Norman Powell’s Drew League appearance another part of understanding the grind
It’s been a busy offseason for LA Clippers shooting guard Norman Powell. Between daily workouts, launching a new foundation and adjusting to a fourth NBA city in two years, Powell has rarely had downtime since the Clippers last played a game in April.
“Probably the busiest summer I’ve had so far in my career,” Powell told The Athletic.
But there was one thing Powell hadn’t done until last weekend: play a full-court game. By coming to the Drew League in Los Angeles, Powell was able to check that off his list. It was the first time Powell played in the Drew — considered the premier summer pro-am basketball league — since 2017, when he played with then Toronto Raptors teammate and Drew League fixture DeMar DeRozan. The last time a member of the Clippers played in the Drew League was 2019, when one-time Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell was still with the team.
“This has always been a special event,” Powell said of the Drew. “This is a little thing that you can do as pros for the cities that we play in to show that we appreciate their love and support.”
Powell suited up for Hometown Favorites and played alongside Philadelphia 76ers guard De’Anthony Melton and Washington Wizards guard Delon Wright. Aj Diggs, Powell’s trainer, has long been associated with Hometown Favorites in the Drew. Wright and Powell both were Raptors rookies in 2015-16 after competing against each other in the Pac-12 (Wright at Utah, Powell at UCLA). It made for a natural landing spot for Powell to take the next phase in his offseason work.
“We’re talking about different things that we’ve been doing, how the summer’s been going, how the workouts have been,” Powell said of playing with fellow NBA players at the Drew. “It’s an NBA brotherhood, so playing with those guys is really good.”
It didn’t take long for Powell to get going against opposing team, Problems. On his very first touch of the game, Powell launched into a pull-up 3 and hit.
Norman Powell gets his first pull-up 3 to go and we are underway pic.twitter.com/h3lDeaC52c
— Law Murray 🪙 (@LawMurrayTheNU) August 7, 2022
Pardon Drew League public address announcer Jorge Preciado for not recognizing Powell right away, and for forgetting that he no longer was with the Portland Trail Blazers. After all, Powell only played seven games (including two Play-In games) with the Clippers after being traded from the Trail Blazers a week before the February deadline. That was after being traded to Portland from Toronto at the March 2021 deadline, with the Raptors playing their 2020-21 home games in Tampa, Fla., due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Really looking forward to having a full season under my belt with one team,” Powell said. “Last two seasons have been up and down, being traded twice and trying to figure all of that out. So, I’m looking forward to being on this team for a full season and being really adjusted with the guys, and to build my foundation out here in L.A.”
In addition to the constant movement, Powell suffered a fractured medial sesamoid bone in his left foot in his third game with the Clippers, costing him 22 games over a span of 54 days. Powell told The Athletic that he is still rehabbing the injury, but he has been cleared to play.
“I feel good,” Powell said. “Still going through the rehab process, but I feel good to be able to go full tilt. I have my insoles to help that bone in my foot. Everything is good. No issues, no problems. Hopefully, we can keep it that way so that I can feel healthy going into the season.”
Powell playing in the Drew provided a strong indicator of his health and basketball readiness. He completed a first-quarter play in the midrange shortly after his 3-pointer. When Preciado started to call him out midway through what was a quiet second quarter, Powell responded with a steal and alley-oop dunk from Melton’s former USC teammate Elijah Stewart, who Powell played against in college.
Understand the grind!@npowell2404 is on the floor at #TheDrew for the first time this summer. Norm has 26 points through 3 quarters for Hometown Favorites. @LAClippers pic.twitter.com/pyR99AaKWQ
— Drew League (@DrewLeague) August 7, 2022
Powell added a few more buckets by halftime to get to a game-high 14 points through two quarters, including this pull-up midrange to beat the clock.
