Nick Young gets Swaggy with Drew League winner, looks forward to ‘fun’ Lakers season
Nick Young’s been lighting it up at the Drew League for years. The Reseda native and USC product’s been a fixture at Los Angeles’ premier pro-am hoops run — a Hollywood staple that’s grown over the last four decades from a six-squad league to a 28-team Nike-sponsored machine that features frequent drop-ins from NBA players, college and high school stars, and playground legends — since back when he was with the Washington Wizards, well before “Swaggy,” Iggy and Kobe were ever aspects of his day-to-day life.
It’s hard to envision a more comfortable scenario for Young than a summertime So-Cal run where buckets build buzz, and everyone’s favorite (or least favorite, depending on where you stand) gunner had everybody buzzing on Sunday after he put one heck of a bow on the matchup between M.H.P. (“Most Hated Players,” natch, the side for which Young plays) and Problems:
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After a game-tying triple by “Money” Mike Efevberha in front of a step-late-to-contest Young (summer is serious!) knotted the game at 104 in the closing seconds, Young took an inbounds pass, raced up the court in traffic, dribbled behind his back to elude a defender just past halfcourt and pulled up for an answer, drilling a long-distance bomb that gave M.H.P. a 107-104 win in double-overtime.
This will shock you, no doubt, but Young apparently felt quite confident that his 3-pointer was pure as it left his hand, according to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News:
“I turned around before it went in. I missed the last one I turned around,” Young said, referring to when he celebrated a shot two years ago that rimmed out.
How could we ever forget?
A reverse-angle look at the finish on Young’s own Instagram account confirms his tale:
“My turn around is crazy @drewleague game was crazy… Game winner… Gilbert,” wrote Young in the video’s caption. The reference, of course, is to friend and former teammate Gilbert Arenas’ early-yet-right-on-time celebration of a game-winner back in 2007; these days, however, Gil’s celebrating a different sort of shooting display.
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Young’s game-ender was a nice highlight in a summer that’s been somewhat choppy, especially coming off a disappointing and injury-plagued first season of his new contract. Young averaged 13.4 points in 23.8 minutes per game on career-worst 36.6 percent shooting, while struggling defensively and clashing with head coach Byron Scott for an abysmal Lakers club that once again finished near the bottom of the Western Conference.
After the Lakers struck out on top-flight free-agent targets, they rebounded with several lower-level deals, including a three-year, $21 million contract for high-scoring guard Lou Williams, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year. With Williams in place, No. 2 overall draft pick D’Angelo Russell and rising sophomore Jordan Clarkson also in line to soak up shooting guard minutes, and the legendary Kobe Bryant also returning on the wing, speculation quickly turned to whether Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak was working to offload Young.
Young has heard all the chatter, and cracked a joke about it with reporters on Sunday, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times:
“It’s been tough at times,” Young said Sunday […] “I still stayed in the gym, still did what I was supposed to do, trying to block out everything and just still have fun. You never know what’s going to happen — especially in free agency when you hear your name in ever rumor and in every trade talk. It feels like Pau Gasol.”
Young laughed.
He remembered how Gasol’s last season with the Lakers in 2013-14 was full of trade rumors.
Young smiled and said that he “can already see that” same scenario happening with him this season.
If Young can shake off a down 2014-15 season, nudge his shooting numbers back up to his (admittedly modest) career level and at long last develop the non-scoring aspects of his game, the 30-year-old swingman could help his cause by re-establishing either his on-court value for a Lakers club looking to improve on consecutive franchise-worst seasons, or his off-court value as a trade chip who could entice suitors who might be looking for a source of instant offense off the bench. It won’t be easy, especially with just one ball and a lot of mouths to feed in L.A., but in the heat of summer, with hope springing eternal, Young has his sights set on the kind of season that gets people talking about more than his personality and significant other.
“We’re going to get a lot of wins. I’m tired of watching the playoffs in May and June,” Young said, according to Medina of the Daily News. “We have a lot of talent. We shouldn’t be shot-hungry out there. We should just have fun.”
Well, that’s certainly something Swaggy certainly knows a thing or two about. Now it’s a matter of translating Sunday’s shotmaking back to Staples Center come the fall.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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