Baller Bio: Kenny Satterfield

Kenny Satterfield is 31 years old. He only played a few seasons in the NBA, but he's been able to make a career out of professional basketball.

Satterfield was born on April 10, 1981 in New York City. He played at Rice High School in the Big Apple. He was named a 1999 McDonald's All-American in his senior year. In that same year, he was also named to the Parade All-American Third Team and USA TODAY's All-USA Third Team. He was also named the 1999 New York City Player of the Year.

He committed to Cincinnati and joined the Bearcats as a freshman in 1999 and put up averages of 9.2 points and 5.4 assists in 33 games. That season, he helped them reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He was an early entry in the 2000 NBA Draft, but withdrew before the deadline. In his sophomore season, Satterfield received more minutes and saw most of his averages and percentages go up. He played 35 games and averaged 14.4 points, 5.1 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 steals. Satterfield shined in his second season with the Bearcats and helped lead Cincinnati to the Sweet 16 of the 2001 NCAA Tournament before losing to Stanford.

Satterfield's draft stock was as high as ever and he decided to apply for the 2001 NBA Draft. He was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 53rd pick of the draft in the second round. After being drafted, he played in the Rocky Mountain Summer League with the Mavs. Later, on September 25, 2001, he was traded to the Denver Nuggets for a future second round draft pick before the season started.

As a rookie with the pre-Melo Nuggets, Satterfield mostly played a back-up role, but saw his minutes steadily increase over the course of the season. He was hit with a few injuries, left knee patella tendinitis and a sprained left thumb, and missed more games than he would have liked to.

In his first career start (on March 30th, 2002), he took advantage of the opportunity and finished with 12 points and 11 assists, the first and only double-double of his NBA career, in a win vs. the Bulls in Chicago. He made a statement and proved that he could be trusted with a starting role. He started the next game and scored 17 points and dished out 7 assists in a loss in Detroit. He wouldn't start again until the second-to-last game of the season in which he scored only 6 points on 3-of-11 shooting, but finished with a career-high 12 assists. In the last game of the season, he scored a career-high 21 points and dished out 6 assists as the Nuggets lost to the playoff-bound Timberwolves on the road.

After gaining momentum at the end of his rookie campaign, Satterfield re-signed with Denver and received solid minutes at the beginning of his second season as a Nugget. However, as the season went on, his minutes and stats went up and down until he was waived by the team on December 18, 2002.

His NBA career was in jeopardy, but he bounced back and was picked up by the Iverson-led Philadelphia 76ers less than a week later on December 23rd. Satterfield played 19 minutes off-the-bench in his first game as a Sixer, a blowout loss to the Jazz, but that ended up being the last game that he would ever play more than 10 minutes. Coach Larry Brown gave Satterfield only limited minutes and not enough time to prove that he could help the team. In his last NBA game, Satterfield went scoreless and finished with 2 assists in a bittersweet win against his former team, the Nuggets. It marked nine wins in a row for the 76ers, but Satterfield played in less than 10 minutes or didn't play at all in each game during the winning streak.

He was placed on waivers by the the Sixers before the regular season ended as they signed free agent Tyrone Hill. He probably hoped to be claimed, but wasn't and officially became a free agent on March 5, 2003.  In his 17-game stint with Philly, he had produced only 9 points and 15 assists. As the playoffs eventually started and ended (with the Spurs winning the title), Satterfield was hoping to get another chance to play in the NBA.

He got that chance later that year and signed a contract with the Washington Wizards in September. He was named to their training camp roster and hoped to become a member of their team for the upcoming season. This post-Jordan Wizards squad included a newly-signed Gilbert Arenas, a struggling, young Kwame Brown, Jerry Stackhouse in the prime of his career, and others. However, the Wizards didn't see Satterfield in their future and waived him in October of 2003 before the season started.

Satterfield decided to go overseas and sign with a team in France (Limoges) in November. He was waived in January of 2004.

He later brought his talents back to the U.S. and signed with the now-defunct Fayetteville Patriots of the D-League on February 18th. He emerged as their starting point guard and averaged 18.6 points, 6.9 assists, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.0 steals in 18 games with the team. Satterfield hoped to be called up by an NBA team, but he wasn't and the Patriots lost in the semifinals of the playoffs to the Asheville Attitude, despite a great game from Satterfield in which he scored 33 points, dished out 6 assists, grabbed 6 rebounds, had 6 steals, blocked 5 shots, shot perfect from the free-throw line, and made six 3-pointers in 44 minutes. A bright spot was that he led his team in points per game and finished second in the D-League in assists per game behind Omar Cook.

For the next years, after his stint in the NBA's official minor league, Satterfield played professionally all over the world in foreign countries like Greece, Venezuela, Lebanon, Cyprus, and Argentina. He even played for the Brooklyn Comets of the ABA from 2006-2007. During the summers he would come back to the states and play in NYC, his old stomping grounds. He played in the Rucker Park Summer League, the Hoops in the Sun Summer League, and the Dyckman League. He became known on the streetball circuit as "Serious Satellite."

He received an opportunity for an NBA comeback and played in the Reebok Las Vegas Summer League with the Chicago Bulls in 2005. He played okay and averaged 5 points, 3.2 assists, and 2 rebounds in 19.6 minutes over the course of 5 games, but didn't play well enough to separate himself from the rest of the players on the team and score an invitation to training camp. He was not signed by the Bulls.

In 2010, he returned to New York again, but traveled upstate to the capital region to join the Albany Legends of the IBL for their inaugural season. He quickly emerged as a team leader and had some great games: 13 points, 13 assists, and 12 rebounds in a loss to the Tacoma Tide on April 30th and 31 points and 18 assists in a win against the Holland Blast on May 22nd.

