He is a guy who didn’t play organized basketball until he was a 10th grader. A guy who earned a scholarship to Long Beach State but didn’t dream of a pro career until he was a junior.
He is a guy who was unknown to pro scouts until he showed up at a predraft camp in Chicago. A guy whom the Jazz drafted and started as a rookie but then benched for two seasons while trying three other players (Ty Corbin, David Benoit and Chris Morris) in his stead.
It is little wonder, then, that Utah forward Bryon Russell, even at the back end of his fourth season as a pro, wasn’t fully himself when he trotted out to face the Bulls Sunday night.
“I was just nervous. I had the jitters,” he acknowledged.
“My first trip to the Finals, it’s something I’ve never seen before. Fifteen-hundred press people. Phew. We’re the last NBA show of the year, and we haven’t been here and they have been here four or five times. I’m sure everybody was nervous.”
But everybody’s trip to that moment wasn’t as pockmarked as that taken by Russell, who managed but seven points in Game 1 and 11 in Wednesday’s Game 2. He put off buying a new car or any kind of luxury item during those two seasons (’94-95 and ’95-96) the Jazz tried to replace him, and spent many restless nights worrying his team would just up and cut him.
It wasn’t until Game 3 of last year’s Western Conference finals, when he came off the bench to score 24 against the SuperSonics, that Russell got a taste of fame. Still, early on he remained an uncertain and reluctant shooter.
His attitude hindered the Jazz’s offense, which rewards the small forward with many open looks, and so frustrated Karl Malone that he eventually tore into Russell.
“If you don’t take the open shot when I give you the ball,” Malone warned, “I’m going to tell (Jazz coach Jerry) Sloan to get you out of the game.”
“That really helped me,” Russell said. Indeed–he ended the regular season with a team-record 108 three-point baskets and a 10.8 scoring average, his career high.
His production has improved during the playoffs. Russell has averaged 12.3 points, hit 47.6 percent of his three-point attempts and gone for 29 and 22 against the Lakers in Games 4 and 5 of the conference semifinals.
So now what do Malone and John Stockton, the other Jazz vet, say to him?
“They expect me to have confidence in everything I do out there,” Russell said, “and I try to give them the full amount. I don’t come out there half-steppin’ it at all. It was kind of like a growth process with us. I had to grow with them, and I have grown with them.”
