On Friday morning, Ike Iroegbu was unwinding on his couch in Sacramento, watching the re-run of an NBA preseason game that happened the night before between his hometown Kings and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Iroegbu is an aspiring pro who recently spent time with the Nigerian national team after wrapping up a four-year career at Washington State. It’s natural for somebody like that to turn on an NBA game and fantasize about sharing the same piece of hardwood as the sport’s headline players. In this specific instance, Iroegbu probably had an eye on the Clippers’ Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.