Norm Powell walks off first half pic.twitter.com/eB0CRtdrGB
— Law Murray 🪙 (@LawMurrayTheNU) August 7, 2022
Powell scored multiple times on baseline out-of-bounds plays (BLOBs) and continued to show his ability to go get it in transition by finishing a one-handed lob from Melton. The rout was on in a third quarter that saw Powell score 12 of his game-high 30 points, and he provided an exclamation point with a windmill dunk in the final minute of the quarter.
Norman Powell supplying energy 🎐 pic.twitter.com/THhUDw73lv
— Law Murray 🪙 (@LawMurrayTheNU) August 7, 2022
Powell’s effort in a 94-77 Hometown Favorites win came on 13-of-20 shooting from the field, though Diggs pointed out that Powell “missed all of his 3s, or it would have been 40 (points).” Indeed, Powell missed five of his last six 3s but added three assists against only two turnovers to go with two steals. Powell scored 107 points in 125 regular-season minutes with the Clippers, shooting 50.8 percent from the field, so this was merely a continuation of his uber-efficient ability.
“I feel like the game went really good,” Powell said. “This was my first time playing five-on-five, live action (this offseason). We did a little bit of one-on-ones, stuff like that, with some of the guys. CJ (McCollum) came out during summer league, and his brother.”
In February, Powell joined a Clippers team that did not have former 2019 Raptors championship teammate Kawhi Leonard or Paul George. Powell came back in April from his foot injury shortly after George returned from a torn ligament in his right elbow that cost him three months. Now, Powell enters training camp with a team that returns George and Leonard, adds point guard John Wall to go with incumbent starter Reggie Jackson, and will have 12 players overall who are ready for rotation minutes. Still, Powell has said that he wants to be an All-Star, and he has gone through this offseason preparing accordingly to be a wild card for the Clippers.
“This what I’ve been doing my whole career,” Powell said of finding his niche on good teams. “I know what the team needs. I’ve played with Kawhi before and playing against PG my whole career it seems like. Ever since I got to UCLA, guys coming up and playing in the summer in the pro runs.
“I think my game is really used to being in different roles, getting different looks. So, I’m not really worried about that. My focus is to stay healthy … I feel like the game is going to work itself out with all the time I put in.”
Right before Powell’s game Sunday, the Drew League Foundation awarded college scholarship awards. That was something that resonated with Powell, who has spent this summer launching his Understand the Grind Foundation, an extension of the brand he established while at UCLA and officially trademarked after being a second-round pick by Toronto.
I understand my grind and why I do it #chiponmyshoulder
— norman powell (@npowell2404) August 14, 2013
Understand The Grind.The Greatest improvement in your game is made in the off season.Blessed with another opportunity to get better.#UTG
— norman powell (@npowell2404) July 21, 2015
Powell is focusing on his hometown of San Diego to start, but he is looking forward to adding Los Angeles to the reach of his impact.
“I think for me, being able to lock in on my growth and development, like I do every summer, but still have time and things like that to handle the business,” Powell said. “The foundation is up and running in three of the middle schools in southeast San Diego, and then bringing it out to L.A., doing some community givebacks, some charity events, some food drives, backpacks, back-to-school (events), things like that. I’m really excited about everything we have in the works. But it’s definitely been a busy summer for me, and it seems like I still have so much to fit into this tight couple of months.”
This past weekend was the final of the Drew League regular season, with the playoffs set to begin this upcoming weekend. Players must have appeared in at least one league regular-season game to be playoff eligible; George expressed interest in returning to the Drew for the first time since 2014, but scheduling conflicts prevented that from happening this summer. George also is familiar with the league’s postseason eligibility rule after trying to make his season debut in 2017 during the playoffs.
But Powell is eligible, and he may return to Hometown Favorites for at least one more game in the Drew. It would be just another part of the grind in the city he once again calls home.
“It’s a surreal experience for me,” Powell said of being in L.A. “It still doesn’t seem real, to be living in L.A. and to be here. So, I’m really looking forward to giving back to the community.”
