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Unsung Player Day: Kelenna Azubuike

By Gagan
for HOOPSADDICT.com

Published: April 5, 2008

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Kelenna AzubuikeThe word ‘unsung’ has a few meanings, albeit all fairly similar, but the one that really defines it is: having value that is unappreciated. There are numerous players in the NBA that give it their all in practice, do the best they can in the gym and always have their ears open when the coaching staff is making suggestions.

For those players, With-Malice.com has pronounced April 5th as Unsung Player Day and my selection for this event is Kelenna Azubuike.

Azubuike attended the University of Kentucky and opted for the 2005 NBA Draft after three seasons as a Wildcat. He ended up going undrafted and found himself bouncing around the NBA and NBDL for the next 18 months. He started his NBA career as a Cleveland Cavalier, but that didn’t last long as a year later he was signed by the Houston Rockets to their training camp roster. Again, that was short lived as he was waived after only a couple pre-season games. He had two stints in the NBDL during that year and a half with the Fort Worth Flyers where he posted great numbers and thus was signed by the Golden State Warriors in January of 2007. They then re-signed him in the 2007 off-season.

He started the season strong, averaging 13.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 31.6 MPG in the month of November, while starting 12 of the first 15 games for Golden State. Since then he’s only started four more games, so his production has taken a bit of a hit. But, even with that said, he’s still a guy who gets consistent minutes night in and night out because he does all the intangibles that coaches look for in a role player so well. He is now averaging 8.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG and 21.5 MPG for a Warriors team that is fighting for their playoff lives.

He’s not someone that is on anyone’s radar when it comes time to pick players for a fantasy team, although I may look at him more closely now for next season. With prime time, ego-filled players such as Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson already on the squad, it’s nice for head coach Don Nelson to have a low profile player that will listen to his every word and do whatever is asked of him.

It wasn’t an easy road to finally becoming an NBA regular, but it just goes to show that hard work, grit and determination pays off in the end no matter what you are trying to accomplish in life. There were probably many sleepless nights wondering if all of this was worth it. Ask any NBA player and I dare you to find one that says it wasn’t.

Every professional sports team needs low profile athletes who come to the arena and just give it their all –we know the sports world is filled with ones that don’t; every team needs an unsung player.

Every team needs a Kelenna Azubuike.

Photo Credit: ICON SMI


11 Comments on "Unsung Player Day: Kelenna Azubuike"

  1. Today Is NBA Unsung Player Day « With Malice… on Sat, 5th Apr 2008 3:29 am 

    [...] State’s Kelenna Azubuike is the guy HoopsAddict have put in the [...]

  2. Ryan on Sat, 5th Apr 2008 11:11 am 

    This was a great idea by Don over at With Malice. If I were to pick I’d go with Rasho Nesterovic and Paul Milsap. However, Azubuike was a solid pick as well and one I would have strongly considered.

  3. Blake Murphy on Sat, 5th Apr 2008 12:28 pm 

    Nice work, Gagan. I think I communicated my love for Bookie when we talked about this before, but the kid is a great player and definitely fits the bill. From just filling the bucket to having the best name in basketball since Cherokee Parks, Kelenna is a fun player to follow.

  4. Rashad on Sat, 5th Apr 2008 3:22 pm 

    He was certainly on my radar halfway at the start of the fantasy season.. and as of late, he’s contributing during the race to the playoffs

  5. GA Hill on Sat, 5th Apr 2008 6:24 pm 

    Great post–he’s a solid player. Interesting stat: he averaged over 40 PPG his senior year in high school.

    Also, just a point of clarification: I’m sure a lot of people who don’t know much about the guy would think “why leave for the draft a year early when it was obvious there was a chance you wouldn’t get drafted?”

    Well, his dad was convicted of some white-collared crimes in Oklahoma, so he left hoping to get paid so he could help his family pay legal bills. I’ve always felt bad for the kid for having to leave college early, but certainly respect him for doing what he needed to do for his family.

  6. JC on Sat, 5th Apr 2008 9:23 pm 

    Thank you for writing this. I am a big Azubuike fan and have him on all my fantasy teams. Sure, he isn’t going to lead the NBA in anything, but I would take a player like him on my team any day of the week. Glad to know there’s more Kelenna fans our there.

  7. Gagan on Sun, 6th Apr 2008 10:47 am 

    Wow, that’s some great insight GA Hill. I didn’t know that and I don’t think many others know that either. Thanks.

    He’s exactly the type of player you need on a championship team. I am going to look at drafting him on all my teams next season as well. The strides he’s taken as a player since being undrafted are amazing.

  8. Sports Talk on KentuckySportsRadio.com » Blog Archive » Azubuike Gets Some Blog Props on Sun, 6th Apr 2008 2:00 pm 

    [...] is a great little blog entry from an NBA guy on how underrated our guy Kelenna Azubuike is at the next level. Good stuff….   [...]

  9. fouledout on Mon, 7th Apr 2008 11:21 pm 

    mine is jamario moon of the toronto raptors.

  10. Hollt on Thu, 10th Apr 2008 6:27 pm 

    I’m a little late coming to this, but I LOVED it. Aubuike is definitely an unsung player in this league and his play/role is becoming more and more important for the Warriors. I’m so happy to see him carve a niche for himself in the NBA, he is too talented to not be here.

    Thanks for recognizing one of my favorites!

  11. Gagan on Thu, 10th Apr 2008 7:44 pm 

    fouledout: Moon has definitely been a nice surprise for the Raptors as I didn’t think they would find anyone with much talent in their summer tryout.

    Holly: Glad you liked it. I really think he will play a key role if the Warriors made the playoffs this season and he can get so much better still because of age and athleticism. This was just an overall great idea by With-Malice.




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