Aug. 3, 2007
Indianapolis, Ind. -
Tony Mejia
CBS SportsLine.com Staff Writer
Most people remember Kareem Rush from his days with the Lakers, the team he broke into the NBA with back in 2002. He competently backed up Kobe Bryant for two seasons, breaking through with a 6-for-7 3-point shooting display to put away Minnesota and send L.A. to the 2004 Finals.
Less than three years later, Rush delivered on that promise of greatness, winning his first championship -- in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Rush raised eyebrows while playing in two Summer League games.
In April, Rush was named Baltic League Final Four MVP. That's exactly like America's Final Four, only with professional teams from Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
They have brackets, though, and they do give out trophies.
In fact, when his club team, BC Lietuvos Rytas, laces up its sneakers for Euroleague competition, the highest level of European basketball, it will have Rush to thank. His efforts qualified it for the elite competition, which takes only the 24 most accomplished teams on the continent.
By the time that comes, Rush will be half a world away, back where he feels he rightfully belongs. He won't have to worry about the overzealous fans known to throw rocks and batteries on to the court, and no longer has to fret about representing against Zalgiris, his old squad's sworn enemy.
"It was different. All in all, it was a good experience. I got a chance to stay in shape, play some basketball against good competition and saw a lot parts of the world I probably would've never been to," Rush says now of the experience, likening it to a sabbatical of sorts. "I always knew that this summer, I'd be back."
Indiana, which signed Rush to a guaranteed deal in early July, plans on giving him every opportunity to make his mark. The Pacers beat out Miami and Denver for his services, in part because it was his best chance to make an immediate impact.
"I wanted to show people I belong in this league, and that last year was just one of those things where some unfortunate things happened, but I'm here to stay. I knew being gone was just a one-year deal. If I never got hurt, I would've made that team -- that I'm sure of."
Rush is referring to Seattle, which waived him during training camp in 2006 after he tore a groin muscle literally five minutes into his opening workouts. Unable to show the coaching staff what he could do, Rush wasn't the least bit surprised when he was axed.
After a few months of rehab, he was off to Lithuania for four months, far removed from the days where he used to share the court with Shaquille O'Neal and Bryant.
A tumultuous ending to that 2004 championship dream, an unexpected 4-1 pasting at the hands of Detroit, taught Rush how quickly things can change in this league. The team he remembers as "legendary, because we had four Hall of Famers, not including the coach," broke up within a matter of weeks. O'Neal, Karl Malone, Gary Payton and Phil Jackson all wound up elsewhere, and after starting the season 4-for-20 from the field, Rush joined the exodus that December when the expansion Charlotte Bobcats landed him for a pair of second-rounders.
Jackson, who was undeniably complimentary of Rush in his novel, The Last Season, called his former guard after hearing he was traded and told him to take advantage of his chance and not waste his talent. The Bobcats would be counting on him to play a major role.
Nearly three years later, Rush continues to heed that challenge, driven to make good in a league he found himself out of. He failed in Charlotte. His body failed him, landing him on IR in both seasons with the team. If you believe head coach/GM Bernie Bickerstaff, his work ethic failed him, too.
"The Bobcats are about two things *- hard work and maximum effort," Bickerstaff said in the press release detailing Rush's dismissal back in April of last year. "With that in mind, we think that it is best to go in a different direction with Kareem."
When you can't deliver on the Bobcats with as much talent as Rush has, some personal inventory is in order. It may have seemed like he was in exile last season, but that's not the case. Had he not signed his four-month contract with Lietuvos Rytas in January, he probably would've caught on with an NBA squad. Winding up in Europe offered him a chance to reflect on his career to date under much more different circumstances, and helped mold the new attitude he brings into his second stint in the league.
"It's like when you're in college and you start as a freshman, and all of a sudden you're a junior and senior, and you become a leader of the team. It's the same thing here," Rush said. "I'm five years deep, 26 years old. I have a family now. I think I've become a better player and a better man over the years."
Eager to make a strong first impression, Rush showed up for Summer League play in Orlando. Although he was careful not to aggravate a sore Achilles' tendon, he was the best player on the floor in the two games he suited up, showing off an impressive stroke from the perimeter.
If he can keep that up through camp, the Pacers will be getting exactly what they're hoping for out of him.
"We needed a guy to spread the court, be able to knock down shots and he clearly is a guy that can do that," said new coach Jim O'Brien. "He'd be the first to admit that he's not in season shape right now, but once he gets to where he's in game shape, I feel that if he can defend for us, he's going to see a lot of playing time."
One of the Pacers' biggest weaknesses last season was its inability to hit from the outside, particularly after Stephen Jackson was dealt. His replacement at shooting guard wound up being Mike Dunleavy, who struggled to find consistency. There's no reason Rush can't push out the incumbent; his chances appear to be just as strong as those of holdover Marquis Daniels.
"My goal is always to go out and have a starting job. I think my talent level is up there where I can do that, and on this team the opportunity is there," Rush said. "We have a new coaching staff, not a lot of guys. People don't have any promises, and they desperately need a guy who can come in and knock down shots. The fit is good, Coach O'Brien loves what I can do, and hopefully I'll be able to get in here and contribute and see what happens."
Don't count on Rush's European success giving him an inside track, though. The experience might have helped clear his head, but it's not the reason Indiana brought him on board.
"I couldn't even tell you where Kareem was last year," O'Brien said. "I just know what we see in tryouts, and what we saw in game tapes when he played in the NBA. That's all we care about -- how he performed in NBA situations. He'll be an asset."