NBA
Summer Pro League action at The Pyramid
By Oscar Gardner
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
 Men
from all over the country pack The Pyramid
to try for a dream they have been striving
for their whole life. Tryouts are being
held this week ranging from former Division
I basketball players to men from the parks
and recreation centers at local gyms. Only
21 players will be chosen out of the 195
vying for spots in the Summer Pro League.
These
players will be tested in agility, speed
and shooting while being put in game situations
to test their skills against competition.
Coaches from various levels, scouts from
all over the world, and former NBA players
A.C. Green and Gary Grant, from the Los
Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Clippers
respectively, are on staff giving their
expert advice over the four-day workouts.
The
fee to try out is $340 and players have
the option of staying in dorm rooms on campus.
“It’s
what I’ve been working for. I’ve been playing
ball for the past 16 years of my life to
get here,” said Yousof Etemadi, 24. “It’s
an honor to play on the court with some
of these guys, they’re phenomenal athletes.”
Players
selected will be placed on two free agent
teams that will compete against nine professional
teams over the two weeks of play. The goal
in having these teams is for scouts from
professional and European teams to watch
these players perform against professionals
and compare their skills to others playing,
in turn giving these free agents an opportunity
to play professionally next year. Whether
it’s overseas, in the NBA’s developmental
league or even in the NBA, scouts that come
here are from the NBA, NBDL, CBA, USBL and
foreign leagues all over the world.
“Of
course my goal is to make it to the league
(NBA), but playing overseas would also be
cool too,” said Semaj Johnson, 23. Johnson
feels the tryouts can be a little nerve
racking, but fun at the same time because
he’s been performing in front of fans his
entire life.
The
Pyramid will be hosting the Summer Pro League
for the 24th consecutive year, beginning
July 6 and continuing until July 20. The
Pyramid is a prime spot for the games due
to the location, said Director of Entertainment
Alexa Zanoli.
“Long
Beach is a very good location to play these
games,” said Zanoli. “Fans from San Diego
can come and fans from Los Angeles can come.”
The
league will have eight of its games televised
on NBA TV, which is more exposure than the
other four pro leagues receive.
Professional
teams playing in the league are the LA Clippers,
LA Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Seattle
SuperSonics, Memphis Grizzles, Houston Rockets,
Denver Nuggets and the Toronto Raptors.
Some
of the big name players who will be competing
this summer are Carmelo Anthony (Nuggets),
Chris Bosh (Raptors), Luke Ridnour (SuperSonics)
, Nick Collison (SuperSonics), Luke Walton
(Lakers), Brian Cook (Lakers), Chris Kaman
(Clippers) and Earl Watson (Grizzles) said
Zanoli.
The
34-year history of the SPL runs deep with
800 current and former players having participated
including Kevin Garnett, Baron Davis, Tracy
McGrady and Kobe Bryant.
Games
start at 10:30 a.m. and run continuously
until the last game at 7:30 p.m. Tickets
are $10 per day and $35 for courtside seats.
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