The Summer of Novak
As Steve Novak addressed the sea of kids on the arena floor of the Al McGuire Center during one of coach Buzz Williams' recent summer basketball camps, he couldn't help but notice the parallels.
"I was at this camp," he said with a smile, not long after a roughly 20-minute talk that hammered home the value of hard work.
"My dad would take me to some of the coaches’ camps that he had coached at in the past. When I say to those kids, ‘I was like you,’ I really was. I wasn’t much better than most of them. You hope you grab a few of them, and they believe you. You know you’re not going to have 200 kids go into the (NBA), but hopefully you do affect them to where they might go home and for one summer write their goals down and work."
Work was never an issue for Novak -- a quality that was helped, without question, by having a father (Mike) who was also boys basketball coach at Brown Deer High School. Winter, spring, summer, fall, Novak was in the gym constantly as a youngster, honing a jump shot that, over time, turned him into one of college basketball's best shooters at MU and then eventually into an NBA draft pick.
And while most kids aren't fortunate enough to literally have the keys to a gym, as Novak was, they are still able to set themselves apart by putting in the hours in the gym, the weight room, on the playground -- whatever it takes to improve their games.
"I want them to understand that," he said. "When I would see a player or someone I looked up to, it was always, ‘There must be something about them. They must have been born with it.’ I kept saying you don’t have to be the most athletic, you don’t have to be the strongest.
"Everyone’s waiting for the next LeBron James to be born, and I want them to understand that’s like, two percent of the league. The majority of the guys worked at it. In terms of ability in college, many guys had more than me, but I knew I could out-work them. That’s what a crowd like this needs to hear."
Novak's talk at Williams' camp is one of a number of appearances the 26-year-old will be making this summer in the area. With his next NBA destination not entirely clear at this point, Novak and his wife, Christina, have moved from Los Angeles back to Brown Deer, where they'll remain until the fall when he has to head back out for training camp.
His plan is to spend a good deal of time working out at the Al McGuire Center, keeping sharp and in shape in the midst of Williams' huge incoming recruiting class, as he'll be unable to take part in any NBA summer-league play because of his unsettled contract situation.
Novak and his father also run their own basketball camps, and already have one under their belts. They have two more coming up at St. John Vianney -- a general camp for fourth-ninth graders running from July 13-17, and a shooting-specific camp for seventh-12th graders from July 14-16 -- and Novak takes a major role in both.
For Novak, it's all part of giving back -- something that's become more important to him as time goes on.
"It is," he said. "Really, the Brown Deer camp, especially going back there and doing it with my dad. We barely make any money on it, and it’s great because you go back and it is what I did. The age I remember, the gym I was in, the drills I love to do. I’d be back there doing something anyway, so I might as well do something with those guys.
"And obviously coming back (to MU), too. Not that I loved being a camp counselor because I was always so tired from working out when I was here, but I never want to lose touch with the program. With Crean leaving and Buzz coming in, Buzz has been great to all of us and totally welcoming. Until you leave, you don’t understand. Coach Crean brought so many guys back. When you’re a player it’s cool; you do want to understand what it was like before you and how it got like this, who paved the way, who these guys on the walls are.
"But until you leave you don’t fully understand it. It means a lot, and not just for me – for everybody."
Not surprisingly, Novak seems to have a special interest in his shooting camp. Something near and dear to his heart, it'd be hard to believe any youngster could ask for a better tutor than MU's all-time leader in three-pointers made, three-point accuracy and free-throw accuracy.
"The shooting one is going to be maxed at 40 kids," he said. "That one is definitely going to be…I’m going to be doing all the drills. Each station will be I’ve written down certain things over the years that for whatever reason clicked with me at whatever time, and it’s going to be focused on that for one whole session. We’re going to teach like 10 things, and drill ‘em, drill ‘em, drill ‘em. Strictly your shot. We’re not going to do a bunch of dribbling and things like that. It’s going to be shooting, shooting game shots, that type of stuff."
As far as Novak's NBA future, it appears to be a bright one.
Entering his fourth year in the league, he is coming off a solid 2008-'09 season that saw him average 6.9 points and knock down 41.6% of his three-pointers after being traded from the Houston Rockets, the team that drafted him No. 32 overall in 2006, to the Los Angeles Clippers last fall at his behest.
