Kevin Quiambao could have gotten a better chance of earning a roster spot in the NBA Summer League if his camp had prepared him earlier, said Filipino hoops legend Jimmy Alapag.
This was what the former PBA and the TNT Tropang Giga star, who is currently a player development coach for the Sacramento Kings, pointed out as he shared his side of things regarding Quiambao’s trip to the US.
“This isn’t blaming Kevin at all,” emphasized Alapag in an appearance on Power and Play.
“But, whoever is helping him should have probably planned better as far as reaching out to NBA teams and front offices.”
Quiambao flew to Sacramento in early July to pursue a personal training camp in the US as well as try out for a spot in the Summer League.
However, Alapag said that there were certain parts of the process that needed to be done way earlier.
“He reached out to me back in January. I told him congrats on all his success, his MVP in La Salle, displaying his talent in Korea. It’s great,” shared Alapag.
“He told me: ‘I have NBA workouts in the summertime.’ That’s all he said, so I was under the impression that whoever was a part of his team, they had spoken to other NBA teams and had arranged for him to be seen,” added the former Gilas Pilipinas guard.
However, this was not the case. Alapag said it was only in late June when Quiambao made it clear that he was trying to fight for a spot in the Kings’ summer squad.
“He reached out in May, saying that he’s gonna be in Sacramento. I said: ‘When you come to Sacramento, please reach out,’” Alapag said.
“When he finally reached out, this was the end of June or early July, and by this time, our front office and Coach Doug Christie already had an idea of who our summer league team was gonna be.”
“When Kevin came, he said: ‘Hey coach, I’m ready for our workouts. I hope I can make the team.’ At that point, being an assistant in the summer league staff, I don’t have any say as far as who and who isn’t on our roster,” Alapag added.
It would have been a different story had KQ’s camp prepared earlier, continued the former Meralco Bolts guard.
“That kind of starts the momentum for Kevin to work out with an NBA team,” Alapag said.
“If he impresses, now the next one is the summer league. There is a very direct process of how that all works.”
“I felt very bad that I was not in a position to help him because when he reached out that he was in Sacramento, the team had already been put together. That was the unfortunate part,” Alapag furthered.
Fortunately, Alapag said that there are still a lot of chances for the 24-year-old Quiambao, and that he just needs to continue staying patient with the process.
“He’s setting himself up to have a great professional career,” pointed out Alapag.
“He is young, and I commend him for seeking out these opportunities. He just needs to continue to keep on improving.” (ABS-CBN News)