA , which barely comprised an entire season, Morton played as a professional alongside " minor leagues " in his home country in Europe, Japan and the Dominican Republic . At the end of his career, during which he briefly played in the German basketball league for Bayer Giants Leverkusen, he stayed in Bulgaria for seven years before ending his active career there at the age of 41 in 2012.

Career

Morton studied from 1991 in his hometown at the University of Louisville , where he played for the prestigious Cardinals college basketball team in the then Metro Conference , which later became part of the Conference USA , the NCAA . The Cardinals could each qualify in their Conference for the national NCAA finals and won 1993 and 1994 both the regular season and the championship tournament of the Metro Conference. In 1993, Morton was voted " Most Valuable Player " of the conference tournament. In the NCAA finals they reached 1992 after a second round off in the following two years, each of the round of 16 "Sweet Sixteen". In 1994, Morton signed up for the NBA Entry Draft and was selected by the Golden State Warriors like his teammate Clifford Rozier , previously two Metro Conference Player of the Year. Morton made his NBA debut in mid-December 1994 and was used in the NBA 1994/95 with 41 appearances in half of the season games an average of just under ten minutes. Then released the Warriors, the NBA career of his long-time teammate Rozier lasted just under two years longer.

After the Warriors had fired Morton, he played in the 1995/96 season in the Israeli Ligat ha'Al for Hapoel from Eilat . In the summer of 1996 he returned to his home country and tried over "summer leagues" like United States Basketball League and others to recommend himself for higher tasks. After he was unsuccessful, he played 1996/97 in the British Basketball League for the Eagles from Newcastle upon Tyne . The Eagles were able to qualify for the first time in six years for the play-offs , in which they were eliminated in the first round against eventual play-off winners London Towers. He then signed a contract with the Bayer Giants from Leverkusen in the German basketball league for the 1997/98 season , which was terminated prematurely. In the 1998/99 season he was active again in the British Basketball League, this time for the Towers from London , which were able to repeat their 1997 success in the 1999 play-offs. After one in the first play-off round again Morton's ex-club Newcastle Eagles, one beat the main round first Sheffield Sharks in the semifinals and then secured the title.

Starting in 1999, Morton played two seasons in the Japan Basketball League for Hitachi Honso from Osaka , which then under the name SunRockers firmierten . After playing in the American Basketball Association in 2002, he played in the Bulgarian National League for CSKA from the capital Sofia in the 2002/03 season . After an interlude in the Dominican Republic in the summer of 2003, he returned to Europe and played in the French LNB Pro A for JA Vichy. However, the promoted last season again missed the play-offs for the championship and was eliminated in the European club competition FIBA Europe Cup 2003/04 in the knockout games against national competitor Hyères-Toulon Var Basket . Morton stayed in France for the following season, but played in the second division Pro B for the Angers basketball club , which, however, only reached a 13th place among 17 teams in the final table. Then Morton presented himself again in the Dominican Republic in summer 2005. For the 2005/06 season, Morton returned to Bulgaria, where he stayed at a changing club for the following seven years until his end of career as an active player in 2012. It shouldn't be enough for Morton to achieve championship success there, as all championship titles went to the series champion BK Lukoil Akademik .

Web links

• Dwayne Morton - player profile on basketball-reference.com
• Dwayne Morton | FIBA Europe Cup Men 2004 | FIBA Europe - Statistics with statistics at FIBA Europe ( english )
• Dwayne Morton - Angers - Joueurs - Pro A - player profile with statistics on the pages of the LNB ( French )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Associated Press : Conference Tournament Roundup: Seton Hall Proves It Is Beast of East - Metro. Los Angeles Times , March 15, 1993, accessed June 17, 2013 . 
2. ↑ 1998–99 BBL Championship & Playoffs. British Basketball League , accessed June 17, 2013 (English, playing time overview).