Going back to the Summer of 2007: How did you regroup after you left Iowa State? How did you get from Ames, Iowa to Boise, Idaho and arrive at your decision to go to the D-League?
For about two months after ISU, I didn't touch a basketball. But I had to make a decision: If I wanted to stay in Division One, I'd have to sit out a year. I could go to a D-2 program and play right away. So I went on a couple of D-2 visits, but I didn't see myself getting better as a player in D-2I talked to Curtis Weathers, my AAU coach in Milwaukee. He sent me out to Sacramento to work out with Gus Armstead. I spent about one or two months out there. That's when I met the assistant coach for Idaho. Once the D-League came calling&I'd rather be there than a low-level D-2 program. So I set my mind on the D-League.
After you got done with the D-League season last summer, what was the process like?
It was a grind. I worked out for 14 teams. Two-hour workouts. Every day -- new city, new hotel, lots of fast food. But I was chasing my dream.
Tell me about Draft Day. Did you expect to have your name called? Were you glued to the tube?
My agent told me that I was projected late first round/early second round. I watched the draft with my family back home in Milwaukee. I stopped watching at, like, #45. I went into my room, and my phone was dead. But I left my agent my sister's number. So a little later, my sister comes running into my room with her phone. And my agent said, "I'm not sure when you're going to go, but the Clippers are going to make a trade for you. It was ironic, because I thought I was a higher pick, but that's been the story of my life. Getting picked so low made me feel that I gotta prove myself. So I was satisfied.
What part of your game do you want to work on the most this season?
Court vision. I want to continue to learn how to be an NBA point guard. It's a learning process every day.
Kevin Arnovitz, ESPN
