Tyler Honeycutt

Tyler Deon Honeycutt (July 15, 1990 – July 7, 2018) was an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, where he earned first-team all-conference honors in the Pac-10 (known now as the Pac-12) as a sophomore in 2011. Honeycutt was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the second round of the 2011 NBA draft. He played with the Kings for two seasons and in 2013 moved to Europe, where he played for EuroLeague clubs Khimki and Anadolu Efes. He committed suicide at age 27 following a shootout with police.

Tyler Honeycutt
Honeycutt at UCLA in 2011
Personal information
Born(1990-07-15)July 15, 1990
Sylmar, California
DiedJuly 7, 2018(2018-07-07) (aged 27)
Sherman Oaks, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High schoolSylmar (Sylmar, California)
CollegeUCLA (2009–2011)
NBA draft2011 / Round: 2 / Pick: 35th overall
Selected by the Sacramento Kings
Playing career2011–2018
PositionSmall forward
Number3, 9, 2, 33, 10
Career history
2011–2013Sacramento Kings
2012→Reno Bighorns
2013Rio Grande Valley Vipers
2013–2014Ironi Nes Ziona
2014–2016Khimki
2016–2017Anadolu Efes
2017–2018Khimki
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

High school career

Honeycutt attended Sylmar High School in Sylmar, California. Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Honeycutt was listed as the No. 4 small forward and the No. 28 player in the nation in 2009.[1][2]

College career
Honeycutt (front right) in a game against Arizona in 2011

In his freshman year at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2009–10, Honeycutt played in the final 26 games, starting 18, and led the team in rebounding at 6.5 per game. He was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman team.[1] In the following season, he was named the team's co-MVP (with Malcolm Lee and Reeves Nelson) and first-team All-Pac-10 after averaging 12.8 points per game and leading the conference in blocks with 2.1 per game.[3] He declared for the NBA draft after the season.[4]

Professional career

NBA career (2011–2013)

Honeycutt was drafted in the second round with the 35th overall pick by the Sacramento Kings in the 2011 NBA draft.[5] He played in his first NBA game on December 31, 2011, and scored two points in four minutes.[6] On January 1, 2012, Honeycutt was assigned to the Reno Bighorns of the NBA D-League.[7] The Kings recalled him on January 24.[8]

During the 2012–13 season, Honeycutt was reassigned to the Bighorns on November 7 and recalled by the Kings on December 17.[9][10]

On February 20, 2013, Honeycutt was traded to the Houston Rockets along with Thomas Robinson and Francisco García in exchange for Patrick Patterson, Toney Douglas and Cole Aldrich.[11] In two seasons with Sacramento, he played only 24 games with the Kings because of injuries and D-League assignments.[12]

On February 24, Houston assigned him to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League.[13] He was waived by the Rockets on March 5, so they could sign guard Aaron Brooks.[14] Afterwards, he rejoined the Vipers.[15]

Overseas career (2014–2018)

In August 2013, Honeycutt signed with Ironi Nes Ziona, who had recently gained promotion to the Israeli Super League.[16]

On July 8, 2014, he signed a two-year deal with the Russian team Khimki.[17] In 2014–15 season, he won the Eurocup championship with Khimki, Europe's 2nd tier competition.[12] In 2015–16 Euroleague, he made his debut in Europe's top competition. Over 23 EuroLeague games, he averaged 6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.[18]

On July 22, 2016, Honeycutt signed a 1+1 deal with Turkish club Anadolu Efes,[18] where he won the Turkish Basketball Super League Slam Dunk Contest.[12] Over 35 EuroLeague games, he averaged career-highs of 9.2 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2 assists per game. On June 28, 2017, Efes officially opted out of their deal with Honeycutt, and he became a free agent.[19]

On July 14, 2017, Honeycutt returned to Moscow-based Khimki. He signed a contract for the 2017–18 season.[20] After missing the first nine games of the EuroLeague season due to injury, he returned to the court in late November 2017.[21][22] He helped Khimki advance to the EuroLeague Playoffs, where they lost to CSKA Moscow 3–1 in the quarterfinal series.[23] Over 17 EuroLeague games, he averaged 9.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.[22] In VTB United League, Khimki lost the final game to CSKA Moscow, 95–84.[24]

Death

On the afternoon of July 6, 2018, Honeycutt's mother called 911 after he had been acting erratically. She said that he had been using nitrous oxide "for six months overseas and I think it scrambled his brain."[25][26] When police arrived they found that he had barricaded the entrance to his Sherman Oaks home.[27] He fired a shot that hit a wall next to an officer, who fired back at Honeycutt.[25] After nine hours, LAPD SWAT entered the home early the next morning, and found Honeycutt dead.[28]

Bort Escoto, who coached Honeycutt for four years at Sylmar High School, said that "he was a great kid to be around. But he was having some problems", because in Russia he didn't know the language and the surroundings, concluding that "he was basically having a hard time with the adjustment. I just kept telling him he needed to get out and meet people".[29] An autopsy determined that he committed suicide by a gunshot wound to the head.[30]

Honeycutt's mother later sued the L.A. Police Department, saying it failed to de-escalate the situation and get him medical care.[31]

