Golden Gophers

Anyone else love going back and looking at old box scores and falling down afternoon-long rabbit holes, or am I the weirdo?
You might&rsquo;ve read the headline and either recalled this event actually happening, or are befuddled at how such a thing could take place, even in that NBA.
This article, published on April 6, 2022, marks 25 years since the Del Harris-led Los Angeles Lakers held Jim Cleamons and his Dallas Mavericks to 2 points in the third quarter of a regular-season game.
The contest was held at the LA Forum, where a 50-24 Laker team met a 22-53 Mavs squad with two weeks remaining before the playoffs started. Staples wasn&rsquo;t that big yet, and Crypto didn&rsquo;t exist. (Some might say it still doesn&rsquo;t, but you can fight about that amongst yourselves.)
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A large-ass, Biggie verse-having, All-Star center named Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal had been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/14/sports/injury-to-o-neal-is-a-blow-to-lakers.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">out with a knee injury</a> suffered that February, which he returned from five days later. Something tells me, if you made it here, you&rsquo;ve heard of him. Also on the Lakers, quite famously, was a talented rookie named Kobe Bryant, who had been playing regular rotation minutes at 18 years old, but wasn&rsquo;t yet Kobe.
The Mavericks had traded a controversial-but-talented point guard in Jason Kidd earlier in the season &mdash; along with Tony Dumas and Loren Meyer &mdash; to the Phoenix Suns for a package highlighted by Michael Finley, Sam Cassell and A.C. Green. They also dealt Jamal Mashburn to the Miami Heat several weeks later for Kurt Thomas, Sasa Danilović and Martin M&uuml;&uuml;rsepp.
And right before the deadline, Dallas rerouted Cassell as part of a five-man package including Jim Jackson, George McCloud (who wound up on the Lakers retroactively), Eric Montross and Chris Gatling for Shawn Bradley, Khalid Reeves, Robert Pack and Ed O&rsquo;Bannon &mdash; famously the Most Outstanding Player of the 1995 Final Four, and <a href="https://www.primerus.com/business-law-articles/ed-obannon-shines-a-light-upon-student-athletes-right-of-publicity-624201.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killer of EA's NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball video game franchises</a>. This move not only cemented Dallas&rsquo; rebuild, but it officially made way for a <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/mavericks/2018/06/06/flashback-jamal-mashburn-on-what-really-happened-between-jason-kidd-jim-jackson-and-toni-braxton/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toni Braxton-less future in Texas</a>.
The Mavericks, <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/DAL/1997_games.html">who came in as losers of 10 straight heading into this game</a> &mdash; a lengthy skid that never saw the team score more than 92 points &mdash; went into Hollywood and started Pack, Finley, Green, Bradley and Derek Harper. Without Shaq, the Lakers began with Derek Fisher, Eddie Jones, Jerome Kersey, Corie Blount and Sean Rooks, who played a game-high 43 minutes (33 over his season average).
<a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199704060LAL.html">The Mavericks led 30-17 after the first quarter and 51-37 at halftime</a>. The teams combined to attempt 12 threes in the first half, which most teams would typically combine to do in a quarter today. The Mavericks shot 21 of 44 from the field and outrebounded the Lakers 24-16 while holding L.A. to 12 of 32 shooting.
Bryant and Robert Horry went a combined 2 of 9 off the bench, and Rooks had logged 10 points and 7 boards to that point. Harper and Finley combined for 25 points on 9 of 15 shooting, while Bradley had 9 points and 9 rebounds.
Okay, now let's get to why you&rsquo;re here.
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Not only did the Mavericks score 2 points in the entire third quarter, but the points came from a pair of Harper free throws with 1:51 left in the quarter. So it took over 10 minutes to even get on the board in this period.
Anyway, the Mavericks shot 0 of 15 from the field for the quarter and missed all 4 of their three-balls. They also had 9 turnovers and only made one substitution over the entire 12 minutes, removing Pack for Sa&scaron;a Danilović about halfway through the third. That meant Green, Harper, Finley and Bradley were each a minus-25 for the quarter, and Pack was a minus-20.
