The summer has arrived which means the end of the D-league season and the beginning of another journey through the NBA summer league. The end of the D-league season was not very good, well in a word it was shit! We made the playoffs which is a first for the Bakersfield Jam but we didn’t last very long. We drew the Utah Flash in the first round which was in my mind a very good thing. We played well against them all year and matched up with them. The bad part was that it was another road game for us and the D-league first round of the playoffs is only a one game series, so do or die. Die, well we more like we were slaughtered. It was the worst game that we had played all season by far. Not exactly how you like to end what was essentially a very good year for us. So it was over very quickly. Again ending a season is always a tough thing but for us it was made even tougher because of the way it ended. A loss is always hard to deal with but when it is your last game of the season it hurts just a bit more. The only bright side to the whole thing was that it meant that I could get back to Bakersfield a week earlier then we had hoped, back my bags, and head on down the I-5 towards San Diego and never look back.
Bakersfield had been very good to me and I have definitely taken alot more good then bad away from the place but let’s be honest it was a smelly, dirty place that I will not soon be returning to. Now if anyone took offense to that just check out the study done this year that listed good old Bakersfield as one of the worst cities in America in terms of air quality and pollution, which is good when you are an athlete cuz it’s not like we train really hard and breathe alot. But like I said my overall feeling of Bakersfield was very good, hey it’s another pin I can put on the map. (Special thanks to Julian and his amazing family)
So moving forward with my career is turning out to be very good so far. I wasn’t home 4 days before the phone started ringing with an offer to head to Belgium for a month or so to finish their season and help a team in the playoffs (yes that was not a typo, you read correctly Belgium). But the team ended up not needing me and I honestly was ready to just be home for a while. But it was very exciting to know that offers were starting to come in so quickly after the season. Last year I pretty much sat around hoping the phone would ring, this year different story. I am on the radar screen and have been given the opportunity to play for the Chicago Bulls this summer in the NBA summer league in Las Vegas. The summer league, for those of you who are new to the blog, is an opportunity for NBA teams to put together a team of free agents (ME), rookies, and recent draft picks. We meet as a team and play for about 10 days in Vegas against other NBA teams that are doing the same thing. So it is great for guys to showcase their skill and earn a spot on an NBA teams roster for camp that starts in the fall. The camp is the start of the season when all the members of the team actually start practice for the up coming season. This is what you want to achieve through summer league, the opportunity to be with the team in camp and make the final roster.
In the mean time I will be headed to Bradenton, Fl to begin training for the summer league. I have gone down to Florida for the last 2 summers and worked out on the campus of the IMG Training facility. It is a great place to go and just work on your game with other NBA players in an environment where there is now pressure in trying to make a team. This training is completely independent of any teams. It is strictly a workout facility with weights, courts, and food for guys to come on their own and train. The program is run by David Thorpe who is well known in the basketball community and I must say a big part of why I am where I am. He is great to work with because he really focuses on what you individually need to work on to get to the next level. There is no media or outside interference allowed and we just get in there and bust ass twice a day everyday to sharpen our game and get into the greatest shape I have ever been in. It is the perfect way to prepare for the summer league. I will be headed down there around the 2nd of June and will be there until I go to summer league. The basketball lifestyle never ends. By no means is this a complaint I LOVE what I do and have no intentions of stopping anytime soon!
To those of you I got to see this weekend in Phoenix it was absolutely amazing and Jessica and I love you all so much. We are truly blessed to have all of you in our lives and hopefully we will be seeing you all 1 August!
