Joe Dawson can’t help but see flashes of himself when he watches his son, Shawn, soar for a dunk or leap for a rebound. The elder Dawson sees the same athletic ability he had, the kind that propelled him to play professional basketball all over Europe — mostly as a forward, despite his 6-foot-5 frame — until he was 48 years old.
His career spanned from 1985-2008, with stops in France, Greece and Italy until he settled in Israel, a country he said he loved because “it was almost like America.”
“I played a two guard, but because I jump well, I had a lot of back-to-the-basket moves and became a three,” said Joe, who grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. “There are no seven-footers in Israel so I played the three or four most of my career.”
At 6-foot-6 and 195 pounds, Shawn has a different game that put him onto the Washington Wizards’ summer league roster. He’s more of a slasher, using his long, sinewy frame to get to the basket, which he did frequently for Maccabi Rishon LeZion last season, averaging 15.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game to lead his team to its first Israeli national championship.
“I like to bring a lot of energy to the game, the transition, the dunks, the fun part of basketball,” Shawn said.
Shawn has the same ambitious dream of playing in the NBA that his father had — the dream that sparked for Joe while he played at Southern Mississippi and fizzled after an unsuccessful tryout with the Kansas City Kings.
“That’s when I realized the dream is a dream, but very few players make it,” Joe said. “After my turn in camp, I realized I needed to make money and there were other parts of basketball [outside] the NBA.”
It’s through these lessons that Joe hopes to guide Shawn, who is playing in his first summer league. He scored six points during the Wizards’ opening game on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
“I’m just enjoying the experience,” Shawn said recently. “It’s my first time in the states focusing on basketball. It’s always been my dream to be in the NBA. I’m just focused on learning the game. It’s a different game, different ball, different court. And I’m just trying to learn it slowly, step by step. I’ll be OK.
“It is a little tough, I’m a little hard on myself when I’m making mistakes, but that’s just me. I’ll learn from my mistakes. I love the experience and I’m trying to enjoy every moment.”
When Dawson declared for the 2015 draft, he knew his dream of getting to the NBA had a significant roadblock. After a breakout season with Maccabi — he averaged 21.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in the playoffs — Dawson was projected to be a mid-second round pick.
The challenge, though, was that the eight to 10 teams that were interested wanted to draft Dawson and stash him overseas. Joe talked with Shawn and they felt it would be best for him to have more flexibility in his options in Israel, which Joe made known. NBA teams got the message and Dawson went undrafted and returned to Maccabi.
“I actually still didn’t feel like I was ready to come here,” Shawn said about the process last season. “Even though I didn’t want to get picked, I did want to get picked because everybody wants to get picked.”
After another strong season with Maccabi, Shawn’s confidence blossomed and he felt more comfortable trying to make the transition to the United States. The differences in the NBA style of play — the open court, running in transition and frequent use of isolation — are appealing to Dawson. His athleticism is a strong asset that helped him dominate in Israel last season, but he knows it will be more difficult to prove it in the summer league.
“I think on the court I do have more experience but because I’m not familiar with American basketball, it evens up,” Dawson said. “I’ve got to go on the court, prove myself, build myself up step by step and no shortcuts.”
• Anthony Gulizia can be reached at agulizia@washingtontimes.com.
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