For good measure, the Mavericks third quarter could be summed up like this:
<ul>
<li>Points: 2</li>
<li>Fouls: 3</li>
</ul>
The Lakers outscored the Mavericks 27-2 and still just led 64-53 after three. L.A. shot 10 of 17 in the quarter, made 5 of 7 triples, only needed to pull down 8 rebounds and turned the ball over just twice.
The Mavs outdid their horrific third quarter only 48 seconds into the fourth with two layups. They even cut their deficit to as close as 7 points in garbage time before the Lakers pulled away with a 87-80 win.
Fisher scored 21 points &mdash; not even close to a career-high for him &mdash; but to that point, his highest point tally had been just 14. In fact, the 21 points would remain a career-best mark for Fisher until he netted 26 points on March 13, 2001 in a win over the Boston Celtics four years later.
Sean &ldquo;2019 Bam Adebayo&rdquo; Rooks ended the night with 15 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. Bryant logged about 22 minutes off the bench, netting 13 points on 3 of 9 shooting, also finishing with 3 steals and going a perfect 5 of 5 at the free-throw line.
Harper led the Mavs with 18 points on 6 of 15 shooting. Finley only put up 9 shots in over 34 minutes of play. The next time he put up just 9 shots in that many minutes? <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200203310WAS.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March 31, 2002</a>.
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So, what ended up happening to these two teams? Glad you asked!
The Lakers finished 56-26 and fourth in the Western Conference, sweeping the Kenny Anderson, Isaiah Rider, and Rasheed Wallace-led Portland Trail Blazers in Round 1. Then, in the West semifinals, L.A. fell to the No. 1 seed Utah Jazz, who eventually lost to the Chicago Bulls in the 1997 NBA Finals. The Lakers still had a few more years of Harris before Phil Jackson eventually came to clean things up prior to the 1999-2002 three-peat era.
The Mavericks finished 24-58 and were actually still fourth in the Midwest Division among seven teams, completing 1996-97 with only the sixth-worst record in the league. Unfortunately, they didn&rsquo;t own their own draft pick, but fortunately, the Celtics &mdash; who had it at No. 6 &mdash; used it on Ron Mercer, so it wasn&rsquo;t an egregious miss.
Tracy McGrady did go No. 9 overall, and the Mavs did settle on Kelvin Cato at No. 15, but they landed with a kid named Dirk Nowitzki in the 1998 NBA Draft after another 20-win season.
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Bryan Fonseca revisits when the Mavericks only mustered a measly 2 points in the third quarter against the Lakers.

25 years ago, the Mavericks scored just 2 points in an entire quarter

In this series, Matt Babcock shares his experience growing up around the Milwaukee Bucks organization since his dad, Dave Babcock, has been an executive with the team for 23 years. He also provides an inside look at the rise and fall of the Bucks during the late 1990s and early 2000s. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/breakingnews/growing-up-a-buck-millewahque-milwaukee-bucks-nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">For Part 1, click here</a>. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/growing-up-a-buck-george-karl-arrives-in-milwaukee" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> For Part 2, click here</a>. <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/growing-up-a-milwaukee-bucks-its-reggie-miller-time-indiana-pacers-nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">For Part 3, click here</a>.
After finishing the 2000-01 NBA regular season as the top team in the Central Division, the Milwaukee Bucks were headed to the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Thanks to my dad&rsquo;s job within the Bucks&rsquo; front office, I was lucky enough to be along for the ride. As a 16-year-old kid, I routinely shot around with the team before games, spent time in the locker room before and after games, and even traveled with the team. Of all my fortunate experiences with the Bucks during that time, nothing compares to the emotional roller coaster of the 2001 playoff run.&nbsp;
Here&rsquo;s how I remember it happening...
