Ok so for those who have been faithfully checking my old blog and haven't seen any new psotongs this is why. I was released from the team in Leuven in February. This was a very tough time in the scheme of basketball. I was very worried that this release would effect my future career and oppurtunities down the road. As it turned out the decision to leave Leuven could not have been any more beneficial for me. I returned to San Diego to start working out and potentially looking for a real job. But fortunately for me I have a kickass agent who knows what he is doing. I wasn't even home for a week and I was offered a position in the NBA Developmental League (refered to from here on out as the NBADL). I was picked up by the LA D-fenders which is the minor league team from which the Lakers select players. I quickly packed my stuff again and headed up the I-5 to the lovely city of Angels.
I arrived to find that we lived and trained right among the actual Lakers team. It was great for me because I was able to reconnect with some old opponents. One of which was Ronny Turriaf, who I played against in college. Ronny and I had battled it out probably a dozens times over our careers at Gonzaga and USD respectively. Ronny was doing well especially considering that after he was drafted in the 2nd round by the Lakers in 2006 he had to undergo open heart surgery to repair some problem with his heart. He has since recovered and is playing very well for the Lakers. I was able to adapted to the Lakers style of play fairly quickly and was soon playing a significant role for the D-fenders. I played about 22 games in the 7 weeks I spent in the D-league this was more games then I played the entire 6 months I was in Belgium. Anyway, water under the bridge. But needless to say I was evaluated every day by the Lakers staff and was hopefully gaining some ground on making an NBA team. The experience I gained playing in the D-league really made me think I could in fact make the jump to the next level. After the conclusion of the season I returned to San Diego to wait yet again.
This waiting for phone calls has become a constant in my life. I workout and wait to be called by a team or from my agent saying that he has some news about a team. In this case I got a call from my agent saying that I had been invited to travel to the IMG training facility in Bradenton, Fl to train and prepare for the NBA Summer League. I have to say that this training has been the best thing I have ever done and hopefully this will lead to future success. I will be here through the week of the 30th June and then return to San Diego and then on to Vegas Summer League. This will begin the next step in my Life of Basketball. Hopefully all is well with everyone and feel free to post any question or comments.
