He Finally Made It : Lloyd Daniels Survived Drugs, Bullets and Scandals to Reach the NBA

SAN ANTONIO —  Dressed all in black, Lloyd Daniels took up a shooting position just beyond the three-point line. With long, slender fingers, he spun a basketball, then sent it in a high arc toward the basket.

Nothing but net.

Daniels tried a second shot. Nothing but net. A third. Nothing but net.

At the end of a Spurs’ practice session, the gym was nothing more than shooting gallery and no one was shooting any straighter than Daniels.

Off the court, too, Daniels is trying to be a straight shooter. The 25-year-old recovering drug and alcohol addict, whose recruitment at Nevada Las Vegas brought the wrath of the NCAA down on Coach Jerry Tarkanian’s program, the legendary Brooklyn playground superstar who wound up being shot three times in a dispute over crack cocaine, is in a new life as an NBA rookie playing for rookie NBA Coach Tarkanian.

Daniels is in the first year of a two-year contract and must be tested twice a week to satisfy the league’s drug policy. Daniels said he thought all along he would reach the big time.

“I don’t believe in chances,” Daniels said. “This is life. I hate when people use the word chances. You know, God blessed me to be here and I’m here. Everybody messes up in life, you know. As long as you realize your mistakes, you’ll be all right.”

The Daniels story is full of mistakes, not all of them his. His mother died of cancer when he was 3 and his father deserted him, leaving him to be brought up by various relatives. Daniels began smoking marijuana at 10, about the same time he began playing basketball and creating a New York playground legend.

Although he was nearly illiterate, dozens of colleges recruited him. He chose UNLV, but never played for Tarkanian. After an erratic junior college career, Daniels was arrested at a crack house in a Las Vegas police sting in 1987.

Two years later, he was shot three times on the sidewalk in front of his grandmother’s house in Queens by two men who wanted Daniels to return the crack he had stolen earlier that night. Daniels lost six pints of blood, but he survived. He went back to basketball, bounced around in the semi-pro leagues before he entered John Lucas’ drug clinic in Houston in August, 1991.

“Lloyd never gave up on Lloyd,” Lucas said.

Daniels plays point guard for Tarkanian with the Spurs, but at 6 feet 7 1/2, he is far more comfortable as a shooting guard and far behind his peer group in pro fundamentals.

“I got a lot to learn,” Daniels said.

Married to Kendra Dunn and with a 7-month-old daughter, Aubrey, Daniels said he already considers his journey to the NBA a success.

“I’m a great story just to let little kids see, hey, how Lloyd Daniels got shot, he’s been on drugs and alcohol and how he straightened his life up,” Daniels said.

“All I can do is think about today and hope to God I make it through the day. You can’t race your mind. All I can do is worry about right now.”