Four years ago, Jason Kapono wasn’t too different from you
or me.
Oh sure, while some of us tried not to trip as we checked out
that cute girl at Rieber Dining Hall, or sat in Moore 100 wondering
how we’d deal with not being the smartest kid in class
anymore, Kapono was making three-pointers in front of thousands of
people.
But the 6-foot-7-inch sharpshooter from Lakewood, still a
freshman if there ever was one, was also every bit as nervous as
his 4,500 classmates.
“It was freaky coming out of high school,” he says.
“Being raised by my family, I never considered myself to be a
star worthy enough of being on news stations or getting features in
the L.A. Times.”
Kapono quickly realized that, at a place like UCLA, his star was
born the first time one of his quick-release threes dropped through
a Pauley Pavilion net.
And so he gave interviews. And he, um, you know, kind of, like
didn’t exactly sound comfortable speaking all the time.
“It wasn’t something I cherished,” Kapono
says. “It was something I was forced to do.”
He was like any other freshman, afraid to embarrass himself when
speaking up. Kapono wasn’t talking in front of a 10-person
political science discussion, though. He was talking to reporters
““ doing something he hardly enjoyed ““ for millions to
see.
But he was at home behind the three-point line at Pauley,
breaking UCLA and Pac-10 single-season records with 82
trifectas.
So, as happens in today’s age of college basketball,
people started calling. People who knew people in the NBA. People
who thought Jason Kapono, 19 years old, two whole quarters of
college under his belt, was ready for the draft.
So he worked out. He did well. He thought about the NBA.
Then he realized he was still in college. And go figure, he
liked it.
“The biggest influence on me was my heart,” Kapono
says of his decision to come back for his sophomore season.
“Even though there was a very good chance I would be a first
round pick, I just didn’t want to give up the whole college
experience.
“Even if they promise you you’ll be a first-round
pick, you really never know until you’re called that night.
Worst case-scenario, I’m playing in Europe and I’ve
pretty much wasted three years of my life I could have had back. It
would have been basketball or nothing.”
Kapono acknowledges that his situation differed from many other
blue-chip recruits, who often need the money the NBA can provide in
order to support families as quickly as possible.
“He came in as a young man from a good family who was
well-grounded,” UCLA head coach Steve Lavin said.
His sophomore year, Kapono raised his scoring average to 17.2
points per game. With improved rebounding and a greater sense of
court savvy, he was an even stronger candidate to make the NBA
jump.
But he had a girlfriend, Ashley. And any sophomore could tell
you how much wiser he or she is than the average freshman.
So in pondering the draft, Kapono took the long view.
“I think of life as a journey,” he says.
“Everyone thinks in the short-term, wants to get that quick
check. But if you leave and you don’t get that contract,
you’re out of the league at 21, and what are you gonna do
from 21 to 65? I wanted to be ready for life after
basketball.”
Kapono flirted with the idea of leaving after his junior year,
but by then, most of the UCLA community felt he was in for the
four-year haul.
They were right.
“Jason is the poster boy for what college athletics was
supposed to be about,” Lavin said.
Kapono returned for a final season that seemed promising, both
for the Bruins and for himself. But his output is down and
many feel he’s no longer a legitimate first-round pick.
“Everyone says my stock is down and I haven’t gotten
better but it doesn’t matter if I average 20 or 25 or 30
points a game, everyone will still have the same question marks
today as they had three years ago,” Kapono said.
Hearing Kapono speak now, it’s obvious he has more of the
answers.
“Jason Kapono will be playing basketball,” senior
teammate Ray Young said. “And even if he’s not, Jason
Kapono the person will be all right.”
Now Jason Kapono the graduating senior holds court on Tuesday
afternoons for Los Angeles’ infamously brutal media. And when
he’s not opening the interview with a sarcastic joke,
he’s working one into the middle of his answers.
“You just can’t worry about it,” he says,
comfortable as can be, as he dribbles a ball on the Pauley floor
for one of the last times in his career. “People tense up
because they don’t like to talk to the media. Maybe
they’re afraid because you guys hold the power of the
pen.”
And maybe Kapono’s a little less afraid because he knows
he’ll hold the power of a UCLA diploma in June.