Player to Watch
Every once in a while while scouring the Summer League rosters, I see long lost college stars that never quite made to the NBA. Then, once in a blue moon, I discover something far more interesting, players that I actually played well against while growing up in San Antonio. This always makes me feel good, in an I-need-something-because-I-never-really-achieved-the-success-I-was-hoping-for-and-now-feel-aged-and-diminished-athleticly type of way. This feeling began when I had the opportunity to watch Devin Brown succeed as a Spur. Brown was a star in the San Antonio high school sports scene when I was entering my junior year in high school. We had the opportunity to play West Campus at our house that year. Brown showed up wearing the Horace Grant blue rec-specs, and we immediately wrote him off. We also had a 6′9″ center who was hoping to garner some area recognition by shutting Brown down. Well, Devin went for something like 40 points, at least that’s how I remember it. I guarded Devin for about 1 minute and 33 seconds, and he did not score on me. It’s pathetic, I know, but at this point, I’ll take whatever recognition I can get.
Two summers ago, I was watching some Summer League games and I discovered a player that I played many games against in high school. His name was Steven Barber and he was playing for the New York Knicks. I watched that game intently, and Barber played very well. In fact, he played well enough to earn a preseason roster spot with the Knicks. He did not make the roster, and I failed to pay too much attention to what he was doing. The story does not end there however. Earlier this morning, when I should have been working, I was checking out the 2007 Pepsi Summer League rosters. During my search, I was happy to see that Steven Barber was once again on the NBA radar. He is currently on the Orlando Magic summer league roster. He did not play in the first game (check the box score), but I will be watching the Magic box scores in the hopes that Barber will get some run.
You see, I went to a high school that was in the same district as Barber’s high school, and we were in the same class year. Therefore, I played against Steven two times per year. His high school was much more talented than ours, and they always killed us in basketball. During our freshman year, we were both the leading scorers for our teams. He was the point guard, he was probably 5′5″ at the time, and I was our power forward. They ran a 2-3 zone against us, which always suprised me, because they easily could have manned up on us. (It did not matter, they beat us by 30 every time). However, I was able to find all kinds of holes in their zone at the high post, and averaged 23 against them. (I can only verify this, because when I was cleaning things out of my old room at my parents’ house, I found an old scrap book of newspaper clippings and other sports stuff that my dad kept for me). We also met up in AAU games during the summer. There were guys who were just as talented as Steven, both on his high school teams and his AAU teams, but for one reason or another, they disappeared off the radar. Obviously, my game never fully developed (neither did my height, I think I grew one inch in high school) and I went on to be another anonymous Division III athlete (football and baseball), while Steven went on to be a star at UT-Arlington. (Read more here). It just feels good to know that some people that I played against have been able to continue playing and doing what they love to do. Trust me, I would rather be pulling 1,000 jumpers a day than sitting at a desk.
Recently, he has been bouncing around leagues (playing briefly in the new ABA, the USBL, and the NBDL last year), looking for a home and an opportunity to continue to play the game we all love. I can only hope that he enjoys every second of his journey, and the people here at nbahoops.blog.com (me) will be rooting for him and keeping a watchful eye on his career.
