Title: PAT CONNAUGHTON COULD BE ON THE MOUND, BUT HE’S CHASING HIS HOOP DREAMS
Date: March 11, 2016
Original Source: Vice
Synopsis: I wrote about Portland Trail Blazers’ rookie Pat Connaughton, who is keeping his mid-90s fastball sharp in the event he ever returns to the Baltimore Orioles’ system.
It’s early March, and Pat Connaughton could be enjoying 75-degree temperatures as he stretches out his arm at the Baltimore Orioles’ spring training complex in Sarasota. Instead, he’s shooting around with the Portland Trail Blazers in Toronto, where it’s not quite All-Star Weekend cold but it also isn’t exactly temperate.
Connaughton is also seeing less action than he would in Florida. Instead of gearing up for a starting pitcher’s workload at High-A, he’s been relegated to bench duty with a surprising Portland team. He has appeared in 25 games, scoring 19 points over 76 minutes; he hasn’t seen action in the D-League, either.
If there’s any regret on Connaughton’s part—about his minutes, about spending his early 20s on the hardwood instead of the diamond, or anything else—it’s hard to detect amid his emergence as one of the NBA’s new bench celebration superstars. He’s riding the pine in the NBA instead of rising toward the big leagues, at least for now, but Pat Connaughton sure seems to be enjoying every minute.
Continue reading at Vice.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 