August 20, 2012
Indiana Pacers: Another opportunity was all Gerald Green wanted
By Zak Keefer
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Gerald Green's story is one of redemption.
One of the newest Indiana Pacers has found his way back in the league after general managers all but gave up on him three years ago.
Green is a jump-out-of-the-gym talent who was written off. His game was too raw; his attitude too immature.
But he could dazzle. Green won the 2007 NBA dunk contest during All-Star weekend and finished runner-up a year later after simultaneously slamming the ball and blowing out a candle on a cupcake that sat above the rim. Thirteen months later, he was out of the league, relegated to playing professionally in Russia. Then he was in China. Then, the NBA Development League.
"I didn't grow up playing in my backyard dreaming of playing in Russia," Green said.
Hardened and humbled, the newest Pacer relishes his revived NBA career. He earned a spot on the New Jersey Nets' roster last year and made the most of it, scoring almost 13 points a game in 31 appearances, including two starts. It was enough for first-year Pacers general manager Kevin Pritchard to sign him to a three-year, $10 million deal in July.
"He's one of the most dynamic athletes I've seen," Pritchard said.
Green, 26, is aware of the long odds he has overcome. Few players head to Europe and make it back.
"I just never thought I'd get another opportunity," Green said after a recent workout at Bankers Life Fieldhouse with Pacers center Roy Hibbert, still several weeks prior to the start of training camp. "But I'm glad I'm back where I started."
He already feels at home. He's looking forward to playing on a deep, young team.
"Last year, I think if we would have beat Miami (in the second round of the playoffs), we could have had a chance to win the whole thing," Green said. "That's our goal this year."
It has been a winding road. In 2005, Green was a gifted Houston high schooler who scored a game-high 24 points in the McDonald's All-American game. He won the dunk contest, too, of course, then bolted straight for the NBA. He had lottery pick potential but slid to the Boston Celtics at No. 18.
Green never stuck in Boston. He bounced between a reserve role behind franchise player Paul Pierce and the NBDL. He couldn't find a long-term fit during subsequent stints with the Timberwolves, Rockets and Mavericks.
His next stop: Krasnodar, Russia. For Green, he might as well have been on a different planet.
"Man, that was rough," he said. "I always told myself, if I can't play in the greatest league in the world, I'm going to play in the second-greatest league.
"Basketball is my life. It's all I know."
Green split his time between the Russian league, a brief stop in China and the NBDL, grinding out a career, holding out hope he'd one day get another shot. He played in the NBDL All-Star game in February, earned MVP honors and finished the season averaging more than 19 points a game for the Los Angeles D-Fenders.
Then he got his shot. The Nets called him in for a one-on-one workout against another prospect, Alan Anderson. The stakes were simple: Whoever impressed coach Avery Johnson more would earn a 10-day contract.
"I just told myself, 'Don't try to be better than the other guy,' " Green remembers. "Just do everything correct. Work harder than him."
It didn't go as planned.
"The other guy did better," Green recalls thinking. "I thought to myself, I'm heading right back to the NBDL."
Five minutes later, Kenton Edelin, Green's agent, called with the good news. The Nets wanted him.
"I was so happy," Green remembers. "It was probably the best moment of my life until I signed here."
He made the most of his time in New Jersey. He complemented his high-flying athleticism with a consistency his game always lacked.
"I always told myself when I was (in Russia), if I ever got another opportunity, I was going to be ready," Green says. "But I didn't think I was going to go out there and do what I did. I don't think nobody did."
Now comes the opportunity he has waited for his whole career. As a Pacer, he'll join a backcourt that already includes George Hill and Paul George. Another guard, D.J. Augustin, was added in July.
"We're all young and we all have the same goal," Green says. "It's about winning now. It's about being a part of something great."
Additional Facts
Meet Gerald Green
Height/weight: 6-8/200
Age: 26.
Hometown: Houston.
NBA: Drafted 18th by Boston in 2005, the last year high school players were eligible to enter. Averaged 8.3 ppg in 212 NBA games with five NBA teams. Won the 2007 NBA dunk contest. Earned a 10-day contract with the New Jersey Nets last season after beating out another prospect in a 1-on-1 workout. Signed a three-year, $10 million with the Pacers in July.
High school: 2005 McDonald's All-American from Gulf Shores Academy in Houston; also won dunk contest at the McDonald's game.
Personal: Lost much of his right ring finger when he was 11 in a freak accident. He was trying to dunk on a makeshift hoop attached to a doorway when his finger caught a nail and was ripped to the bone. . . . Also has played in Russia, China and the NBDL.
in fact that makes him borderline elite.