Houston honored his request, and by the end of what turned out to be an injury-riddled season for the Clippers, Novak was playing major minutes. He put up a career-high 23 points against the New York Knicks on Feb. 11, and then followed that up with 21 points on 7 three-pointers against the New Jersey Nets on March 15.
Novak also knocked down a game-winner against the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 13, and finished the season with 119 threes. Extrapolated over 48 minutes, Novak accounted for 4.92 threes per game -- the top rate in the NBA.
"I requested to be traded from Houston – loved Houston – because I was hoping to be in a situation where I would be able to play," Novak said. "It was the last year of my rookie deal, and as a young player the most important thing really is to play, be out there and get experience. So it did definitely benefit me. You know guys are going to get hurt; you never wish a guy gets hurt so you can play, but you just know it’s such a long year that it’s inevitable. I just ended up being in a good spot, and had a chance to be out there. It definitely helped."
Having finally gotten a chance to play and produce, Novak enters this summer in an enviable position as a restricted free agent. The Clippers tendered Novak a qualifying offer on Wednesday, meaning they will have the right to match any offer he might get on the open market.
Whatever happens, he'll be due a decent raise and more job security, with the chance to become an unrestricted free agent in the not-so-distant future.
"I’d say it's exciting," he said of his free-agent status. "The only reason it’d be different is the year I got drafted, you still don’t know you’re on a team. There’s still so much you can prove in one workout. It just takes that one team. You don’t know if you’re going to go 20th or 60th. That’s a big difference. That summer there was so much pressure, and you had to be in such tip-top shape and eat right and be perfect. But now we’re in a dead period where I can’t prove anything.
"The season ends, the playoffs are finished, the draft has to happen and I have to wait until July 1. That’s why it’s weird. In a couple months I could be on a whole new team with a brand-new city to live in. But for right now, I have no idea where it is. But it’s exciting – you’re a free agent, you could get to go to a new city, but you have no idea where it’s going to be."
While the Clippers had another lackluster season, they did wind up with the No. 1 overall draft pick in Blake Griffin, and have a number of talented players returning from injury, giving them a core that could potentially win some games. Recent history, though, hasn't been kind to a franchise that has been voted in recent years as the worst in professional sports.
"I did enjoy L.A.," said Novak. "Coming from Milwaukee, going to Houston and then there, it’s like, very different than both of those cities. The weather’s unbelievable, the beaches are incredible, and everything you watch on TV, you’d realize, ‘Hey, that’s right down the street. We just drove past that.’ We weren’t bored. It was a fun town to live in. Team-wise, we definitely have our issues. We didn’t win a ton of games this year, but the potential’s there. There’s talent there."
Should Novak receive an offer from a team that will force the Clippers' hand, it could very well be another from the Western Conference. Novak said he views himself as a Western Conference kind of player, better suited for the up-and-down, full-throttle games played there rather than the half-court, grind-'em-out contests that the Eastern Conference is known for -- Boston and Orlando aside.
"You see a lot of guys in the league, when they find the right situation, the right team, they’re able to help a team, able to shine. That’s what I want," he said. "Whatever team I go to next, hopefully it’s a team where I can fit the system. I think a lot of teams that like me have big men, where I can space the floor – the guy that keeps the wing spread so the point guard can penetrate and the big men can post. A team like that, or obviously playing with Dwyane would be awesome.
"Basically being with a guy who can pull a defender to the side because he can beat their man; one of the elite players who can penetrate. I feel like the run-and-gun system is good for me. One of those situations would be best for me. With Jeff Van Gundy I played a very structured, half-court style. With (Rick) Adelman we ran, but it was a lot of half-court stuff. I love playing in an open system. I definitely see a few teams where I would understand why they would say, ‘Hey, you fit in well here.’ "
Whatever happens, Novak certainly is aware of how lucky he is to be living his dream, and not taking a second of it for granted.
"I’m enjoying it," said Novak. "It’s what I grew up wanting to be and wanting to do, and whether I’m on a team that wins the championship or wins the fewest games in the league, I’ll always have the perspective. I’d rather be doing nothing else. So I’m just going to keep working and hope the right situation comes along."
Novak Basketball Camp
July 13-17, 9 a.m. to noon, 4th-9th graders, $215
Novak Shooting Camp
July 14-16, evening, 7th-12th graders, $245
Both camps are held at St. John Vianney Grade School, Brookfield
For more information, call (262) 796-3940.
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