The Bucks' first playoff series that year was against the seventh-seeded Orlando Magic led by head coach Doc Rivers. The previous season, the Bucks and Magic played a &ldquo;do-or-die&rdquo; game on the last day of the regular season. The winner would secure a playoff spot, and the Bucks won in a nail biter. George Karl and Doc Rivers seemed to regularly take jabs at each other in the media during that time and the two teams had suddenly established a testy rivalry with one another.&nbsp;
However, the 2001 Orlando Magic team was a little different than the team the Bucks beat the previous season. The previous Magic team was led by a group of underdog journeymen, including Darrell Armstrong, Bo Outlaw, and Ben Wallace &mdash; they were a scrappy bunch of overachievers, which was their clear-cut identity as a team. Following the 1999-00 season, the Magic really opened up their wallets, signing superstar Grant Hill from the Detroit Pistons and young budding star Tracy McGrady from the Toronto Raptors. Their idea was, presumably, to have Hill be the leader and the face of the team as they slowly brought along McGrady. However, after signing that big contract, Hill only played four games that season as he battled ankle injuries &mdash; injuries that derailed the rest of his career, unfortunately. Subsequently, the idea of slowly developing McGrady was scratched and, suddenly, the Magic were dependent on the 21-year-old to carry their team.&nbsp;
However, McGrady did not have any problems stepping into this role, averaging 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game that season. In the first-round playoff series versus the Bucks, McGrady was outstanding, averaging 33.8 points, 8.3 assists, 6.5 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game &mdash; superstar numbers. He did all of this while also holding All-Star Glenn &ldquo;Big Dog&rdquo; Robinson to only 14.8 points per game and 34.8% shooting from the field, which were well below his normal averages. I also remember McGrady relentlessly trash-talking &ldquo;Big Dog,&rdquo; infamously calling him &ldquo;Puppy Dog.&rdquo; Following that series, McGrady quickly became well known within the basketball world, and I guess you could say &ldquo;a star was born.&rdquo; He was a long, 6-foot-8 scoring machine who could essentially do everything on the offensive end.&nbsp;
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However, in hindsight, based on what I saw from McGrady in that series, I don&rsquo;t think he maximized his full potential over the course of his career (although he was an all-time great player). Although not a bad defender, he had the potential to be elite. He could have had a Scottie-Pippen-type of career on the defensive end and become a two-way star, if he had really applied himself. This was an early lesson for me in evaluating players: just because a player has the tools to be a great defender does not mean he will be. Intent and effort are absolutely necessary for a player to be productive on the defensive end. Regardless, McGrady was great during that series and it is still one of the best individual performances throughout a playoff series that I have ever seen. Nevertheless, despite McGrady&rsquo;s impressive performance during that series, the Bucks far outmatched the Magic talent-wise. The Bucks beat the Magic 3-1, and I suppose &ldquo;Big Dog&rdquo; got the last laugh in that matchup.
And on to the next round the Bucks went&hellip;
In the second round, the Bucks faced the Charlotte Hornets, who were led by star player Jamal Mashburn and second-year point guard Baron Davis. The first two games of that series went as expected; the Bucks protected their home court and won the tough games. The next two games were played on the road in Charlotte and that was an entirely different story.
As I mentioned, the Hornets&rsquo; top player was Mashburn. Having had somewhat of a roller-coaster career up to that point, the 28-year-old had really come into his own as a player. The Hornets traded for him the previous summer and it clearly seemed to be a good fit. At 6-foot-8 and a strong 240 pounds, the small forward from the University of Kentucky was a handful for any opponent. He could shoot from outside, handle the ball, post up, and pretty much score from all over the floor. He was simply a matchup nightmare due to his strength and versatility. He <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/roundtable-which-former-player-would-fit-perfectly-in-todays-nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">would be perfect as a combo forward in today&rsquo;s modern style of play</a>. In Games 3, 4, and 5 of that series, his value really showed, as he was the top scorer in each contest and led the charge for the Hornets to win three games in a row over the Bucks.
And like a whirlwind, the Bucks went from being up a comfortable 2-0 to down a terrifying 3-2. The tide had turned quickly, and the pressure was on the Bucks.
