A LEGEND IS BORN III

Updated: April 15, 2012
Stardom Is Finally Calling
Reshawn Tyson has proven that the best has yet to come!
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By Woody Hannes
ESPN.com Writer

The fifth seeded Seattle Stealth prepared for their first round series against the fourth seeded Utah Jazz in another open practice. Head Coach Will Sit worked his players hard till the end, the session ended with the players running sprints. At the conclusion of another draining training run, the reporters surrounded two players. One of them was Kevin Durant; the leader and All-Star forward. Three time NBA scoring champion and currently averaging 28 points a game this season.

The other player was Reshawn Tyson.

Now, much has been said about young Tyson; although not that young as he is as young as Durant. Durant was a star from his second season onwards and even in his rookie year he was handed the reins of the team as well as half of the shots. Durant quickly established himself as a future star and has honed his scoring game to a tee.

On the other hand, Tyson (picked two years after Durant) has had it tough. For a team that has always lacked a solid second option and a starter at his position, one would expect that he would have been a lock to start games. Instead, then-coach George Karl (Now an assistant on Sit’s bench) decided he needed to be eased into his role as an NBA player.

Of course, all would have been well if Tyson was playing behind a consistent and talented player but he was playing behind, of all players, Adam Morrison. Once Tyson finally got a chance to prove his mettle in his maiden playoff campaign in 2009, he helped lead the Stealth to a sweep of the defending NBA Champions, the Hornets. Tyson’s suffocating defence forced one-time MVP Chris Paul to look like he belonged in a different zipcode as opposed to Tyson. Not to mention the fact that Durant was actually injured and it was up to Tyson, David Lee, and Jeff Green to step up and deliver a confidence boosting second round series win.

Coach Will Sit remembers the series vividly, “I was awestruck because I had been told that his (Tyson’s) development was going take a while. I didn’t know he had that up his sleeve. He even played point guard for a lot of the time he was on the floor because Jason (Kidd) was also a bit banged up.”

Many felt that Tyson’s second round performance was a sign of things to come but they would have to wait a while before he would get another chance as the team went off on a different tangent and signed veteran guard Raja Bell. One of the holes the team dug themselves into was offering the washed up chucker a starting role. Durant immediately struck up a tight network between himself, Bell, Lee, Kidd, and later; new-comer Andrew Bogut. Karl would stick with all of them as his starters.

Naturally, Tyson was unhappy about how it all panned out and it was rumoured that he had demanded a trade to get out of Seattle. Apart from a handful of Tyson fans (He has a fan base from his Tar Heel days), no one really worried that the young player was unhappy. However, Sit (Then the general manager of the team) stuck by his embattled player and basically refused to trade him away.

Tyson has always looked back and appreciated how Sit threw him a lifeline of sorts. In an interview two months ago, he said, “If Coach didn’t say no to my trade requests, then I wouldn’t have become a starter last season. I wouldn’t have been able to have stuck around until this season which is the best of my career so far.”

The stars had aligned for Tyson after Raja Bell was injured in January last season. Tyson was elevated to the starting position and thrived before succumbing to his own injury in March. By then, the Stealth had gone on a remarkable winning run that had lifted them from the bottom of the standings up into the playoff pack. Durant would finish the work and lift the side to their second straight playoff berth.

Unfortunately, a lot of focus was on the exploits of Durant, many people forgot to credit Tyson for his contributions. “He was underrated for us,” Jason Kidd admits, “I think this season, he has shown that he is a much more refined player than everyone thinks he is. People say he’s a scorer but he has a great all-around game. We might not have missed him last season but that was because we didn’t appreciate him yet. This season has been eye-opening for the team as to what Reshawn has to offer.”

After working his way from the reserves into the starting line-up twice and also battling injuries as well as off-court troubles, Tyson has done well for himself. His path to proving that he was worthy of the 2009 third overall pick (Even more important seeing that the Stealth traded up to get to him) was a much harder road than most lottery picks; since most lottery picks become starters in their rookie years.

But all of this shouldn’t surprise anyone as Tyson is known as a hard worker and we all knew he was talented since his days at UNC. The throng of media surround Tyson asking him about his thoughts of how he thinks the team will fare and whether he is ready to make a solid contribution to the team. The third year swingman smiles and tries to answer all of the questions (Even one about his relationship with Durant; to which he replies, ‘We’re good.’).

Afterwards when the mania died down, Ty walked over and repeatedly says to me that he didn’t see this day coming. All of the hard work and perseverance had finally paid off. He had become relevant again. And he even reiterated how lucky he was that even when he was ready to quit, his supporters helped him back onto his feet. I told him that they wouldn’t have done that if they didn’t think he would have taken full advantage of that second chance.

And that’s what he has done; taken advantage of the second chance given to him. Most managers would have given up on a player who did not feel strong enough to stick out the harsh reality of not getting game time.

