Sleep won't come for Gaffney, but an NBA career just might
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Since he can't fall asleep anyway, Tony Gaffney is making the most of staying up late.
The anticipation of his tryout with the Los Angeles Lakers has caused a level of insomnia that sheep-counting has been unable to cure.
So Gaffney sits in front of his recently purchased high-speed computer watching YouTube basketball highlights - specifically, highlights of the Lakers and anyone the defending NBA champs are playing in the preseason. The way the University of Massachusetts graduate figures it, every time he takes the floor - in practice or in exhibition - he has a chance to make an impression. So he's learning how best to guard possible opponents and even potential teammates, including Kobe Bryant.
"Not a night goes by that I'm not on the internet looking for as much film as I can on everybody from the Lakers. This is my interview process," Gaffney said. "I'm on YouTube every single night watching how guys play Kobe. He's impossible to guard. But if you can do anything to slow him down just a little bit, it could open eyes.
"Hopefully my length and my feet could help me," he continued. "You're not going to stop Kobe Bryant. Next to Michael Jordan, he's the best scorer to ever play the game. Other guys in the NBA haven't really figured out anything to try to slow him down, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try."
The fact that he's going to be on the same floor as Bryant marks the next step in an amazing and improbable 12 months for Gaffney.
If his college career had ended after his junior year, Gaffney would have been remembered as a nice kid and a solid, energetic player off the bench. But with career averages of 3.4 points and 3.8 rebounds, not only did the NBA seem unlikely, even top-level European leagues were unlikely destinations.
Putting his sociology degree to good use looked like a more likely career path for Gaffney, who grew up in Berkley, spent a year at Northfield Mount Hermon and began his career at Boston University before transferring to UMass.
But as he and his brother Bud watched their beloved Boston Celtics make a run to the NBA title in 2008, Gaffney wasn't ready to give up his hoop dream.
"I would always watch NBA games with my brother," Gaffney said. "I always honestly believed I could play at that level."
That belief became far more realistic in his senior year. Gaffney broke out by averaging 11.5 points and 10.2 rebounds while blocking 115 shots and earning Atlantic 10 defensive player of the year and first-team all-conference honors.
He performed well for scouts at both pre-draft camps and while he was not drafted, he did play well enough to earn himself an invitation to the Lakers' summer league team.
An injury limited both his playing time and his production, but he showed the Lakers enough to earn a spot in camp, which begins Monday in Los Angeles.
"They invite 16 guys who are on the radar to the summer league team," Gaffney said. "Of the 16, they might invite maybe one or two back for their preseason roster. I happened to impress them enough for them to put me on their preseason roster.
"I'm signed to a one-year non-guaranteed contract I have till the end of preseason to convince them to change that to a guaranteed contract.
"I've been blessed until now to be in the position that I'm in. The second I realized I had a chance to make it, I started working harder than I ever have before to make sure I'm in position to make it."
That actually involves changing position. He played mostly center and power forward for the Minutemen, but his 6-foot-8 frame, which hovers not much above 200 pounds, is far too small to play inside in the NBA.
"I went from being a 4/5 in college to learning everything at the 3. I've been raining jump shots and working on my ball handling," he said. "I know I can look at myself in the mirror and know that I've done everything I can do to prepare myself. I'm in the best shape of my life."
Part of that preparation involved working with NBA players Corey Brewer, Courtney Lee, Rob Kurtz and Kevin Martin.
"Training with them helped prepare me for what's next," Gaffney said. "I've been working out with guys in the NBA for the past four months and I've been more than holding my own. I can see myself in the NBA."
Still Gaffney has a backup plan. He signed a contract to play for Hapoel Galil/Gilboa in Israel, one of the better foreign pro leagues, but it has an out clause should be make the Lakers or any other NBA squad.
"To have that as a fallback, I'm pretty blessed. That said, I'm looking forward to trying to make a go of it with the Lakers," said Gaffney, who is ready to fast-forward to the start of camp.
"I'm at the point where I need it to get here because I can't fall asleep until about 3:30 a.m. every night. I'll get in bed around 10. I try closing my eyes but I can't fall asleep. The anticipation is killing me right now," he said. "I'm ready to get to Los Angeles and settle in, hopefully for the next eight months. I'm ready to play and show them what I can do."
Until then he's stuck on YouTube.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com.
