There are times when professional sports teams hold open tryouts, where anyone can try and prove that they deserve to make the team. There are also times when people one wouldn’t expect to try out do so, and that happened with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the D-League in 2013.
Don Wiberg, a UC Santa Cruz professor, once tried out for the Santa Cruz Warriors. Wiberg stated that doing so was “the only thing left” on his “bucket list”, and admitted that he can’t “run, jump, or shoot”.
I can’t say that I can run, jump or shoot because I can’t. But for a guy that can’t run, jump or shoot, I’m a decent passer, and I’ll get in there an mix it up. 76-years-old, and this is the only thing left on my bucket list to try out for the Santa Cruz Warriors.
It is good to see that Don Wiberg managed to cross off the last thing on his bucket list, and it is definitely admirable that he tried out something new. While it is clear that he wouldn’t have made the team, the mere experience of doing so must have been very special for him. There have been other older people that have tried out for G-League/D-League teams, with a 52-year-old man notably trying out for the Long Island Nets in 2017.
Hopefully, we get to see more regular people try out for professional sports in the future. While most people obviously won’t make it at the highest level, it would definitely be a good challenge for a lot of people who play sports, and they would get to see how they stack up against professional players.
There is no doubt that the G-League is a viable pathway for players to make the NBA. We’ve seen success stories before, such as Fred VanVleet and Gary Payton II, and perhaps one day, we’ll see some more hidden gems make the NBA through the G-League.
