The D-League-NBA Shuffle

The D-League-NBA Shuffle
Jan 11, 2008
Posted by: Morris Almond


Almond hustles to save a ball from going out of bounds.
Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE/Getty Images
This is my first blog of '08, so I’ll start off by wishing everybody a happy new year. Personally, last year was a good one -- I graduated from college, got drafted into the NBA, left Houston and moved out to Salt Lake City. Now that I think about it, '07 will be tough to beat. But I’m looking forward to what’s in the cards for these next 12 months.

I’ve been holding it down underground in the D-League for the better part of December. We’ve only had one away game out of the 10 that I’ve played so far, so I’ve pretty much been at home base and had the same routine for the last few weeks. Usually, I’d practice with the Flash in the mornings, come home, and then head over to the Jazz practice facility in the evenings to lift and get some extra shooting in. I’d play in the games with the Flash on Fridays and Saturday evenings, and whenever the Jazz had a home game, I’d go to that.

Two days ago, as I was finishing breakfast in my apartment and just about to head out the door for Flash practice, one of the Jazz athletic trainers called me:

Trainer: “Hey Mo, we need you at shootaround this morning.”

Me: “Ok cool. See you in five.”

Simple as that. I hopped in the car and drove down four blocks to the arena. And that was my ‘call-up.’ We played the Pacers later on that evening; I played about eight minutes. Scored two points. That’s a good night in my book.

And I’ll take two points in the Association over 50 in the D-League any day. That’s just how it is.

Was I expecting to be called back that day? I don’t know -- not necessarily. We had a few guys down, and the decision was made to have me re-join the team. I don’t get paid to over-analyze the situation -- so I didn’t. I reported to the arena and went about business as usual.

It’s probably best to take things day by day. I could wake up tomorrow morning and have a message waiting for me telling me to head to Flash practice instead of practice with the Jazz. That’s kind of how the league works. I just have to make sure I pack my game wherever I go and keep improving.

I guess that about does it for this entry. I would’ve had something submitted earlier, but I didn’t even know if I was expected to write anymore for NBA.com while I was still playing in the D-League. Plus I can’t have Gilbert Arenas submitting entries more frequently than me. I’ll try and write my blog more often because I know writing these entries make my old English teacher, Professor Tobin at Rice, proud.