NESBY-NEVER LAND: NESBY LIVING A DREAM HE HAD NEVER IMAGINED

"I'm proud of where I come from. When I was being introduced (prior to Clippers' games), the announcer would say I'm from Las Vegas. I told them to announce me being from Cairo, Ill. That's what I want." -- Tyrone Nesby

CAIRO, Ill. -- Tyrone Nesby was one of the NBA's top rookies last season -- yet until a few years ago he never even thought a pro basketball career was possible.

In fact, until fairly recently, Nesby never even thought about a pro basketball career period.

"People ask me all the time if it was a dream of mine to play in the NBA," he said with a laugh. "I wasn't even really a basketball player until the ninth grade. I always liked baseball more."

Funny how things wind up, as Nesby was quick to point out Wednesday during a return to his home town.

A former standout at Cairo High School, Nesby was back in Southern Illinois to take part in the Tyrone Nesby Rookies Basketball Camp that will run through Friday at both Cairo Junior High and Cairo Senior High.

"This is the first camp I've ever done and it's going really well," he said. "The kids are easy to work with and everybody is having a good time."

A good time is certainly what the 6-foot-6, 225-pound Nesby had during his initial NBA season, when he averaged 10.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game for the Los Angeles Clippers.

But, as the well-spoken, personable Nesby mentioned earlier, putting up those kind of numbers -- or playing in the NBA at all -- certainly never crossed his mind for the longest time.

"I never even thought about something like this until a couple of years ago, but I guess it turned out good," he said with a laugh. "I was just real skinny and lanky, goofy and uncoordinated when I was a kid.

"Then I just started growing and people said I should play (basketball). It wasn't until high school that I started playing every day."

It didn't take Nesby long to catch on. He became a high school All-American playing for former Cairo coach Bill Chumbler, helping lead the Pirates to third place in the 1993 Illinois Class A State Tournament.

Following a stint in junior college, Nesby wound up at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where he was a two-year standout. As a senior, Nesby led the Rebels in scoring at nearly 16 points per game.

"It never really hit me that I could play in the NBA until I got to Vegas," he said. "At Vegas, I started playing against guys who wound up in the NBA and I was putting up the same kind of numbers they were. That's when I started thinking I could do just as well as them."

By the end of his career at UNLV, the explosive, athletic Nesby was regarded as an NBA prospect. He wasn't taken in the draft but was eventually signed by the Clippers as a free agent after playing for a while in the Continental Basketball Association.

Nesby did not make an immediate impact with the Clippers, playing sparingly off the bench. But he still caught the attention of the Los Angeles coaching staff.

"I was playing maybe 10 minutes a game, but at the same time, I kept playing hard," he said. "That's what the coaches always told me, even though I was only playing 10 minutes a game, I acted like I was playing 30."

And it wasn't long before Nesby begin playing 30 minutes -- or more -- every night. He broke into the starting lineup and never left.

Nesby wound up starting 36 games and averaging nearly 12 points per game as a regular. He hit 13 of 17 shots from the field and scored a career-high 30 points during a game against Seattle.

"I enjoyed my first year in the NBA,' he said. "The team didn't do well (the Clippers had the NBA's worst record) but I look for us to be a lot better next year."

Of living amid the bright lights of Los Angeles, Nesby said it was tolerable -- but that's not really him.

"LA was okay, but I'm more of a country guy," he said. "I had a house built outside Vegas and that's where I live (in the offseason)."

Nesby said he doesn't get back to Cairo all that often although he certainly will never forget his roots.

"I'm proud of where I come from," he said. "When I was being introduced (prior to Clippers' games), the announcer would say I'm from Las Vegas. I told them to announce me being from Cairo, Ill. That's what I want."