The Drew League in Los Angeles kicked off its 40th anniversary season last week. Rapper The Game, who has a team in the league called Money Gang, as well as former NFL wide receiver Chad Johnson were amongst those in a attendance for the opening week.
Former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas played and scored 28 points in a win for his team, MHP, last week.
In this, a great summer of celebration, one notable local NBA star could be paying the league a visit -- Clippers guard Chris Paul. The All-NBA first teamer said via his Twitter account on Sunday morning that he’s looking forward to paying the league a visit this summer.
RT @lalajames4: It's off season for @cp3 wonder when he'll pay a visit to @drewleague. #TheDrew (very soon, been wanting to go for a while!)
— Chris Paul (@CP3) May 26, 2013
Paul didn’t specify if he’d play, but could you imagine one of the NBA’s fiercest competitors sitting on the sideline as a spectator?
The league, which started in 1973 by Alvin Willis in South Central Los Angeles and has been under the leadership of Commissioner Dino Smiley since 1985 and goes by the motto "No Excuse Just Produce," reached greater heights in the NBA lockout summer of 2011 when Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant played, creating gigantic buzz.
After that summer, the league was forced to move from Washington Park to King-Drew High School to accommodate larger crowds.
Alumni of the league include former Lakers Michael Cooper and Byron Scott, current USC assistant coach Jason Hart, and Celtics forward Paul Pierce, and streetball legend, the late Raymond Lewis.
Some of the current NBA stars that frequent the league are Dorell Wright and Nick Young of the 76ers, Raptors guard DeMar Derozan, and Wizards forward Trevor Ariza.
Come July 1, among the free agency and possible trade rumors, it will be interesting to see if Chris Paul shows up at The Drew.
