Minor league baseball (1990–1991) After being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fifth round of the
1990 Major League Baseball draft, Burrell was a minor league baseball pitcher from 1990 to 1991, first with the
St. Catharines Blue Jays in 1990 and splitting the 1991 season between the
Myrtle Beach Hurricanes and St. Catharines Blue Jays. Burrell had a 3.71 ERA and 2–6 record as a minor league pitcher.
Charlotte Hornets (1993–1997) Burrell was selected by the
Charlotte Hornets with the 20th overall pick in the
1993 NBA draft. In the 1994–95 season, Burrell played in 65 games with 62 starts and averaged 11.5 points and 5.7 rebounds. Despite a season ending injury on April 1, 1995, Burrell finished third in
NBA Most Improved Player Award votes. During the season, in which the Bulls won the
NBA championship, Burrell played 80 games with three starts and averaged 5.2 points and 2.5 rebounds. Shortly after the
1998–99 NBA lockout ended, the Bulls released Burrell on January 25, 1999. In six games with five starts, Burrell averaged 5.5 points and 3.7 rebounds in his only NBDL season. After leaving the NBDL, Burrell finished much of his professional basketball career internationally, starting with the
Shaanxi Kylins of the
Chinese Basketball Association where he averaged 18.0 points and 6.2 rebounds in 2002–03. In 2003–04, Burrell played for the
Batang Thunder of the
Philippine Basketball Association, averaging 25.1 points and 5.0 rebounds. Burrell played 14 games for the Stampede, averaging 6.9 points and 3.9 rebounds. In 2005, Burrell signed with
Bilbao Basket of the Spanish
Liga ACB, where he played eight games and averaged 5.0 points. On January 24, 2005, Burrell signed with the
Hitachi Sunrockers of the Japanese
JBL Super League. Burrell averaged 6.2 points in his final pro basketball season with Hitachi in 2005–06. ==Coaching career==