Portrait of Earl Cureton

Birthday profile

Earl Cureton

Earl Cureton, American basketball player and coach (died 2024)

Born
September 3, 1957
Died
February 4, 2024
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1957

About Earl Cureton

Earl Cureton (September 3, 1957 – February 4, 2024) was an American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Twirl", he played college basketball for the Robert Morris Colonials and Detroit Mercy Titans. Cureton was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the third round of the 1979 NBA draft. He won an NBA championship with the 76ers and the Houston Rockets, and also played in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Charlotte Hornets, and Toronto Raptors. He also played in multiple countries overseas. == Early life == Cureton was born in Detroit on September 3, 1957, and grew up in the 1960s in the midst of the city's race riots. He played high school basketball at Finney High School. == College career == Cureton played two seasons at Robert Morris College. After his first year, they transitioned from being a junior college, and he played in the Colonials' first season in NCAA Division I in 1976–77, averaging a double-double of 17.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, before electing to return home to play at the University of Detroit Mercy under coach Dick Vitale. Cureton was required by NCAA rules to sit out a year due to the transfer, when Vitale left for the Detroit Pistons and was replaced by Smokey Gaines.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Career and life highlights

Earl Cureton timeline

  1. Cureton paired with future NBA player Terry Duerod to lead the Titans to the 1979 NCAA tournament, losing to Lamar 95–87 in the first round.
  2. Cureton was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers in the third round of the 1979 NBA draft.
  3. Led by their newly acquired center Moses Malone, the 76ers won the 1983 finals in a rematch with the Lakers.

The world when Earl Cureton was born

Earl Cureton was born in 1957. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1957

  • #1 song"All Shook Up" – Elvis Presley
  • Top movieThe Bridge on the River Kwai
  • Top TV showGunsmoke
  • Best-selling bookOn the Road – Jack Kerouac

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentMilwaukee Braves win the World Series
  • Top headlineSoviet Union launches Sputnik — Space Race begins
  • Technology milestoneSputnik 1 becomes first artificial satellite in orbit
  • Defining fadHula hoops (early buzz)
  • Notable inventionFrisbee
  • World population2.87 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderDwight D. Eisenhower
  • Sports championMilwaukee Braves (World Series)
  • Also wonBoston Celtics (NBA)
  • U.S. population171.2M

1957 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Earl Cureton's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19572026
Gas$0.31$3.45/gal
Average home$12,200$435,000
Average income$6,700$67,500
Minimum wage$1.00$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.51$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population171.2M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, NBA, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.