Haywood Highsmith (Unreal Basketball Name) Plays In G-League Game, Takes A Bus To Philly, And Hits A Three In The Sixers Game
[CBS] – Highsmith, who grew up in West Baltimore as a huge Kevin Durant fan, played four years at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia. He graduated in May, not long after winning Division II player of the year honors. He didn’t know what would be next for him. He didn’t get invited to the Portsmouth Invitational, which is the typical route for college seniors not considered elite prospects to make it to the NBA, but he drove to Portsmouth with his agent, Jerry Dianis, anyway, just to get face time with NBA executives. Dianis contacted every team in the NBA to drum up interest in Highsmith. But it’s tough even getting a look from an NBA team when you don’t have the pedigree. Only one team responded: The 76ers. Highsmith wanted to try the NBA instead of going overseas, even if going overseas meant a more lucrative immediate contract.
Now, this is how you get an NBA contract. First off, we need to pause for a moment to talk about how great of a name Haywood Highsmith Jr. is. You’re not going to find too many better names in all of sports. That’s a dude who should be an All-NBA player based on name alone. Our good friends Trill Withers and Coley Mick love to talk about names for NBA Draft prospects and I can almost guarantee Haywood Highsmith would be at the top of the list.
Second, I love the move of crashing the Portsmouth Invitational so damn much. For those that aren’t familiar with it, the Portsmouth Invitational takes place over a few games where seniors play against each other in a tournament style in front of NBA scouts. Highsmith not invited to it, decided, ah fuck it, let’s just go anyways. Obviously he wasn’t able to play in the Invitational but him and his agent went there strictly to talk to teams. It worked.
His first game came last night against Washington where he played 5 minutes. He recorded 3 points and 1 assist and could potentially see more playing time depending on how banged up the Sixers are going forward.
He is on a 2-way contract, which means he can spend 45 days with the NBA team while spending the rest of the time with the G League affiliate. Since it’s a $35,000 contract, he had a pretty solid quote to go with it:
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“I’m definitely going to spend my money wisely,” he said. “I’m going to stick with my Nissan Altima for right now.”
Highsmith is only one of two guys in the NBA this year to play Division II basketball for their entire career.