He helped lead the Legends to the 2010 IBL Championship and led them to victory over the Bellingham Slam. He led the team in points, assists, and free throws made that game (30 points, 7 assists, 8-17 field goals, 12-for-12 free throws, 2-for-2 three-pointers), but was snubbed as big-man Deandre Thomas, who finished with 21 points, 10-of-14 field goals, and 19 rebounds, was named the Championship MVP instead of Satterfield. I was on the court at the Washington Avenue Armory during the celebration and remember seeing Satterfield after Thomas was named the MVP. From what I could tell, there wasn't a look of disappointment on his face. He just casually walked off the court, probably thinking about what his next basketball-playing gig would be.

He went off to Japan to play more pro ball later that year and is still on the grind today. He's 31 years old and another shot at the NBA is too unlikely to consider, but Satterfield will be remembered as a local legend in New York. In my opinion, he had the talent to be productive in the league, but got a bit unlucky, lost in the shuffle, and the NBA just didn't work out for him. Here's a short promo video of him for Team NIKE back in 2011:



While Sattterfield's stint in the NBA wasn't as long as he would have wanted it to be, his legacy could live through his daughter, Kaelynn. Earlier this year, she won top honors among 9 and 10 year old girls at the NBA/WNBA FIT Dribble, Dish & Swish competition in Orlando, Florida during the 2012 All-Star weekend. Kaelynn said she hopes to play in the WNBA with the New York Liberty or become a doctor.

As the years go by, Kenny Satterfield will continue to age and eventually retire, maybe even trying a run at coaching, but his daughter may just be beginning a career in basketball.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_Satterfield
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/kenny_satterfield/printable_player_files.html
http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/player/cincinnati/kenny-satterfield/game_stats
http://basketball.realgm.com/player/Kenny_Satterfield/Summary/675
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/satteke01.html
http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/transactions/league/2003
http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/teams/Washington_Wizards/30/Rosters/Training_Camp/2004
http://www.basketball-reference.com/nbdl/players/s/satteke01d.html
http://www.nba.com/dleague/news/transactions_03-04.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/nbdl/years/2004.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/nbdl/teams/FAY/2004.html
http://www.streetbasketballassociation.net/management/proplayer/index.html?player_id=15
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-03-01/news/31112047_1_girls-basketball-dish-swish-basketball-court
http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/teams/Chicago_Bulls/4/Rosters/Summer_League/2005

Have any thoughts on Kenny Satterfield or any suggestions for who I should do a Baller Bio on next? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

Prospect: Reggie Hamilton

With the 2012 NBA Draft happening tomorrow, fans and bloggers are going a mile-a-minute with speculation and trade rumors involving draft picks and prospects. A lot of names are going around. Anthony Davis, who was featured on the most recent SLAM cover wearing a Hornets jersey even though he hasn't been drafted yet, is the consensus number 1 pick. With the next picks, scouts are saying that Thomas Robinson, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Bradley Beal, and Harrison Barnes will be lottery selections. Here's a name you probably haven't heard: Reggie Hamilton.

Hamilton, a 23 year-old senior, led the NCAA in points per game this year with an average of 26.2 ppg. Here's a list of other players who have recently done the same thing: Jimmer Fredette, Stephen Curry, and Reggie Williams. All of those players are in the NBA currently. Fredette was a first-round draft pick to the Kings a year ago, Curry is a rising star who has only been held back by ankle injuries, and Williams has been in the league since 2009.

However, Hamilton is expected to go undrafted tomorrow. Even though he is 23 years old, played in what most would call a weak conference, and is only about 5-11 or 6-0, he averaged 26.2 points, 5.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.0 steals a game last season with Oakland. He also shot 44.7% from the field, 42% from 3-point range, and 87.6% from the free-throw line. That's great in my opinion. If I was an NBA gm, I'd draft him.

Despite him probably not being drafted, Hamilton has worked out with a bunch of teams including the Pistons, Jazz, and Pacers, among others. If one of those teams doesn't take a chance on him with a second round pick, he could still sign with an NBA team. He could play in the Summer League, get invited to a training camp, be named to their preseason roster, and then make the squad for the regular season.

I'm pretty high on Hamilton right now. Unlike most bloggers, I don't care to look at the draft too much as a whole, but instead focus on a few prospects that I think are underrated. During last year's draft, I particularly liked Talor Battle, Scotty Hopson, Jacob Pullen, Isiah Thomas, and Josh Harrellson. I was right on the money with what I speculated about Thomas and Harrellson. Battle, Pullen, and Thomas went undrafted and haven't really been given a chance with an NBA team.

This year, I'll say this. Reggie Hamilton is my sleeper pick. I think he's underrated and could blossom into a star or a solid role player in the NBA. If he ends up with the Miami Heat, he could be a reserve point guard or a role player like Norris Cole and help them repeat in 2013. With the New York Knicks, he could end up being Jeremy Lin 2.0, especially if Lin signs with another team this offseason. With a team like the New Orleans Hornets, he could emerge as a starter and put up Kemba Walker-like stats in his rookie year. Other teams that I think he could be a starter on are the Los Angeles Lakers (if Ramon Sessions leaves), the Phoenix Suns (if Steve Nash leaves), the Toronto Raptors, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Portland Trail Blazers.

I hope that Hamilton gets drafted tomorrow, but if he doesn't, I hope he can prove the doubters wrong. Here are a few point guards who went undrafted that Hamilton could end up like: Jeremy Lin, Mike James, Earl Boykins, David Wesley, Avery Johnson, Mike Wilks, Troy Hudson, and Darrell Armstrong.

Have any thoughts on Reggie Hamilton or this year's draft? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.