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  PIR  Performance Index Rating
 Bold  Career high

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the player participated for the team during the season. He also played in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

Regular season
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 Sacramento 1505.9.333.333.600.9.5.3.21.3
2012–13 Sacramento 903.6.273.0001.0001.1.2.0.1.9
Career 2405.0.314.200.7141.0.4.2.21.2

EuroLeague
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2015–16 Khimki 231719.6.520.359.6366.11.1.81.06.011.1
2016–17 Anadolu Efes 35124.5.401.303.6807.32.01.1.99.213.8
2017–18 Khimki 17021.2.474.491.8705.41.81.1.79.212.8
Career 751822.3.443.363.6996.51.01.7.98.212.7

College statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2009–10 UCLA 261827.7.496.345.6006.52.71.51.27.2
2010–11 UCLA 333335.0.406.362.7367.22.8.92.012.8
Career 595131.7.431.359.6846.92.81.21.710.2

See also

References
  1. "Player Bio: Tyler Honeycutt". uclabruins.com. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  2. "Rivals.com". sports.yahoo.com.
  3. Maya, Adam (April 12, 2011). "UCLA basketball: Lee, Honeycutt, Nelson MVPs". Orange Couinty Register. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
  4. Brennan, Eamonn (April 25, 2011). "Final exam: Grading the goners". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2011.
  5. Maya, Adam (June 24, 2011). "What were UCLA's Honeycutt, Lee thinking?". The Orange County Register. Archived from the original on January 4, 2012.
  6. Ham, James (December 31, 2011). "Notebook: Knicks 114, Kings 92". NBA.com. Archived from the original on January 4, 2012.
  7. "SACRAMENTO KINGS ASSIGN HONEYCUTT, WHITESIDE TO BIGHORNS".
  8. "Kings recall Tyler Honeycutt from D-league". Associated Press. January 24, 2012. Archived from the original on January 25, 2012.
  9. "Sacramento Kings Send Tyler Honeycutt To NBA D-League Affiliate Reno Bighorns In Year's First Assignment".
  10. "Kings Recall Honeycutt From Reno". Sacramento Kings.
  11. "Rockets Acquire Robinson, Garcia and Honeycutt". NBA.com. February 20, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  12. Jones, Jason (July 7, 2018). "Tyler Honeycutt's career: Drafted by Kings, a dunk champ in Turkey, and a EuroCup title". The Sacramento Bee.
  13. "Houston Rockets Assign Tyler Honeycutt to NBA D-League Affiliate Rio Grande Valley Vipers".
  14. "He's Back - Rockets Sign Free Agent Aaron Brooks". NBA.com. March 5, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
  15. "2012-13 Transactions". NBA.com. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
  16. "Ironi Nes Ziona announced Tyler Honeycutt and Mitchell Watt". Sportando.net. August 18, 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2013.
  17. "Khimki lands Honeycutt". Eurocupbasketball.com. July 8, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  18. "Anadolu Efes lands athletic forward Honeycutt". Euroleague.net. July 22, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  19. "Anadolu Efes Istanbul part ways with Tyler Honeycutt and DeShaun Thomas". Sportando.com. June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  20. "WELCOME BACK, TYLER!". en.bckhimki.ru. July 14, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  21. Gancedo, Javier (February 6, 2018). "Tyler Honeycutt, Khimki: 'We still have to see our full potential'". Euroleague.net. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  22. "Tyler Honeycutt International Stats". Basketball Reference. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  23. "Higgins sends CSKA Moscow back to the Final Four". Eurohoops.net. April 27, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  24. "Domestic leagues roundup: June 10, 2018". EuroleagueBasketball.net. June 10, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  25. Bolch, Ben (August 21, 2018). "Tyler Honeycutt's mother told police the late UCLA basketball star was 'sucking laughing gas'". Los Angeles Times.
  26. "Former UCLA star and NBA Player Tyler Honeycutt found dead following shootout with police". Yahoo! Sports. July 7, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  27. "Tyler Honeycutt dies following gunfire exchange with police". ESPN. July 7, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
    Lozano, Amina Khan, Carlos. "Former NBA, UCLA player Tyler Honeycutt dead after exchanging gunfire with police in Sherman Oaks". latimes.com.
  28. Gleeson, Scott (July 8, 2018). "Tyler Honeycutt, former UCLA and Sacramento Kings basketball player, dies after standoff with police". USA Today. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
    Downen, Robert (July 7, 2018). "Former Rockets player dead after SWAT standoff". Chronicle. Houston. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
    Bravo, Kristina (July 7, 2018). "Former UCLA Player Dead After Exchanging Gunfire With LAPD in Sherman Oaks, Family Friend Says". KTLA. Los Angeles. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  29. Amin Khan (July 7, 2018). "Former NBA, UCLA player Tyler Honeycutt dead after exchanging gunfire with police in Sherman Oaks". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 14, 2019.
  30. Perez, A. J. (July 19, 2018). "Coroner confirms former NBA, UCLA player Tyler Honeycutt died by suicide". USA Today.
  31. staff, ABC7 com (July 22, 2019). "Mother of former UCLA player Tyler Honeycutt suing L.A. for negligence in son's death". ABC7 Los Angeles.
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