According to ESPN, little 5-5 Earl Boykins, the Charlotte Bobcat’s backup point guard, just signed a one-year contract with Italian club Virtus Bologna worth $3.5 million.  According to one of his agents, Mark Termini, Boykins’s contract includes income from the club’s marketing and sponsorship deals.

A 10-year NBA veteran, Boykin’s $3.5 million dollar deal makes him the highest-paid basketball player in Italy. Discuss the move in our Euroleague Forum.

The diminutive guard opted out of his contract with the Milwukee Bucks at the beginning of the 2007-08 season, and wasn’t picked up until about midway through by the Charlotte Bobcats.

Boykins was signed to a guaranteed contract for the remainder of the season as a backup for starting point guard Raymond Felton.  Expected back in Charlotte, Boykins was an unrestricted free-agent and decided to bolt to the Euroleague instead.

Boykins is the lightest NBA player in history, weighing in a solid 133lbs (60.5kg), and Earl is the second shortest player in NBA history, below (or above) only the 5-3 Muggsy Bogues.

Undrafted coming out of Eastern Michigan University, when during his senior year he was second in the NCAA in scoring with 28.6 points a game.  Boykins spent a season with the Rockford Lightning of the CBA, where he played in 29 games during the 1997-98 season.

Boykins eventually broke into the NBA with a short-term contract as a New Jersey Net in 1998-99, and has since played for Cleveland, Orlando, Los Angeles (Clippers), Golden State, Denver, Milwaukee, and finally Charlotte.

During the latter part of 2007, there was talk that Boykins was close to signing with Lithuanian club Lietuvos Rytas, but nothing ever came of that rumor as Rytas signed Jared Jordan instead.  Then earlier this week, it was rumored that Boykins would sign with Israeli club Macabbi Tel Aviv earlier in the week, but when Macabbi igned of Carlos Arroyo, the rumors no longer made any sense.

Finally Earl Boykins is on his way to Europe…

Links and Resources: Discuss Virtus signs Earl Boykins (Interbasket), Earl Boykins latest player to Europe, signs $3.5 million dollar contract (ESPN), Carlos Arroyo to Macabbi Tel Aviv (Interbasket), Earl Boykins Player Profile (Interbasket), Euroleague Forum (Interbasket)