BENDIGO Basketball product and New Orleans Pelicans star Dyson Daniels was back in town last weekend to run his first training camp for young players following his first NBA season.<\/p>\n
Daniels was drafted by the Pelicans at pick eight of the 2022 draft out of the NBA\u2019s development league dallying his start with the big club.<\/p>\n
Eventually, he ended up playing 59 games for New Orleans and welcomed his return to Red Energy Arena.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s surreal still, and it does feel like yesterday I was just out there, running around, playing juniors on these courts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I\u2019m here, running camps with kids buying my jerseys, wanting autographs, photos and stuff like that, so it\u2019s special.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I get to come back to Bendigo it sinks in because I\u2019m barely ever here, and sometimes in the US you don\u2019t get that kind of attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing back here you just see all these kids they look up to you, it\u2019s surreal, and it\u2019s all come so fast so I\u2019m really grateful for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 20-year-old said overall he was happy with his performance last season, though saw room for improvement for the next.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was good, ups and downs. I wasn\u2019t happy with how I finished the season but I felt like I definitely grew through the season I just kind of come to a stunt towards the end,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was happy to come into summer league with a chip on my shoulder, knowing I could do more and that\u2019s what I did, so went out there and showed the coach.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the end of the Bendigo clinic, the young participants took part in a question-and-answer session with the Daniels, and many of the queries had to do with how he got to where he is.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a long journey and once it becomes your job it\u2019s hard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re dedicated to the game, if you love the game, you\u2019ll put the work in and you\u2019ll become better.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day there\u2019s only 450 spots in the NBA, so there\u2019s not a spot for everyone, but if you give yourself the best shot then spots are elsewhere overseas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re dedicated and you want to make it then you\u2019ll put the work in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniels barely has time to rest this off-season, as he will be vying for a spot in the Australian national team with the Boomers to play at the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Japan in September.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like my body\u2019s pretty worn out right now, so I’m going to use this next week to regenerate a little bit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BENDIGO Basketball product and New Orleans Pelicans star Dyson Daniels was back in town last weekend to run his first training camp for young players following his first NBA season. Daniels was drafted by the Pelicans at pick eight of the 2022 draft out of the NBA\u2019s development league dallying his start with the big […]<\/p>\n