Despite the Bucks having gone to the playoffs the previous couple of seasons, the 2001 playoffs were my first real taste of how intense playoff basketball can be for everyone involved -- including the families of the players, coaches, and management. The NBA is big business, and when a team goes far in the playoffs, everyone wins on some level or another. Player values in free agency increase, coaches and management get raises or new job opportunities, and, of course, playoff bonuses get bigger with each round. The family room at the Bradley Center following a loss in the playoffs felt like a funeral. Needless to say, stress levels were high now that the team&rsquo;s back was up against the wall, down 3-2.
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Game 6 was played in Charlotte and it did not start off well. The Bucks went into the locker room at halftime down 10 points. However, in the second half, the &ldquo;Big Three&rdquo; of Ray Allen, Sam Cassell, and Glenn &ldquo;Big Dog&rdquo; Robinson lit it up. The Bucks outscored the Hornets 61-44 in the second half and won the game by seven points. Allen, Cassell and Robinson combined for 85 points. When it comes to perimeter shooting and scoring, they were probably the NBA&rsquo;s best trio at the time (and they&rsquo;re arguably one of the best ever). When Ray, Sam and &ldquo;Big Dog&rdquo; got hot, good luck trying to stop them!
That intense series would come down to one final deciding game. By that point, the Hornets had earned everyone&rsquo;s respect and in Game 7, Baron Davis put on a show. The 6-foot-3, strong, explosive point guard diced up the Bucks&rsquo; defense off the dribble, scoring 29 points. But that game was played in Milwaukee, in our house, the Bradley Center. The Bucks closed out that series, winning by nine points. &ldquo;The Big Three&rdquo; came through in the clutch again, as Ray and &ldquo;Big Dog&rdquo; combined for 57 points, and Sam chipped in 17 points and 13 assists.&nbsp;
The Bucks were moving on again. Now, to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they matched up against the Philadelphia 76ers, who were coached by Larry Brown and led by that season&rsquo;s NBA MVP Allen Iverson.
The 76ers had the best regular-season record in the East that year, so Philadelphia had home-court advantage. After a few bogus calls, non-calls, and just poor overall officiating at the First Union Center, the 76ers unfortunately pulled out a win over the Bucks in Game 1. The matchup between Allen Iverson and Ray Allen quickly proved to be entertaining in and of itself, as Ray scored 31 points and Iverson had 34 in Game 1. It was pretty evident that this would be a showdown we would all remember.
<img src="https://cdn.basketballnews.com/images/story/body/ray_ai1_lg.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="412" />
The officiating in Game 1 was bad, but the team had to move on and get a win in Game 2 to tie up the series before heading back to Milwaukee &mdash; and that&rsquo;s exactly what they did. The Bucks&rsquo; defense was able to hold Iverson to 5-26 shooting from the field and just 16 points. Just as important, Ray absolutely went off, netting 38 points and hitting seven three-pointers. Heading back to Milwaukee for Game 3, tied up 1-1 with the Sixers, the Bucks&rsquo; confidence was already high, but then the news came out that Iverson was not even traveling with the team because of a sore hip. Going into Game 3 without their star player, Coach Brown clearly instructed his 76ers to &ldquo;muck it up.&rdquo; The team was built around Iverson and his scoring ability; the rest of the roster was made up of tough defenders with relatively little offensive talent and &ldquo;glue guys&rdquo; -- players such as Eric Snow, George Lynch, Tyrone Hill, Aaron McKie, and veteran center Dikembe Mutombo. 
The Sixers&rsquo; plan to make it a physical, sloppy game worked, as both teams struggled to score. Although it was an admirable effort, the Sixers could not overcome the Bucks&rsquo; talent without Iverson. Milwaukee defeated Philly 80-74, taking a 2-1 series lead. At that point, I couldn&rsquo;t help myself from getting excited about the idea of traveling with the team to Los Angeles, where they would most likely face Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal, and the Los Angeles Lakers in the sacred NBA Finals.