Norman Powell’s Drew League appearance another part of understanding the grind
It’s been a busy offseason for LA Clippers shooting guard Norman Powell. Between daily workouts, launching a new foundation and adjusting to a fourth NBA city in two years, Powell has rarely had downtime since the Clippers last played a game in April.
“Probably the busiest summer I’ve had so far in my career,” Powell told The Athletic.
But there was one thing Powell hadn’t done until last weekend: play a full-court game. By coming to the Drew League in Los Angeles, Powell was able to check that off his list. It was the first time Powell played in the Drew — considered the premier summer pro-am basketball league — since 2017, when he played with then Toronto Raptors teammate and Drew League fixture DeMar DeRozan. The last time a member of the Clippers played in the Drew League was 2019, when one-time Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell was still with the team.
“This has always been a special event,” Powell said of the Drew. “This is a little thing that you can do as pros for the cities that we play in to show that we appreciate their love and support.”
Powell suited up for Hometown Favorites and played alongside Philadelphia 76ers guard De’Anthony Melton and Washington Wizards guard Delon Wright. Aj Diggs, Powell’s trainer, has long been associated with Hometown Favorites in the Drew. Wright and Powell both were Raptors rookies in 2015-16 after competing against each other in the Pac-12 (Wright at Utah, Powell at UCLA). It made for a natural landing spot for Powell to take the next phase in his offseason work.
“We’re talking about different things that we’ve been doing, how the summer’s been going, how the workouts have been,” Powell said of playing with fellow NBA players at the Drew. “It’s an NBA brotherhood, so playing with those guys is really good.”
It didn’t take long for Powell to get going against opposing team, Problems. On his very first touch of the game, Powell launched into a pull-up 3 and hit.
Norman Powell gets his first pull-up 3 to go and we are underway pic.twitter.com/h3lDeaC52c
— Law Murray 🪙 (@LawMurrayTheNU) August 7, 2022
Pardon Drew League public address announcer Jorge Preciado for not recognizing Powell right away, and for forgetting that he no longer was with the Portland Trail Blazers. After all, Powell only played seven games (including two Play-In games) with the Clippers after being traded from the Trail Blazers a week before the February deadline. That was after being traded to Portland from Toronto at the March 2021 deadline, with the Raptors playing their 2020-21 home games in Tampa, Fla., due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Really looking forward to having a full season under my belt with one team,” Powell said. “Last two seasons have been up and down, being traded twice and trying to figure all of that out. So, I’m looking forward to being on this team for a full season and being really adjusted with the guys, and to build my foundation out here in L.A.”
In addition to the constant movement, Powell suffered a fractured medial sesamoid bone in his left foot in his third game with the Clippers, costing him 22 games over a span of 54 days. Powell told The Athletic that he is still rehabbing the injury, but he has been cleared to play.
“I feel good,” Powell said. “Still going through the rehab process, but I feel good to be able to go full tilt. I have my insoles to help that bone in my foot. Everything is good. No issues, no problems. Hopefully, we can keep it that way so that I can feel healthy going into the season.”
Powell playing in the Drew provided a strong indicator of his health and basketball readiness. He completed a first-quarter play in the midrange shortly after his 3-pointer. When Preciado started to call him out midway through what was a quiet second quarter, Powell responded with a steal and alley-oop dunk from Melton’s former USC teammate Elijah Stewart, who Powell played against in college.
Understand the grind!@npowell2404 is on the floor at #TheDrew for the first time this summer. Norm has 26 points through 3 quarters for Hometown Favorites. @LAClippers pic.twitter.com/pyR99AaKWQ
— Drew League (@DrewLeague) August 7, 2022
Powell added a few more buckets by halftime to get to a game-high 14 points through two quarters, including this pull-up midrange to beat the clock.
