Moore's hoop journey on `million-dollar leg' comes to Vancouver
Taze Moore doesn't jump. He explodes. He's a conflagration of ammonium perchlorate and aluminum — you know, rocket fuel — in Nikes. He doesn't so much as jump, but launch unfettered skyward with his 48-inch vertical.
He won the 2022 NCAA dunk competition, including a nod to Air Canada himself, and a search of his name on YouTube will bring up dunk after slam after hammer time.
When the six-foot-five guard elevated for a dunk against Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Feb. 11, 2017, the Cal State Bakersfield freshman felt/heard something “pop” in his right knee. He didn't know he'd snapped his fibula and tibia, but he knew something was wrong. He was high enough, he had time to think about what not to do.
“I just remember landing — I couldn't land on my feet, so I landed on like my side,” he said. “I fell hard as s--t, and then when I tried to get up, I realized my leg wouldn't move. And then I just freaked out from there.”
A stress fracture he'd unknowingly been playing on for 16 months had finally fractured. And that could have been it for Moore. Career over. No more jumping, let alone basketball.
But he began his well-chronicled journey back. Five surgeries. A bone-marrow transplant from his hip to knee to replace the “dead” tissue and allow it to heal. So many screws, plates and rods were inserted into his leg, he's definitely not the guy to stand behind in airport security.
Before he went under for his fifth surgery, he pleaded with his coach — if it didn't work, just let him get his degree. He'd promised his recently passed grandmother he would. It was 634 days between games before he was back on the court running on what he now calls his “million-dollar leg.”
And in January, after two years in the G-League, he finally made his NBA debut, with the Portland Trail Blazers.
In their final game of the season against the play-in tournament bound Sacramento Kings, he scored 12 points, including two thrown down with venom over 6-11 centre JaVale McGee.
“I needed that. Gave me the confidence to know I could be there,” said the Mississippi native.
“And I got to dunk over JaVale McGee. ... It made everything a little bit more fun. He walked up to me afterwards, like, `You know you didn't dunk on me, right? I moved out the way right.' I'm like, `Yeah, well, jump next time.'”
Those hops will make a hop, skip and a jump from Portland to Langley for the summer, as the Vancouver Bandits announced on Wednesday that they'd signed him for the 2024 season.
There have been some Bandits with athleticism in their previous five years, but Moore's elevator goes to the penthouse, and everyone else gets dropped on the mezzanine in comparison.
“We've been blessed with some high fliers, but he's special,” said Bandits coach Kyle Julius.
“I don't think there is a comparable player that we've had athletically. I think our first year in the bubble, we had a guy named Marcus Capers — 6-4, long, and really, really bouncy — Marcus is one of my favourite players ever. And Taze has that type of athleticism, times two.
“I know he's going to be a fan favourite. In all of my basketball, he's literally the most athletic player that I've ever seen. So I can't wait to get in the gym with him.”
Julius had known of Moore since his college days, when he transferred from CSB to the University of Houston to play for Kelvin Sampson, who some may remember was an assistant coach in the Canadian national team program.
It wasn't the buckets Julius coveted, but his defensive ability. He's rangy, hard to get past and disrupts passing lanes.
“I remember watching Taze; they rated him that year as the most athletic player in the entire NCAA. So I remember who he was,” said Julius, who'd reached out a few months ago to Moore's agent to inquire about him.
“With what we're trying to build here, with what's important to us culturally, style of play ... he literally embodies that. So I jumped on the opportunity to get to know Taze. Love talking to him, love the way he plays. This guy is tough.”
And the feeling is reciprocated. “Coach Kyle, great coach. I love him. I already love him and I haven't even met him (in person) yet,” Moore said from Dallas, where he's recharging before coming north to play.
“He's just an energetic guy. I'm an energetic person. I feel like he's one of those guys that stays on his players. Because me being me, I'm a passionate dude. It's hard for me to be around people that are not as passionate as me.”