Published July 27, 2004 - Lansing State Journal
Ferguson still hungry for NBA
Everett graduate not stopping in pursuit of dream
By Jordan Bastian
For the State Journal
Desmond Ferguson rose from a metal folding chair, grabbed a microphone and walked out to center court of Everett’s gym.
A red and white banner honoring former Vikings star Magic Johnson hangs from the rafters as Ferguson - a 1995 Everett graduate - welcomed a sparse crowd in attendance to watch the Capital City Summer Pro League, which he helped create.
With his mother Patricia sitting at the gym’s doors selling programs and his younger brother Ron suiting up for another game, it seems Ferguson has come a long way to wind up right back where he started.
He has traveled three continents since graduating high school in search of his childhood dream of playing in the NBA. He has played for 17 teams across nine countries and eight U.S. states.
All of Ferguson’s hard work finally paid off last season in the amount of 13 NBA points in seven games in four arenas with the Portland Trail Blazers.
But after being selected by the Charlotte Bobcats in June’s NBA expansion draft, Ferguson’s ties to Portland were cut and, now, on the weekends, he is back in his high school gym with the taste of the NBA left lingering in his mouth.
"They drafted me for no reason and that really hurt," said a frustrated Ferguson.
A new franchise might have been the perfect fit for the 27-year-old rookie looking for playing time. But Charlotte never called Ferguson or his agent to explain the pick.
"Why would they draft me and leave me hanging out to dry like that?" Ferguson angrily questioned. "The Charlotte situation really messed up a lot of things."
The 6-foot-7 forward signed a 10-day contract with Portland in March and then an end-of-the-year contract. Because the second deal finished out the season, Ferguson became an unrestricted free agent.
When an unrestricted free agent is selected in an expansion draft, he is unable to negotiate with his former team for one year.
That fact hurt the most because Ferguson said he thought he had finally found his place in the NBA.
"That was bad luck for him," said Ferguson’s agent, Herb Rudoy. "They really liked him in Portland."
Ferguson arrived back in Lansing on Saturday, after playing in the San Antonio Spurs summer league in Utah. It was his final attempt to make an NBA roster this summer.
If Ferguson does not get picked up by San Antonio, his only other NBA possibility this year is to play in a camp in the fall without a guaranteed contract.
It looks like he will be heading back overseas, though.
"At this point in my life, I really need some security," he said.
Ferguson has signed a new contract to play for the CSKA Sophia team in Bulgaria if the San Antonio tryout does not work out.
His route to the NBA was an unlikely, and at times, an inconvenient one.
"It has been like a roller coaster ride for me," he said. "I was spending so much time away from my friends and my mother. I was just lost."
Well, there are not many roller coasters that take turns heading to Holland and follow with loops in Lebanon.
"He was going to do whatever he could to make it to the NBA in five years," Patricia Ferguson said. "That’s always been his dream since middle school."
High school only inspired him more with stories and images of Magic.
"I would see tapes of his games and see how the gym was jam packed with the crowd going crazy," Ferguson remembers. "Ours wasn’t like that."
Ferguson played at the University of Missouri before transferring to University of Detroit Mercy for the 1996-2000 seasons.
He finished his career as the only player in Detroit history to make at least 70 3-pointers in three seasons.
The NBA did not come calling after graduation, though. And that is when Ferguson’s trek around the world began.
From 2000-2003, he spent time with eight teams - four in Europe.
"You play (in all these leagues) because you hope to get called up to the NBA," Ferguson said.
The Sporting Al Ryadi Beirut team in Lebanon took notice of Ferguson’s play with the CBA’s Great Lakes Storm in January of 2003 and he signed a contract to play for them.
His contract problems have not been limited to the NBA, though.
Ferguson learned that he was to compete for a roster spot in Lebanon before they bought his contract from the CBA. Knowing that wasn’t what he agreed to, Ferguson came back to the U.S., only to learn he could not play with any teams here either. His contract had not been released from the league because the Lebanon team had not purchased it for the agreed amount.
"I was basically stuck," Ferguson said. "I didn’t want to play in the CBA and I couldn’t play overseas."
He tried to, though. Ferguson flew to China and Portugal to try and play, but USA Basketball would not allow it.
He was inactive for six months as a result of contract problems and all he could do was practice.
"Sometimes you second-guess yourself," Ferguson admitted. "You’re sitting there going, ’Why am I working out?’
"I was just doing it for the heck of it."
In March of this year he decided to join the CBA’s Rockford (Ill.) Lightning for their playoffs.
That’s when the NBA finally came calling. Ferguson hopes the opportunity will be there again.
Photo:
BOB KILLIPS/Lansing State Journal
Dedicated: Desmond Ferguson, taking a shot in a Capital City Summer Pro League game, hasn’t given up on his dream of catching on with an NBA team.
Box:
Ferguson’s busy path
A look at the Desmond Ferguson’s path from high school to the NBA:
* Everett High School, 1995
* University of Missouri, 1995-96
* Detroit Mercy, 1996-2000
* Kansas Cagerz, USBL, 2000
* Canoe Jeans Den Bosch, Holland, 2000-01
* Treviso, Italy, 2001
* Flint Fuze, CBA, 2001-02
* Barangay Ginebra Kings, Phillipines, February-March, 2002
* Pueblo Nuevo, Dominican Republic, April 2002
* Memphis Grizzlies, NBA summer league, July 2002
* Great Lakes Storm, CBA, Dec. 2002
* Sporting Al Ryadi Beirut, Lebanon, January, 2003
* China, winter, 2003
* Portugal, winter, 2003
* Dominican Republic, winter, 2002-03
* Milwaukee, NBA summer league, July, 2003
* Spain, February, 2003-04
* Rockford Lightning, CBA, March, 2004
* Portland Trail Blazers, NBA, March 2004
* Selected by Charlotte Bobcats, NBA expansion draft, June 2004
* Capital City Summer Pro League, summer, 2004
* San Antonio NBA summer league, July, 2004
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