In 2011, Pat Connaughton was ranked by one scouting service as the 33rd-best prospect in the Major League Baseball draft, but teams passed on him when it became clear that he was going to attend Notre Dame and play baseball and basketball.
Connaughton shined in his college basketball career as a shooter and scorer, and although the Baltimore Orioles drafted him in 2014, enamored by his 96 mph-fastball, he stuck it out one last year playing basketball.
Connaughton was drafted 31st overall by Brooklyn in the 2015 NBA draft and was traded immediately to Portland. Despite some innings worked in Class A baseball, he appears to have chosen basketball as his go-to sport for now, eschewing the sort of double-dipping that made Bo Jackson a legend a quarter-century ago.
Portland wants to keep things going in this direction. General Manager Neil Olshey confirmed in a conversation with NBA.com's Iam Thomsen that the Blazers aren't keen with Connaughton trying to have it both ways.
"That's not happening," Olshey said. "The conversation we had with Pat prior to all of this was you're an NBA player now. Being an NBA player is not a part-time job."
NBA teams are worth more than ever, and their players are worth more than ever. Despite all of the misgivings about certain teams lacking in the scouting or statistical side of things, franchises are still pouring ungodly amounts of time and resources into player development and analysis.
As a result, basketball never stops. Even for a guy with a 96-mph fastball.
A roll of the dice
Buddy Baker, the folksy storyteller of NASCAR broadcasts, was known as the Gentle Giant. But during his racing career he was famed for his daring, notably in his only win in the Daytona 500.
Baker, who died Monday at 74, won four times at both Talladega and Charlotte. But the big one, Daytona, eluded the 6-foot-6 Baker for years.
He had tried 17 times, including three attempts from the pole position, and had only a second, a third and a fifth place to show for it. In 1980, he was again on the pole. At 39, he said he planned to keep trying "until I'm so old it hurts to climb in and out of the race car."
It was a risky decision that won him the race. On his final pit stop he elected to take on one tank of gas instead of two in a bid to save a few seconds. The risk, of course, was that one would not be enough to get his car to the finish line.
The gamble paid off, and Baker made it. But when his crew rushed to congratulate him, they brought along the unused gas can, knowing he might need it to get to Victory Lane.
Practice time
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and girlfriend, pop star Ciara, joined singer Taylor Swift on stage in Seattle on Saturday night.
Wrote Reggie Hayes of The News-Sentinel of Fort Wayne, Ind.: "Wilson is so confident the Seahawks will return to the Super Bowl, he's already working on the halftime show."
Sports quiz
Jack Nicklaus has the lowest career scoring average among golfers with at least 75 rounds played in the PGA Championship. Who is second on that list?
Sports answer
Greg Norman
Sports on 08/12/2015