Norm Powell walks off first half pic.twitter.com/eB0CRtdrGB
— Law Murray 🪙 (@LawMurrayTheNU) August 7, 2022
Powell scored multiple times on baseline out-of-bounds plays (BLOBs) and continued to show his ability to go get it in transition by finishing a one-handed lob from Melton. The rout was on in a third quarter that saw Powell score 12 of his game-high 30 points, and he provided an exclamation point with a windmill dunk in the final minute of the quarter.
Norman Powell supplying energy 🎐 pic.twitter.com/THhUDw73lv
— Law Murray 🪙 (@LawMurrayTheNU) August 7, 2022
Powell’s effort in a 94-77 Hometown Favorites win came on 13-of-20 shooting from the field, though Diggs pointed out that Powell “missed all of his 3s, or it would have been 40 (points).” Indeed, Powell missed five of his last six 3s but added three assists against only two turnovers to go with two steals. Powell scored 107 points in 125 regular-season minutes with the Clippers, shooting 50.8 percent from the field, so this was merely a continuation of his uber-efficient ability.
“I feel like the game went really good,” Powell said. “This was my first time playing five-on-five, live action (this offseason). We did a little bit of one-on-ones, stuff like that, with some of the guys. CJ (McCollum) came out during summer league, and his brother.”
In February, Powell joined a Clippers team that did not have former 2019 Raptors championship teammate Kawhi Leonard or Paul George. Powell came back in April from his foot injury shortly after George returned from a torn ligament in his right elbow that cost him three months. Now, Powell enters training camp with a team that returns George and Leonard, adds point guard John Wall to go with incumbent starter Reggie Jackson, and will have 12 players overall who are ready for rotation minutes. Still, Powell has said that he wants to be an All-Star, and he has gone through this offseason preparing accordingly to be a wild card for the Clippers.
“This what I’ve been doing my whole career,” Powell said of finding his niche on good teams. “I know what the team needs. I’ve played with Kawhi before and playing against PG my whole career it seems like. Ever since I got to UCLA, guys coming up and playing in the summer in the pro runs.
“I think my game is really used to being in different roles, getting different looks. So, I’m not really worried about that. My focus is to stay healthy … I feel like the game is going to work itself out with all the time I put in.”
Right before Powell’s game Sunday, the Drew League Foundation awarded college scholarship awards. That was something that resonated with Powell, who has spent this summer launching his Understand the Grind Foundation, an extension of the brand he established while at UCLA and officially trademarked after being a second-round pick by Toronto.
I understand my grind and why I do it #chiponmyshoulder
— norman powell (@npowell2404) August 14, 2013
Understand The Grind.The Greatest improvement in your game is made in the off season.Blessed with another opportunity to get better.#UTG
— norman powell (@npowell2404) July 21, 2015
Powell is focusing on his hometown of San Diego to start, but he is looking forward to adding Los Angeles to the reach of his impact.
“I think for me, being able to lock in on my growth and development, like I do every summer, but still have time and things like that to handle the business,” Powell said. “The foundation is up and running in three of the middle schools in southeast San Diego, and then bringing it out to L.A., doing some community givebacks, some charity events, some food drives, backpacks, back-to-school (events), things like that. I’m really excited about everything we have in the works. But it’s definitely been a busy summer for me, and it seems like I still have so much to fit into this tight couple of months.”
This past weekend was the final of the Drew League regular season, with the playoffs set to begin this upcoming weekend. Players must have appeared in at least one league regular-season game to be playoff eligible; George expressed interest in returning to the Drew for the first time since 2014, but scheduling conflicts prevented that from happening this summer. George also is familiar with the league’s postseason eligibility rule after trying to make his season debut in 2017 during the playoffs.
But Powell is eligible, and he may return to Hometown Favorites for at least one more game in the Drew. It would be just another part of the grind in the city he once again calls home.
“It’s a surreal experience for me,” Powell said of being in L.A. “It still doesn’t seem real, to be living in L.A. and to be here. So, I’m really looking forward to giving back to the community.”