The Bucks needed to get past the 76ers first though, and with Iverson returning, that wouldn&rsquo;t be an easy task. Iverson returned from his injury in Game 4 as expected, and the Sixers won the next two games. The officiating continued to become more and more of a focal point in that series and the referees came under major scrutiny, especially after Game 4. There started to be a lot of chatter in the media about a conspiracy theory that the NBA and NBC did not want a small-market team like the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals. Needless to say, this series was quite dramatic.
The Bucks were up against the wall, again, and they needed to win two games in a row in order for my dream trip to L.A. for the NBA Finals to become a reality.
Down 3-2, the Bucks were facing elimination in Game 6 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. Before that game, rumors circulated that a bellman at the 76ers&rsquo; hotel had found Iverson passed out drunk outside of his room earlier that morning. I&rsquo;m not quite sure if that story is true or not, but I do know that I watched Iverson drop 46 points on the Bucks that night! Still, despite Iverson&rsquo;s incredible game (in which he may or may not have been hungover), the Bucks won. This meant there would be a Game 7 in Philly &mdash; winner goes to the NBA Finals and the loser &ldquo;goes fishing.&rdquo;
Many fans in Milwaukee theorized that the NBA was trying to clear a path for Iverson and the 76ers to make the Finals. Then, the suspension of the Bucks veteran big man Scott Williams only added fuel to that fire. In Game 6, Williams, the &ldquo;heart and soul&rdquo; of that Bucks team, was called for a flagrant foul on Iverson. The day after the game, the NBA notified the Bucks that Williams would be suspended for Game 7, which was a huge blow.
Game 7 went on without Williams and Iverson was great again, scoring 44 points. The 76ers beat the Bucks, and just like that, the Bucks&rsquo; playoff run was over.
It was devastating...
The saddest part? I don&rsquo;t think that Bucks team was ever able to fully recover from that loss. Within a couple of years, Milwaukee traded Ray Allen (to the Seattle SuperSonics), Glenn &ldquo;Big Dog&rdquo; Robinson (to the Atlanta Hawks), and Sam Cassell (to the Minnesota Timberwolves). The team fired head coach George Karl, and general manager Ernie Grunfeld left to join the Washington Wizards. The Bucks went into rebuilding mode.
I really don&rsquo;t have any interest in debating whether that 76ers series was fixed; I sincerely hope it wasn't. However, there is no question that the poor officiating directly affected the results of that series. Years later, I&rsquo;m still left with a lot of &ldquo;what if?&rdquo; questions that send my mind spinning. If the officiating was better in that series, would the Bucks have beaten the Sixers? Could the Bucks have defeated the Lakers? Would my dad have a championship ring? Would that Bucks core have stayed together longer? Would Ray have retired a Buck and have his No. 34 retired in the rafters? What would Michael Redd&rsquo;s career have been like if Ray was never traded? What number would Giannis Antetokounmpo be wearing right now if No. 34 was retired? Would we even have Giannis? And on and on...
Despite the disappointing conclusion of that 2001 season, I can say, without hesitation, that from 1998 to 2001 were the greatest years of my life from a basketball perspective. I was an impressionable teenager going through a critical time in my life from a developmental standpoint, as a basketball person and as a young man. I was lucky enough to be able to experience the ins and outs of the NBA, learn the game from some all-time greats, make many lifelong friends, and create memories that now seem more like a dream than reality, memories that will certainly last a lifetime.
<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/growing-up-a-buck-from-ray-allen-to-giannis-antetokounmpo-dave-babcock-remains-milwaukee-bucks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out Part 5 of this series, which fast forwards and looks at the present-day Bucks.</a>
Also, <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/draft" target="_blank" rel="noopener">check out Matt Babcock's latest 2021 NBA Mock Draft here.</a>

Matt Babcock provides an inside look at the rise and fall of the Milwaukee Bucks in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Growing up a Buck: The 2001 Playoff Run

In the latest BasketballNews.com roundtable, we asked our writers the following question:
Which player from a previous era would be a perfect fit in today&rsquo;s NBA?