The most encouraging thing of all is that this past season has proven that Tyson is ready to take the next step.

The next step is towards stardom.

Last edited by Fresh8 on Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Loved the article about my and your favorite Stealth player. Love that Ty is finally coming into his own. Thank god you didn't sign Joe Johnson.

Great article :appluad:

Now Tyson just needs to punch Durant in the face so hard that his nose breaks so Tyson can become the go to guy while KD's out

Nice article by Woody

Now Tyson just needs to punch Durant in the face so hard that his nose breaks so Tyson can become the go to guy while KD's out

Ty and KD are friends now man

He can still punch him....lmao

Its probably all a façade

Yep, I agree with Mark. I can't see them being friends. I think due to Sit being the coach (this hasn't been explained at all, I thought he was fired, I'm guessing story will link this up) Durant & Tyson are learning to co-exist. I'm sure given the chance, Durant will throw Tyson under the bus

Go for stardom Ty. Sit will have to do a good job on how to distribute minutes and shots.

Ty's the new star. I'm hoping to see KD on a supporting role.

Woody is back with another great article, this time on my man Ty!
good job bro

That's right. Ty's becoming the Scottie Pippen to Durant.

ATTENTION NLSC PLAYERS

In order to complete the next update, I need to gather NLSCer statistics.

Can the following posters who own the virtual players listed confirm that they are still following.

I won't be posting statistics of guys who aren't posting because it would just take more time.

Thanks for your cooperation!

Class of 2009

B Brock
Z Resurreccion
K Pirc

Class of 2010

J Carter
J Mason
M Nissley

Yes, yes, of course I'm following. Just not commenting THAT much.

I want more!

BTW StupidBoy, cool sig, fan of DAO?

More will come once I know who to recap re: nlscers... but yeah, working on next update soon!

2011-12 Recap Part 4 – Standings & Statistics

League Standings



League Leaders











Player Statistics



NLSC Player Statistics

2009 Draftees





2010 Draftees

Last edited by Fresh8 on Thu Feb 18, 2010 9:04 am, edited 2 times in total.

What the hell, Cavaliers 54-28 and Blazers 54-38? Nice to see Cavaliers atop the NBA and that my Wizards are a playoff team My stats look great, am I right behind Jason Kidd for APG in the league?

BTW StupidBoy, cool sig, fan of DAO?

Yes, I'm a pretty big fan of Dragon Age. Can't wait for Awakening.

You telling me Baron Davis averaged more points than Chara? Something's wrong

I see you made all the stats in Excel? Looks like it. Looks nice

I'm just awesome. 6th in PER and we made the Playoffs. FedExForum - My house!

Martti's rookie kicks ass! Nice recap. Sucks about 2k9's unpolarizing stats making everybody seem mediocre.

Wow, I'm surprised to see how good I've been. 20 assists and 8 steals as career highs are not bad, not bad at all (I presume they weren't in the same game, but nevertheless). Only thing that sucks is that we're out of for the playoffs.

What the hell, Cavaliers 54-28 and Blazers 54-38? Nice to see Cavaliers atop the NBA and that my Wizards are a playoff team My stats look great, am I right behind Jason Kidd for APG in the league?

BTW StupidBoy, cool sig, fan of DAO?

Yes, I'm a pretty big fan of Dragon Age. Can't wait for Awakening.

Fixed the Blazers record.

And I would assume you're right behind Kidd in assists.

You telling me Baron Davis averaged more points than Chara? Something's wrong

I see you made all the stats in Excel? Looks like it. Looks nice

Chara had a down year.

Thanks man, was thinking of a slightly better way to present and this is the best I could come with. Prob still look better with picture but no camera phone

I'm just awesome. 6th in PER and we made the Playoffs. FedExForum - My house!

You're good. Not the best scorer but great all-around player and I don't think you lead your team in scoring but you are still their MVP.

Martti's rookie kicks ass! Nice recap. Sucks about 2k9's unpolarizing stats making everybody seem mediocre.

Thanks Lamrock. But Marrti aint a rookie no more...

Wow, I'm surprised to see how good I've been. 20 assists and 8 steals as career highs are not bad, not bad at all (I presume they weren't in the same game, but nevertheless). Only thing that sucks is that we're out of for the playoffs.

Season highs. I think you may have a higher career high in assists.

And Clippers suck.

Will Sit with Graphics
Nice looking recaps bro, just a small typo - it's Trevor Ariza not Trvor Ariza


Bulls 31-51

Will Sit with Graphics
Nice looking recaps bro, just a small typo - it's Trevor Ariza not Trvor Ariza


Bulls 31-51

Yeah, I couldn't be fucked to fix that typo with Ariza's name.

And it's not really graphics... but a lot more pleasing to look at than just lines of text and numbers I guess... I still need pictures