| 13 April 2010
Josh Powell ended up at the Lakers after a trade with the Golden State Warriors opened up the slot previously occupied on the roster by Ronny Turiaf.
Prior to that, he'd spent time at the Warriors, the Indiana Pacers, and the Dallas Mavericks. He also spent a season with the Fort Worth Flyers in the D-League, and a slew of European teams.
Perhaps the most famous "Josh Powell" story out there is how Patrick Ewing once told him that he'd never make an NBA player. Poignant to note that Josh now has more championships to his name than Ewing, regardless of role.
Josh Powell's the resident "music guy" within the Laker's locker room, and even has his own section at the Lakers' official site - called "J-Peezy's Playlist",
"where Lakers Forward Josh Powell will stop by regularly to talk music with Lakers Reporter Mike Trudell and other special guests."
Powell's a music fanatic, and purportedly has in excess of 20,000 songs on his iPod collection.
But the thing I like most about Powell is his attitude. There's completely no fuss, the guy's come to the NBA the hard way, and he is completely grateful for where he is. He understands where he stands at the Lakers - behind Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum there aren't a helluva lot of minutes for a guy playing the 4 slot. But he gets it:
"It's very tough because I think that any guy that is a true competitor, you want to be able to show what you've been working hard for during the summer and during the year. You want to be able to contribute to the team. But you gotta be positive about it. You gotta understand your role, understand your situation and make the most out of it."
Every team needs guys like Josh Powell, but not every team actually has players like Josh Powell.
And he's in the NBA, with a championship ring to boot.
Smoke that Patrick Ewing.