Alex Kennedy: Rather than selecting a legend like Larry Bird who would obviously be incredible in today&rsquo;s NBA, I chose a player who was solid in his era but whose career would&rsquo;ve played out very differently if he was drafted today: <a href="https://youtu.be/faK8ElMK2B4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jamal Mashburn</a>. In his prime, Mashburn averaged 21.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.5 threes and 1.0 steal while shooting 38.9% from three. He was 6-foot-8 and roughly 250 lbs. (the same size as Julius Randle). Here's how a 1993 pre-draft scouting report described him: &ldquo;Mashburn is a jack of all trades. He can play either inside or outside. Inside, he has a variety of moves, a la Kevin McHale, with all sorts of head fakes and turnaround moves. He can be virtually unstoppable in the low post. If that isn't enough, he can take his game outside, where he can easily stroke the three-pointer. He is an excellent ball-handler, and he can score from a set shot, posting up, and off the dribble.&rdquo; In today&rsquo;s NBA, Mashburn would play multiple positions; he would be a terrific stretch-four and small-ball five. But back in the day, he played 84% of his 16,217 NBA minutes at small forward. These days, he&rsquo;d also attempt more than just 3.6 threes per game. A team could run their offense through Mashburn since he could create his own shot and get his teammates involved. Today, he&rsquo;d be highly coveted due to his versatility, athleticism, shooting, touch around the rim and playmaking. He was incredibly talented (and underrated), and it&rsquo;s unfortunate that he wasn&rsquo;t born a few decades later.
Spencer Davies: It's not as if Rashard Lewis had a poor career -- especially judging by his contributions over a decade with the Seattle SuperSonics and Orlando Magic, where he averaged 18 points and nearly six rebounds per game on 39.4% from long distance -- but it is so easy to picture him in the modern NBA stretching the floor and jacking up 8-to-10 threes and nailing 40-plus percent of them. Later down the line, he was a bigger body with more strength, however, in the mid-2000s, he just had the length that would bother you defensively. Lewis would probably be able to easily average 20-plus points these days. He was quite adaptable despite being a 3/4 tweener, but in June 2021, he would be exactly what these teams are frothing at the mouth for: length, athleticism and most importantly, shooting.
Moke Hamilton: Definitely an interesting question. Vlade Divac and Arvydas Sabonis are two that immediately come to mind for me, with Sabonis being particularly interesting. For those of you who are younger than me, Sabonis &mdash; the father of NBA All-Star Domantas Sabonis &mdash; is a great &ldquo;what if?&rdquo; in NBA history. Without taking a long stroll down memory lane, Sabonis was a truly gifted big man whose NBA career never became what it should have been. He was able to make plays from the interior, had magnificent court vision and shot 32% of his career looks from more than 10 feet from the basket. He shot over 100 three-pointers in each of his first three seasons in Portland and connected on about 34% of them. But when Mike Dunleavy took over head-coaching duties prior to Sabonis&rsquo; fourth year, things changed, to say the least. Seriously, go Google Arvydas and check out his personal story. It&rsquo;s incredible&hellip; And he would&rsquo;ve fit right in with today&rsquo;s NBA&hellip; Just like his son.
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Nekias Duncan: I&rsquo;ll go off the cuff: I would&rsquo;ve loved to see how scalable Detlef Schrempf&rsquo;s game would&rsquo;ve been today. A 6-foot-10 forward who could shoot (criminally low three-point volume), and play-make the way he could would&rsquo;ve been incredibly valuable.
Jannelle Moore: Scottie Pippen is the quintessential choice for a player from a previous era who would be great today. Why? Because Scottie would kill on defense -- a versatile wing who could guard all positions. Furthermore, he can facilitate. And Pippen in transition with today&rsquo;s space and tempo would be scary.
Ethan Fuller: I beg younger basketball fans to go watch highlights of Dana Barros in the 1990s. Barros was a simply unreal shooter caught in an era where three-point shooting took a back seat. He shot at least 39% from three in 10 of his 13 full seasons while flying around off screens and off the dribble. At his peak with the 76ers in 1994-95, Barros averaged 20.6 points, 7.5 assists and 1.8 points per game while hitting 50 points in one contest. But Barros only attempted at least 5.0 threes per game in one season. If he played today, he'd be a premier shot-making point guard and absolutely lethal with the emphasis on floor spacing. Think peak Isaiah Thomas with even more shooting upside.

