After Utah Jazz’s exploits in the playoffs of recent seasons and the significant impact of players like Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell on the team, fans and management are hoping for contributions from players like Alec Burks who, on paper, are the real deal but have failed to produce the goods when it counts. The 12th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft himself could argue that his career has been hampered by injuries and that when he’s in top form, he’s still a force to be reckoned with.
Who is Alec Burks?
Alec Burks was born on July 20, 1991 in Grandview, Missouri to Steve and Dina Burks. From an early age, Burks showed exceptional talent for basketball, which always allowed him to outrank his peers. He attended Grandview High School where, as a senior, he was named Gatorade Missouri State Player of the Year, as well as Kansas City Star and Metro Sports Player of the Year.
6 Facts About the NBA Point/Shooting Guard
1. Academic career
Alec Burks attended the University of Colorado at Boulder where he played for the Buffalo men’s basketball team which competes in NCAA Conference I in the Pac-12 conference. In his freshman year, he was named the Big 12 Conference Freshman and also earned Big 12 All-Rookie Team honors.
The baller earned first-team Big 12 honors in his sophomore year, before announcing he would forfeit the past college season to qualify.
2. NBA career
After two years in college, Alec Burks was selected by Utah Jazz with the 12th overall pick in the NBA Draft in 2011. In his rookie season, Burks was unable to start a game, but he appeared in 59 games this season, all off the bench as he averaged 7.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. In his second season, Burks averaged 7.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game in 64 games. The 2013-14 season was a breakthrough campaign for the player after averaging 14.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in 78 games (12 starts). One of his most notable games this season came on January 13, 2014, scoring a career-high 34 points against the Denver Nuggets.
Alec Burks seemed to have picked up where he left off as he was named a starter. He entered the 2014-15 season as probably his team’s best player, but his season was short as he only managed to play 27 games due to injury. He averaged 13.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists in those games.
In the 2015-16 season, Burks suffered yet another injury which allowed him to miss 50 games. In the 31 games he played that year, he averaged 13.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. The shooting guard seemed to have been unlucky as he suffered yet another injury at the start of the 2016-17 season, where he played 42 games, averaging 6.7 points and 2.9 rebounds.
He returned to his early career form in the 2017-18 season where he managed a 20-point streak. At the end of the season, he averaged 7.7 points and 3.0 rebounds in 64 games. He then played in 9 playoff games, averaging 9.1 points and 2.7 rebounds.
3. Injury history
The Grandview, Mo.-born basketball’s injury battle began in his fourth season in the NBA after suffering a shoulder injury. The following season he suffered a fractured left fibula which he chose to repair with surgery. After that, it was also a knee and ankle injury that required surgery, although he continued to experience discomfort for a few months before recovering to his health. Burks has only played 100 games in three seasons because of the injuries he now hopes will be a thing of the past.
4. Salary / Contract
Since 2014, Alec Burks earns an average annual salary of $10.5 million, making him the 5th highest paid player on the team, as of 2018. He started earning that much after signing a four-year, $42 million contract extension to stay with the Jazz. Previously, the guard earned an estimated $2.3 million every year as he signed a four-year contract worth $9.2 million which started in 2011.
5. Body measurements
Alec Burks has come a long way from the time he attended the NBA contest in 2011 where his weight was recorded at 193 pounds or 88 kg. Recently, the weight of the basketball player was 97 kg (214 pounds). It further has a height of 6 feet 6 inches or 1.98 m with a wingspan of 6 feet 10 inches or 20.83 m.
6. Partner and children
In March 2017, Burks and partner Elyse Hart-Shelton welcomed a daughter they named Ashtyn. The proud parents have since gotten engaged and hope to exchange vows in the near future.