Making it to the National Basketball Association is a dream that only a select group of men get to fulfill over the course of their lives. With an impressive senior campaign behind him, Tyler Nelson ‘18 recently got to show a few professional teams why he deserves a shot in the NBA.

On June 4, Nelson worked out with the Los Angeles Lakers at the University of California, Los Angeles Health Training Center in El Segundo, Calif. alongside five other draft hopefuls. The 6’3’’ guard completed individual drills before winning the one-on-one and team two-on-two drills.

Nelson told reporters, “I think my work shows for itself. I think I’ve earned this opportunity to come in here and just compete. Obviously, coming from a small school people are going to have doubts, but I’m just trying to prove people wrong.”

Five days later, the Stags all-time leading scorer headed back to the east coast to show off his skills in front of the Boston Celtics. Growing up in Massachusetts, Nelson tweeted that it was a dream come true to workout for his hometown team and thanked the Celtics organization for having him participate. Nelson’s third and final workout of the seven-day stretch was with the Charlotte Hornets, stationed in Charlotte, North Carolina. He told reporters afterwards that he thought his workout went well and that his father has been a real help for him mentally during this entire process.

“He said to do what I do well, which is shoot the ball. Show my basketball I.Q. and make the right play over and over again. So that’s what I’m trying to do when I’m out here” said Nelson.

Nelson’s accomplishments at Fairfield were quite impressive and should show teams how well rounded of a player he is. He scored the most points in a season at Fairfield (732) and converted the most three-point field goals (315). Nelson also became the first Stag to make over 100 three-pointers in a season (104) and led the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) with 22.2 points per game this past year.

Keep an eye out for the sharpshooter’s next workout as Nelson noted he should end up with a total of six after all is said and done.

 

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