SALT LAKE CITY — The shot had gone down, cream smooth and sugar sweet. Sundiata Gaines was on his back looking up, first being mobbed by Jazz teammates, then leaping onto the scorer’s table, arms extended. Ronnie Price was gabbling to anyone who would listen, “Now you know his name!”
LeBron James, still in his first incarnation with the Cleveland Cavaliers, wasn’t sure.
“Who was that guy?” he asked Carlos Boozer.
Almost seven years later, the dreamer is back.
Now 30, Gaines remains a beacon to long shots everywhere. He was signed by the Salt Lake Stars of the NBA’s Development League on Monday, playing 30 minutes and scoring 11 points against the Oklahoma City Blue.
“One thing I can say is I’m never afraid of the moment,” Gaines says after a Stars practice at Salt Lake Community College on Tuesday. “You won’t ever see me shying away when things get tough.”
Just as he was that electrifying night in January 2010, when he took down the Cavs on an ESPN-televised game, Gaines is again an outlier, yet a testament to perseverance. Though James didn’t know Gaines in the original encounter, he began nodding and speaking to him thereafter. Funny how that works.
It’s hard to forget a man with a dagger.
But while James went on to become arguably the most complete player in history, Gaines must still adapt. That first year in the NBA he went on to play in 37 games, none as a starter. The next year he played in a combined 24 games in Minnesota, Toronto and New Jersey. In 2011-12 he appeared in 57 games for the Nets.
Since then he has played in China, Italy and Israel.
There has never been a reserve Utah player who gained more acclaim in so little time. Undrafted out of college, Gaines was in the middle of two 10-day contracts with the Jazz in 2010, after being rescued from the Idaho Stampede of the D-League. He was playing in just his fifth NBA game.
In town that night was the best team in the Eastern Conference, having won 10 of its previous 12. The show had belonged to James, en route to a 36-point night.
Gaines played in the fourth quarter but was benched with 2:12 remaining. Then, with six seconds left, Jerry Sloan sent him back in. Kyle Korver couldn’t get off a shot and passed to Price, who twisted and spun to no avail. The play had broken down. In a desperation move, Price hurriedly fed to Gaines on the right elbow, outside the arc.
Teammates mobbed him in childlike exuberance after the winning 3-point basket. Streamers spiraled from the rafters as Gaines let the moment wash over him.
“I won’t say I have dreams about it,” he says, “but whenever someone mentions it, I have flashbacks.”
Now he’s coming off an All-Star season in Italy. But when the Stars called, he didn’t hesitate. In his 2016 Salt Lake debut he made just three of 13 shots, but all were 3-pointers.
He says fans everywhere — not just in Utah — tell him his shot against Cleveland is their favorite NBA memory. Why he would pass up better money in a foreign league to play in the NBA’s junior circuit is easily explained.
“Yatta” thinks he can still play.
“I feel like I’m playing the best basketball of my career,” he says.
Logically, his chances of seeing significant NBA minutes are slim. Utah has Raul Neto, Dante Exum, Shelvin Mack and George Hill to play the point. Gaines hasn’t been on an NBA team since 2011-12. But Hill is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game against Denver.
Nobody understands the odds better than Gaines. Is there another page to write? Moments before sitting down to be interviewed, he swishes a shot from almost the same spot he did on that epic night.
“Anything is possible," Gaines says.
The legend of Yatta lives on.
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