O’Bannon tries to catch on with the Bandits

Victoria Sun

Thursday, Oct. 26, 2000 | 10:22 a.m.

Far removed from Pauley Pavilion, where UCLA basketball fans congregate and pay homage to their beloved men's basketball team, and light years away from plush NBA arenas full of luxury boxes, Hollywood types and $5 pretzels, Ed O'Bannon seems content with where he is.

It is Wednesday morning and the former Bruin star is at Warren Walker Middle School playing against guys from Cal State Bakersfield and St. Mary's. His objective, just like the other nine players invited for the Las Vegas Bandits' two-day workout that concludes tonight, is to impress coach Lionel Hollins and his staff.

For a middle school gym, the facilities are first rate, but far from what O'Bannon had grown accustomed to in Westwood and two years in the NBA.

"It's different," O'Bannon said. "It's something -- I never thought I'd be in this position, but I am.

"You have to make the most of it. I'm not the type of person to dwell on what's wrong. My family is doing well. My kids are in school. So I'm just enjoying myself. Basketball is basketball."

Still, it's hard to believe how quickly O'Bannon has gone from being the ninth pick overall in the 1995 NBA draft to another good player trying to work his way back to the league.

Here's how O'Bannon got lost in the shuffle:

At UCLA, the 6-foot-8, 222-pound forward missed all of the 1990-91 season with a knee injury, then started for the Bruins his final three seasons. In three years he averaged 15.5 points and seven rebounds.

During his four years as a Bruin, UCLA advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in 1992 and won the title behind O'Bannon's 30 points and 17 rebounds against Arkansas in 1995. O'Bannon was named the Final Four's most outstanding player and as a senior he won the national John R. Wooden Award.

"Winning the title, it seems like it hasn't been that long ago," O'Bannon said. "Time is flying by."

O'Bannon played his second and last year in the NBA in 1996-97, when he split time between the New Jersey Nets -- the team that drafted him -- and the Dallas Mavericks.

Under then Nets coach Butch Beard, he was never able to live up to the weighty expectations that preceded him.

In 128 games O'Bannon averaged five points and 2.5 rebounds while shooting 75 percent from the free throw line. In a move that caught him off guard, the Mavericks traded him to the Orlando Magic.

"I got caught up in I guess what they call a numbers game," O'Bannon said. "From what I understand, I was traded because my contract fit the trade and they had no need for me.

"I was really there to fill the numbers."

That wasn't the worst of it.

Before the 1997-98 season started, the Magic waived O'Bannon, and for the first time ever, he faced life without basketball.

"When I first got cut, I was extremely bitter," O'Bannon said. "I was mad at the world.

"I was mad at the NBA, the team I was on, the coaches. But then there's no way you can get better as a basketball player and a person if you're mad at everybody else.

"It was very tough because it was the first time I had gotten cut from a basketball team at any level. So it was pretty hard to take, but life goes on."

With the support of his wife, Rosa, O'Bannon packed his bags and headed to Europe to continue his basketball career. He's played in Italy, Spain and Greece, and spent last year playing in Argentina.

As fate would have it, O'Bannon was re-signed by the Magic on Sept. 22 and attended its training camp. The bad news was the team was loaded with forwards, including Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady, so O'Bannon was released on Oct. 14.

That's when his agent suggested he try out for the Bandits.

"Up until probably when I got cut by the Magic, basketball was everything to me," O'Bannon said. "The first time I got cut, I didn't have basketball at that time.

"I didn't have anywhere to go. It wasn't like I got cut from one team and went to another team. I went home and I was literally unemployed. I had to rely on my family to be happy.

"What I want you to understand is, it's not life or death. I'm here so hopefully, I can get back to the NBA, but my life is secure. I'm happy."