Which player from a previous era would be perfect fit in today's NBA? BasketballNews.com writers shared their thoughts.

Roundtable: Which former player would fit perfectly in today’s NBA?

A 6-foot-11, athletic and versatile big, Kai Jones of the Texas Longhorns has created quite a buzz and is widely being considered as a probable first-round pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. Most people would probably assume that a player rated that high would have been a hot commodity and courted by blue blood schools since he first stepped into high school. However, Jones&rsquo; story is not a typical one.
Let me tell you about what I&rsquo;ve learned about his story.
In 2017, Jones, then standing at 6-foot-9 and only weighing around 170 pounds, walked into Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium in his hometown of Nassau, Bahamas to compete at the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/q-and-a-chris-ebersole-senior-director-international-basketball-operations-basketball-without-borders-nba-draft-killian-hayes-deni-avdija-pascal-siakam">Basketball Without Borders (BWB) camp</a>. This was the first time that Jones had played organized basketball, as he had only played pickup at playgrounds up to that point.
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He more than held his own in a field loaded with high major talent. Jones contributed to his Hawks team that won the camp, a squad that featured Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Addison Patterson (Oregon) and Francisco Farabello (TCU). Jones' play earned him a spot in the camp&rsquo;s All-Star game, where he was coached by former NBA players, Sasha Vujacic and Anderson Varejao.
Jones grew up as a track athlete in the Bahamas, where he focused primarily on long jumping. As he constantly grew, his body ultimately made a future in track and field untenable. Subsequently, Jones picked up a basketball for the first time at the age 15 years old.
&ldquo;I was a track athlete. I wanted to be a long jumper, then I had a growth spurt and grew to be about 6-6, then 6-7, then 6-9, 6-10, and now I&rsquo;m 6-11. So that major growth spurt was enough to say that I could do something major with this sport," recalled Jones in <a href="https://247sports.com/Player/Kai-Jones-46050847/Videos/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an interview with 24/7 Sports</a>. "I always had a passion for it and was a big fan of it and I just started working on my craft every day.&rdquo;
Having played basketball for less than a year -- and in the midst of a three inch growth spurt -- Jones found his calling during that BWB camp. With the advice from fellow Bahamian and No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Deandre Ayton, Jones decided to turn all of his efforts to the hardwood.
He came back to the United States, where he was for a period in his childhood, and settled in Orlando, Fla. to attend Orlando Christian Prep. There, he served in the role as the third man behind 5-star prospects Nassir Little (North Carolina) and C.J. Walker (Oregon/UCF) on the way to an FHSAA Class 3A state title. The following summer, Jones&rsquo; recruitment took off.
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At the 2018 NBA Global Camp in Treviso, Italy, he only averaged a pedestrian 6 points and 3 rebounds per game, but his physical tools and budding skill level was evident. College coaches agreed, as within two weeks of that camp, he received offers from the likes of Arizona, Louisville, Baylor, Oregon, Kansas, FSU -- and most importantly, Texas rolled in.
Jones had now grown to be 6-foot-10 and 185 pounds; he also added seven inches onto his vertical leap. Jones, now reclassified to the class of 2019, spent his post-graduate season in New Hampshire at Brewster Academy, playing alongside Terrence Clarke (Kentucky) and Jamal Mashburn Jr. (Minnesota). His recruitment wrapped up early into the season spanning only a month.
Jones took official visits to Florida State, Syracuse, Texas, and Baylor, eventually narrowing it down to FSU and the pair of Big 12 schools. Kai Jones committed to the Longhorns in October and subsequently signed in November.
The rest, is history.

Grant Aqui dives into the unique rise of Texas big man Kai Jones, a prospect ascending the 2021 NBA Draft board.