For NBA hopeful Randle, Bucks summer-league team is proving ground
LAS VEGAS -- Think of NBA summer league like this: A job fair where nobody wears a tie.
For a few of the 450 or so players on this year's teams at the three respective summer leagues -- Orlando, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas -- jobs for next season are guaranteed. They'll be in the NBA.
The vast majority, they don't know where the next check is coming from.
Jerome Randle knows time is running out.
He was the Pac-10 player of the year in 2010, a year after James Harden won the award. He thought that meant the NBA would call.
He's still waiting.
"It's very discouraging," said Randle, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound guard who's on the Milwaukee Bucks' roster in Vegas. "I have a family to take care of. I love the game, so whether it's in the NBA or overseas, I just want to play the game. My dream is still to make to the NBA."
He's seen the world -- Turkey, Israel, the Ukraine, China and Belgium, plus he's spent time in the D-League. At 28, he needs the big break -- now.
"This is my last summer that I felt I was going to really try," Randle said. "It's a wear and tear on my body. ... I'm not frustrated. I just want to keep working hard and hopefully something happens."
