There aren’t too many individuals who elected to forego a year of college basketball like Oklahoma City Thunder 2019 first-round draft pick Darius Bazley. The 19-year-old is among the rarest of the rare, electing to not play anywhere in 2018-19, let alone skipping college.
But Bazley is not the first to take a different path to the NBA, and he won’t be the last, especially if R.J. Hampton has anything to say about it.
Hampton, an 18-year-old combo guard, is a member of the New Zealand Breakers, a team in New Zealand’s professional league, the National Basketball League (NBL). While others from his same recruiting class will compete for a spot in the NCAA tournament in March, Hampton will face professional players overseas — and even a few in America. Because Hampton’s Breakers are set to play a pair of NBA teams in October.
As part of the NBA preseason, five teams will host a game against one of three NBL teams — the Breakers, the Adeline 36ers and Melbourne United. Among the NBA teams hosting is Oklahoma City.
Hampton and the Breakers will take a trip to Memphis on October 8 to take on the Grizzlies, then head to Oklahoma City for an October 10 matchup.
This is also a shot for New Zealand native Steven Adams to take on a team from his home country — assuming Adams is still a member of the Thunder by then, having been rumored to be available in trade talks with other teams.
