Fulton Makes Irish Basketball History
CJ Fulton. Credit: Minnesota Timberwolves on YouTube
By Fionn Murray
Ireland international CJ Fulton recently became the first basketball player developed in Ireland to sign an NBA contract, linking a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves last week.
He will, however, get his start in Iowa rather than Minnesota, as the Belfast native is set to join the Iowa Wolves. This is the Timberwolves’ affiliate team in the NBA G League, a second-tier competition focused on player development.
Fulton played NCAA college basketball stateside with the Lafayette Leopards and the Charleston Cougars before joining the Timberwolves Summer League team in July.
The 23-year-old was also the first Irish player to compete in the NBA Summer League, a yearly showcase of the world’s premier basketball prospects.
Despite limited minutes during the tournament, Fulton clearly made a good impression, and the Timberwolves called him back for the upcoming season.
Fulton is 6 ft 3 and plays as a traditional point guard, a position that has become a rarity in modern basketball. He has excellent playmaking skills and is among the elite in his ability to retain possession of the ball.
He led all US college players in assist/turnover ratio in the 2023-24 season and finished second in 2024-25 (despite improving over the previous year).
The NBA G-League is generally dominated by scoring-heavy play, which is not Fulton’s strength on paper. Emmet Ryan however, editor of Ball in Europe, believes this stylistic difference could work to his advantage.
Ryan states “The NBA is not looking for the guys who are scoring 25 points a night in the G League.
They’re looking for something [that fits] a job that needs to be filled… So for CJ, oddly him not being a G League-style player might be what helps him there.”
Fulton looks to follow in the footsteps of Pat Burke, who is still the only ever Irish-born basketball player to grace an NBA court. Burke was born in Dublin and lived in Tullamore until the age of three, when his family moved to Florida. He made 139 NBA appearances between 2002 and 2007.
