Jack Nicholson has found a new friend in Josh Powell. In fact every other celebrity that is a regular at the Staples Center is drooling over the emergence of Powell. The Los Angeles Lakers got a steal of a deal this season snatching Josh out of free agency before the season began. He has seen action in 34 games this season and is logging 10 minutes per contest. He is averaging 4 points and 2 rebounds a game while shooting a nifty 48%. Here recently Josh has made the most of his opportunities. With Andrew Bynum expected to miss 6-10 more weeks and Chris Mihm traded off to the Memphis Grizzlies last Wednesday (February 18th), Josh has moved into a bigger role in the Laker rotation. Last Wednesday Mr. Powell put up season highs in minutes played, points scored, and rebounds. He scored 16 points and ripped down 7 boards in 25 minutes of action against the Warriors in a West Coast Battle. Powell's emergence hasn't gone unnoticed by Laker fans. Last week Kevin Ding of the OC Register wrote an article entitled "Does Powell's emergence mean Odom is on the way out?" In his article Ding makes the argument that the Lakers may decide to take the cheaper contract season. They would be replacing Odom's $14.1 million dollar salary with Powell's $950,000. When Josh was asked by the Los Angeles Times how he avoided getting overly frustrated with limited playing time he responded by saying:
"How do you avoid it? Let me see. Let me think," Powell said, smiling. "I'm on the best team in the league. I'm playing with the Lakers. I'm playing with some of the best guys in the league. I don't know. What else? How do you want me to put it? I'm in the NBA. It's a lot to be thankful for."
Powell has made the Staples Center his home over the past two seasons, he just switched locker rooms. Last season he played 64 games for the L.A. Clippers (He started 25 games) averaging 19 minutes per game. The Lakers didn't have to drive far to scout their future player because they could sit in their shared arena and watch him play. He averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds per game last season while shooting 46% from the field. This is Josh's 3rd year in the League and the Lakers mark the 5th team that he has dressed for. After leaving NC State after his sophomore season in which he averaged 12.4ppg, 5.3rpg, and 1.3bpg, and boasted a 57% field goal percentage, he tested the European waters. After one season across the pond Josh came back to the States to fulfill his dreams of playing in the NBA. He tried out for the Dallas Mavericks and made their Development League team. It only took three games with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for the Mavs to decide to add Powell to their NBA roster. He averaged 18 points and 7 boards while shooting 71% from the field and 82% from the free stripe in those three games. After being brought up to the Big League's he played in 37 games for the Mavs in the 05-06 season averaging 12 minutes per game (3ppg and 2rpg). Then in the 06-07 season Josh suited up for the Pacers for 7 games and then for the Warriors for 30 (9mpg, 3ppg and 2rpg). If you haven't noticed it seems that Josh has grown fond of Cali. He has played for 5 NBA teams and 60% of those were in the Golden State.
Josh is now happily married to his wife Lauren and they have two little girls: Patience (2 years old) and Hayden Simone (8 weeks old). The two met in Vegas and returned their last summer to be married. It hasn't been easy for Josh to be so far away from his wife and two daughters who are living nearly 2,000 miles away in New Orleans. Josh was quoted in the OC Register on February 13th saying:
“It’s been a tough road. I have a lot going on, on and off the court,” Powell said. “But I’m handling it. …I keep my faith in God and just having a positive outlook on things helps. Plus, knowing that everything ultimately will be all right and that keeps me going.”
We are proud of Josh and look forward to helping all of you keep track of how he is doing. It is always good to see one of our own succeeding in the realm of professional basketball and in the realm of a healthy family life.
A big shout out has to go out to the OC Register and the Los Angeles Times. Here are the articles that we cited in this article:
Josh Powell makes the most of his opportunities with the Lakers
Behind the scenes with Josh Powell
Does Powell's emergence mean Odom is on the way out?
comments
2 Responses to "Josh Powell Enjoying the Golden State"Another excellent post. Keep up the good work.
Nice post... I really enjoy hearing about former Wolfpackers. I always thought Josh was a good guy. He was in a couple of my classes and he seemed really down to earth and approachable. Keep up the good work Josh and WolfpackHoops
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