So You Wanna Be an NBA Star?
NBA D-League team having tryouts in DC
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It's not always a life of glamour.
Have you ever wanted to be an NBA superstar, living the good life with all the women, booze, cars, bling and future bankruptcies you could ever hope for? Yes? Well, have you ever wanted to live in beautiful Bismark, North Dakota? Yes, too? Great, then this might be the job for you!
The wonderfully named Dakota Wizards of the NBA Developmental League are having open tryouts next month, and if you've wanted to be the next Michael Jordan, or even the newt Jewish Jordan (since he just retired), here's your chance.
The Wizards are an affiliate of, well, the Wizards, but also the Memphis Grizzlies. So if you've got crazy ball-handling skills, you could jump from Bismark all the way to Tennessee!
Tryouts take place Oct. 10 and 11 at the Verizon Center. If you impress the coaches, they'll take you to training camp. The 17 players who go to camp become the 10-man roster the team will play with during the D-League season.
Head Coach Rory White said, "[a]t the Wizards open tryouts, we’ll be looking for those talented players who are under the radar, but skilled enough to play at this level, and hopefully, beyond."
While the tryout probably isn't your path to superstardom, the chances of getting an actual pro contract are higher than you'd think.
Ridiculous Upside has the stats that back it up: "last season there were 114 players that earned D-League contracts by way of local tryouts, and, of those, 70 players were in camp with a D-League team. What's this all mean? I'll tell you - over 25% of the players that made a D-League roster last season, the top NBA-feeder league, made it by attending an open tryout."
If you're interested in trying out, you can register online or find out more information on the team's website.
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Posted Thursday, Sep 17, 2009 - 2:12 PM EST
