LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- You don’t need a degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to understand how strongly the numbers frown at your chances of making the National Basketball Association.
According to the league, 353 players (296 college underclassmen and 57 international guys) made themselves eligible for the 2021 NBA Draft.
It is a two-round draft. Only 60 names are called.
Even if you have considerable skills and are a big man on campus, your chances of having something to celebrate on draft night are less than 17%.
Peyton Siva has considerable basketball skills. He was a big man on the University of Louisville campus. As a dynamic 6-foot tall point guard, Siva was good enough to be selected with the 26th pick in the second round of the 2013 Draft by the Detroit Pistons. But after two seasons of grinding around the NBA fringe with the Pistons, Orlando Magic and G-League, Siva understood there was a better way — and a better life.
He’s become a mainstay for ALBA Berlin, one of the top teams in the German Bundesliga. As anybody who watched Siva play at Louisville understands, where Siva goes, winning follows.
Back to Back https://t.co/M8q1MxeSJW
— Peyton Siva Jr (@PeypeySiva3) June 13, 2021
On Sunday, ALBA won its second consecutive Bundesliga title, racing through three best-of-five series by winning nine of 11 games. Although Siva was sidelined with a calf injury and missed the final series, he was critical to the team’s regular season and early playoffs success, doing the things that Siva does: filling in the gaps.
He’s never been one of those point guards who tried to dominate the basketball. He averaged more than 10 points, 4.8 assists and one steal, while making a third of his three-point attempts and nearly 90% of his free throws. Siva was named EuroLeague MVP during Week 23.
“That’s just kind of in my personality,” Siva said in a telephone interview after he returned to the U.S. from Germany earlier this week. “I don’t really want to be that selfish guy that just goes and gets numbers and numbers and numbers. Because if you lose, it doesn't really matter. You feel worse. I feel if I go out there and get 30 and we lose, I would feel more of a knot in my stomach than if I had 10 points and we won.”
Some guys never figure that out. Siva figured it out before he arrived at U of L in 2009 as one of Rick Pitino’s signature recruits.
“I developed it along the way,” Siva said. “When I was younger, in middle school, I always wanted to score, score, score.
“Once I got to high school, I understood the team aspect and really bonding with guys. Having a coach who put the value of team first helped me develop that mindset.”
Siva also learned to control his ego while navigating is professional career. Instead chasing 10-day contracts and backup minutes in the NBA, he introduced himself to European basketball in Italy during the 2016 season.
For the last five seasons, Siva played in Berlin, for ALBA, which competes in the Bundesliga as well as against teams across Europe in the Euro League. According to several published reports, he earned more than $500,000 in several seasons. Siva became a free agent at the end of the 2021 season.
Although he could make a final run at the NBA, odds are he will sign another contract with a European team, likely within the next month. Siva said he would like to play four or five more seasons and then transition to a coaching career.
“You always want to play at the top level in the NBA, but I’m pretty happy where I’m at, especially with the things I’ve dealt with injury-wise,” Siva said. “For the most part, I’m still playing at a high level, still playing in the Euro League. I’m still playing with the best players in Europe, and the Euro League is the best league outside of the NBA.
“If the opportunity presented itself, yeah it would be cool (to play in the NBA). But it’s not something that I’m totally focused on. I’m not going to give up more to try to go to G-League on something.
“This has been more secure especially for me and my family. A good living. The NBA dream is always great, but the pay of the G-league and everything, it’s not worth it in the end.”
Beyond that, Siva said he enjoyed traveling across Europe, exploring Berlin and playing on a team with players from Sweden, Chad, Croatia and Italy as well as from the U.S. and Germany.
“Berlin is very nice,” he said. “It’s a melting pot, a lot of different cultures live there.”
It’s even nicer when the team wins. Siva said Germany trailed the U.S. while easing restrictions created by COVID-19. ALBA Berlin played the entire regular season in empty arenas. Only 1,000 fans were allowed inside the team’s sparkling 14,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Arena during the playoffs.
Siva said after ALBA defeated Bayern Munich for the German title, about 500 fans waited in Berlin to celebrate with team after it returned home.
“I’ve been lucky and blessed to be able to win at pretty much every level,” Siva said. “I don’t take it for granted.
“I’m very fortunate, because there are people who go their whole career without winning a championship.”
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