Three NBA coaches expected to converge on 1 high school gym
There are plenty of people concerned about the looming lockout in the NBA and how it may rob all sports fans of the pleasure of seeing Ron Artest Metta World Peace play on a regular basis. But perhaps you are an NBA coach-watching junkie, addicted to steely eyed glares at referees and intricate X's and O's drawn on easily erasable whiteboards.
If that's you, well, then don't worry. There's still a place to go: A summer league high school basketball tournament involving both Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei High, Fairfax (Calif.) High and Campbell Hall (Calif.) High in Fairfax on Wednesday night. Why a pair summer high school basketball games? Since the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League was canceled this year, this one single game will probably feature more NBA coaches on site than any other event, hosting a whopping three in the stands.
Perhaps more notably, not a single one of them will be there to scout a future player or opponent; they'll all be there to watch their sons.
The Los Angeles Times first got word of the one-night NBA coach/high school hoops migration windfall after following new Lakers coach Mike Brown when he watched his son Elijah take the court with his new Mater Dei teammates on Monday.
Brown, who was a notably present father-in-the-stands when Elijah played for Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward the past two seasons, was reportedly invited to come back on Wednesday, when both Mater Dei and host Fairfax will be in action, and quickly accepted the invitation.
Unbeknownst to Brown (at least at first) was the fact that two other NBA coaches are expected to be in the stands. New Atlanta Hawks coach Larry Drew figures to be on hand to watch his son Landon Drew play for Fairfax. That same Fairfax team also feature Reggie Theus Jr., who is -- quite predictably -- the son of Reggie Theus, the former head coach of the Sacramento Kings who now plies his trade as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
As if that wasn't enough basketball star power in one high school gym, the game may also be watched by Jrue Holliday, the Philadelphia 76ers guard whose younger brother Aaron Holliday has already emerged as a breakout star as a point guard for Campbell Hall despite being just 14. The younger Hall will be entering his first year of high school in the fall, and the Times reported that his older brother was at his game on Monday at Fairfax.
With the lack of content for NBA websites and lack of live action for the NBA Network predicted for the near future, perhaps camera crews should just take a side trip out to sunny Southern California to film the games at Fairfax High. Hey, it's better than dead air.
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