Powell looking to give back to Raps
Wingman plans to share with his teammates as opponents clog the lanes to the basket
VICTORIA— Norm Powell grew as a person over the summer, gaining valuable insight into the larger world that gave him an appreciation for who he is, what he has and how he lives.
Now it’s time for him to grow as a basketball player to continue a maturation process that could have much to do with how successful the season is for the Toronto Raptors.
A trip to Israel with Basketball Without Borders broadened Powell’s view of the world — “It was a very humbling experience,” he said — and infused him with a sense of responsibility to maintain a short career arc that has put him in a position of significance with Toronto despite going into just his third NBA season.
“Coming from my upbringing, go- ing to Israel? I never thought I’d be there,” the 24-year-old native of San Diego said. “Kids are telling me my stats. I’m not one of the top 10, 20 players in the league and they know me. It was amazing to see how much they love basketball, love the NBA.
“(It) was very different for me. Being a role model, you never know who you’re affecting. I’m all the way in the United States and kids are looking up to me in Israel.” That newfound fame — or newly realized fame — will manifest itself differently in the coming season.
Powell was something of a revelation in his first two seasons, a powerful young wing hell-bent on getting to the rim no matter what and one who caught opponents by surprise —first during a breakthrough run in the 2016 playoffs against Indiana and then last spring in the post-season against Milwaukee.
But now, whether he starts or comes off the bench, he’s going to play and play a lot and teams are going to be better prepared. If kids in Israel know his stats and who he is, imagine how much time assistant coaches have spent breaking down his game.
“I think he just has to get more comfortable with being an aggressive guy but making plays for everyone else,” Raptors guard Kyle Lowry said of Powell. “It’s a good blend that he has to figure out. I think he’s going to continue to learn that with the more minutes and the more repetitions on the floor and the more game time he gets.”
Powell knows full well that he’s not going to be able to get by on his old tactics this season. He has been a bit too resolute at driving the ball at times in his first two years and needs to become more of a facilitator when teams find a way to corral him. He says he’s been working on that aspect of his game since the end of last season.
“I think they’re going to be really loaded up on me,” he said after the Raptors worked out at the University of Victoria. “They know that I’m an aggressive attacker, looking to get to the rim, draw fouls and get to the free throw lines. So I think they’re going to start to clog up and take away those driving lanes. That’s what I’ve been doing, is being able to be a playmaker and make decisions and make reads and keep them off balance, finding open teammates, finding the open pass, the next play. It’s about making the easy and right play for my teammates, not just for myself.”
Through it all, Powell will be buoyed by a new appreciation for the scope of his popularity, and that what he does is being watched worldwide.
“When I was going into Israel I didn’t know what it was going to be like,” he said. “You hear so many different things about it but it was amazing. It was honestly life changing and eye opening, not only from what the NBA was doing there but just to see a different side of life, a different struggle. To listen to their stories and just to see how much they embrace basketball and how much it can change their lives.”