Jameel McKay kicked off his NBA Summer League Career by scoring 4 points and 6 rebounds in the New Orleans Pelicans’ 83-58 loss to the Lakers on Friday.
Jameel McKay shows hustle, heart in Summer League Debut
McKay came off the bench to play 19 minutes for the Pelicans on Friday and it made a lot of sense. The former Cyclone showed a lot of effort in his first Summer League game for New Orleans – something he seemed to lack at times during his career at Iowa State.
Obviously, it did not come back to haunt him. During one exchange, McKay got blocked twice, got his own rebound and the Pelicans ended up with a bucket because of him, something coaches and fans will get behind.
McKay was sticking in the play until the absolute last second, as well as flying around the court on defense.
Ultimately, his numbers from Friday will not show the hustle plays McKay put forth, but it was certainly a treat to watch live.
McKay and the Pelicans will take the floor again on Sunday at 7:00pm CT when they take on the Utah Jazz. Another former Cyclone in Abdel Nader will play again on Saturday at 5:00pm CT against Fred Hoiberg’s Chicago Bulls. Hoiberg was the coach at Iowa State up until after both of Nader and McKay’s junior years.
LWOS’ Cyclone analyst Connor Ferguson will continue to have coverage and live updates on former Cyclones in Summer League action on his twitter account (@cfchangs9) and here on the site. That includes Abdel Nader of the Boston Celtics and Jameel McKay of the New Orleans Pelicans.
All NBA Summer League games can be watched live on NBATV or ESPN3, and stats can be found on the free, NBA GameTime App.
Main Photo Credit – Getty Images, David Purdy
