Larry Bird Hopes Kevin Seraphin Finds His Way Again

Kevin Seraphin’s best NBA season came four years ago.

Kevin Seraphin had two options this summer: Signing with the Indiana Pacers, or leaving the NBA to play in Europe with FC Barcelona.

Needless to say, he wasn’t a hot commodity in free agency.

There was a simple reason why Seraphin didn’t have other NBA options when he became a free agent this summer.

It has been four years since Seraphin’s best season in the NBA, and his production has dwindled down since that 2012-13 season. Back then he averaged 9.1 points per a game with the Washington Wizards and seemed on the verge of breaking out.

That never happened in Washington, and last season was particularly rough with the New York Knicks where he averaged only 3.9 points a game.

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Things were bad enough this offseason that when his phone stayed silent, he fired his agent according to the Indy Star’s Jim Ayello, but he knew the blame really belonged on himself.

"“It was tough,” Seraphin said. “All that waiting. I kept thinking, ‘How the hell do I not have an (NBA) offer.’ I feel like I’m young, and I still have a lot of potential; I still have a lot in the tank.”NBA executives didn’t agree. And they had good reason. Seraphin was coming off what he admits was the worst season of his career.Last season, with the New York Knicks, Seraphin wasn’t himself, he says. He put on weight; he missed games because of a knee injury; he lost confidence in himself.The results were predictably ugly: He averaged just 11 minutes, 3.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.“I just messed it up,” Seraphin said of his time in New York. “I take the blame. At one point you have to look at yourself in the mirror and be a man about it.”"

Seraphin went on in that interview to say he is thankful for the faith Larry Bird has in him, and that he vows not to make some of the same mistakes that set him back even further last season in New York.

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If Seraphin can get back to anywhere near the player he was in 2013, then the Pacers made the right move in bringing in the beleaguered Frenchmen. It hasn’t been all bad news in recent seasons either for Seraphin. It may have been in limited minutes, but Seraphin defended the rim well last season and if he can score again, might be a better option than Lavoy Allen coming off the bench.

Bird had Seraphin on his radar before the draft in 2010, and apparently, he never lost track of the power forward. He’s been given an opportunity to contribute on this Indiana team when no one else in the NBA wanted him.

It may have nothing to do with Seraphin, but I worry that he becomes another one of Bird’s missed opportunities that he could never let go. Andrew Bynum and Ty Lawson were always targeted by for Bird, but neither did anything memorable during the partial seasons with the Pacers. O.J. Mayo is another player Bird constantly kicked the tires on, but thanks to a botched trade, he never ended up with Indiana. Considering Mayo was kicked out of the NBA this summer, that likely is a good thing for the Pacers.

That’s not a particularly encouraging collection of players to compare with Seraphin, but one of the differences here is Seraphin doesn’t have the same off the court issues. This is also different for fans as Seraphin came to the team with a reaction of “Really?” whereas Lawson and Bynum were seen as some form of saviors meant to solve Indiana’s problems.

Seraphin “success” is being a capable fourth big. “Failure” is playing Lavoy Allen in that role.

Next: Can Pacers Camp Invite Julyan Stone Make the NBA?

Every player comes into camp saying they’ve gotten fitter, been working all summer, and all the other cliches. However, in Seraphin’s case, he knows his NBA career hangs in the balance.

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