New Orleans Pelicans: Interview with camp signee Shawn Dawson

Get to know the New Orleans Pelicans’ newest addition: Israeli basketball star and Washington Wizards’ Summer Leaguer, G/F Shawn Dawson.

There’s a lot you don’t know about athletic wing Shawn Dawson. In fact, you might only know that he signed a non-guaranteed deal to come to training camp with the New Orleans Pelicans. Perhaps, if you’re a little more addicted to the NBA, you’d know that he had a very nice Las Vegas Summer League as a part of the Washing Wizards’ affiliate.

Yet there is, of course, more to his story than that. Dawson, together with agent Daniel Hazan of Hazan Sports Management, sees himself as a trailblazer for players of Israeli-American descent, in a league where such players are few and far between. Pairing that rich heritage with a Jewish faith that also puts him in the minority of NBA players, Dawson sees the close-knit community in New Orleans as a perfect landing place for his career in the United States.

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After connecting in large part due to a shared ethnic and religious background, Hazan and his team have led Dawson through what has become a busy summer, after Dawson went un-drafted last June. Instead of panicking or calling it quits, Dawson went out and won an Israeli League championship with Maccabi Rishon LeZion. Dawson played a large part in their victory over powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv, averaging 15 points and 6 rebounds during the regular season.

That led to a summer spent with the Washington Wizards, a standout performance in Vegas and interest from teams across the league. Pelican Debrief discussed all of that and more in an interesting and humbling interview.

Pelican Debrief (PD): Reading a little about you online, hearing about your story coming into the Las Vegas Summer League, I got the impression that your father played a big part in your passion for the game of basketball and playing professionally. Tell us about his impact on basketball becoming such a big part of your life.

Shawn Dawson (SD): My dad grew up in Alabama and came to play basketball in Israel, and there he met my mom, who’s Israeli. And ever since I was born, I’ve always been around basketball; basketball has always been a big part [of life] for me. It was always my first love. My dad was a really good mentor for me; me and him always talk basketball at the end of the day. We talk after good games, after bad games, we watch games together all the time, so every day he helped me a lot.

PD: You had a lot of success playing in the Israeli League, from All-Star appearances to championships, but I was wondering if there were any specific moments or memories from your time over there that may have guided you in some way through your journey to the United States.

SD: It’s hard to name one. There were a lot of people that helped me in my journey, and it’s been a long one too. I think everyone is happy for me, and I’m also happy that now I’ve got a chance to improve.

PD: Playing basketball in Israel, I’m sure you were around a lot of people with experience playing ball in the States. Did you grow up as an NBA fan, or did you grow up more as a fan of what was going on around you?

SD: No, the NBA was always my favorite. I almost never watched European games, only the top games, like the Final Four of the Euro League. Every time they would show [NBA] games, I would record them and watch them as soon as I woke up. Every year I have been following the whole season.

PD: Who were some of the guys that you looked up to growing up? And if there are any of those guys still in the league, which of them would you be most excited to go up against if you make the Pelicans’ final roster?

SD: The guy I was looking at the most when I was growing up was Allen Iverson. He will always be my favorite player of all time. As far as today’s game, there’s a lot of players I look up to: all the big stars like LeBron, KD, Steph Curry- all of them are sources of inspiration to me. Playing against them and playing with them will be a great honor for me. I want to play, and I want to play at that level.

PD: Moving forward a little bit, how was your experience overall coming to Las Vegas and participating in the Summer League with the Washington Wizards?

SD: That was fun. Going through the whole thing, going to Washington, seeing the whole facility for the first time, meeting NBA players in Vegas on and off the court. It was a good experience because I always use to watch it on TV, and now finally I was standing there. I was really excited by this whole experience.

PD: I’m sure there are a lot of people who would want to understand the process; you play in Vegas, go through workouts with Washington, but what was the transition like? What kinds of calls and attention were you getting that eventually led to this new deal to come to camp with the Pelicans?