NZ Breakers star Corey Webster is off to America for a shot at joining NBA superstar Anthony Davis at the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Tall Blacks shooting guard and Breakers head coach Dean Vickerman confirmed after training on Saturday morning that Webster would fly out later on Saturday for a workout with the Pelicans ahead of the upcoming NBA training camps.
"This sprung up pretty quick, the coaching staff at New Orleans have invited me to do some workouts for a couple of days or maybe a week," said Webster. "This is a chance to impress in that time and chase an invite to join the Pelicans training camp in October.
"My agent has been communicating with (New Orleans) and says it is based on my form over the past couple of months since coming back from Europe, in particular up against NBA caliber players such as Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova.
"I guess they were watching and I have done enough for this invite, I have to work hard and show them I am worthy of the next step and get an invite to stay for longer."
Downtown, which broke the news, said the Pelicans were one of a group of NBA teams which had a need for perimeter shooting, one of the areas Webster excels in.
This will be Webster's second venture to the edge of the world's best basketball league after he worked out for the Indiana Pacers in June.
It is likely he will be part of pre-training camp workouts, with a possibly invitation to attend the Pelicans pre-season preparations should he measure up.
It is a potential good news-bad news scenario for the NBL champion Breakers, who signed Webster to a three-year contract extension, which includes an NBA out-clause, during the off-season.
Webster was outstanding on the Tall Blacks' recently completed international programme, has been on NBA radars since posting breakout 20-point performances against Turkey and Lithuania at last year's World Cup in Spain.
Since then the 26-year-old has continued to impress, averaging 15.3 points in the Breakers' charge to their fourth NBL title last season, including a more than respectable 42 percent from beyond the arc.
The time is NOW— Corey Webster (@cwebster9)
September 3, 2015
He then followed a short stint playing club ball in Serbia with a standout campaign for the Tall Blacks on their recent tour through Europe and China. He was particularly impressive in the opening game of the Oceania series against the Boomers when he shrugged off some heavy defensive attention to post a slick 20 points.
"I think those games against Aussie were huge for me, those guys have proved themselves in the NBA and I competed well against them," said Webster. "It was a little bit of a tryout going against those guys, with scouts, agents and NBA teams watching you have to perform in those moments.
"That is the way I was looking at it too, knowing if I could perform someone was going to see it, they are established and have played in finals, Patty has won a championship, so that was huge for me.
"Nothing has been achieved yet though, this is just a chance to show the coaches what I can do, it is up to me now to put my head down and make the most of the opportunity."
This is not the first time the Breakers have been confronted with a situation like this, with Kirk Penney attending training camp with the San Antonio Spurs in 2010 before eventually being cut.
Penney returned to rejoin the Breakers in the early part of the season and played a major role in the club's first championship.
As has always been the case, Vickerman said the club were not standing in the way of a player chasing an NBA dream and fully supportive of Webster's departure ahead of the pre-season series with the Sydney Kings, which gets underway in Hamilton on Wednesday.
"This club offers a way into fulltime professional basketball and gives young players something to aspire to, a pathway into a fulltime career," said Vickerman. "But often that means we are just one step on the pathway and if it is the NBA calling who are we to stand in their way?
"We are proud of what we as a club have done to help develop Corey as a player and as a young man who is maturing into a leader amongst his peers. When we shared this news with the team the support for Corey and the well wishes were spontaneous and genuine, that is who we are.
"There would be no one happier if he was to succeed and play on the biggest stage, what a great endorsement of our program and of Corey's development that would be."
