The 30-Year Journey: Justin Dentmon's Tireless Effort to Make His NBA Mark
From Carbondale, Illinois, to Qingdao, China—with stops in Texas, Venezuela, Toronto, Puerto Rico, Lithuania, Italy and Israel—Justin Dentmon's pursuit of the NBA dream has taken him to gyms all over the globe.
In every one of them, he's been auditioning—trying to show whoever's watching that the whirlwind tour should conclude with a long stay on an NBA roster.
Dentmon will be 30 years old in September and has played eight regular-season NBA games in his life. By now, other players his age have either made the leap or given up entirely.
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How, given the instability and constant pressure to prove himself, could any of this be fun anymore?
"Proving people wrong is always fun," Dentmon told Bleacher Report. "You prove somebody wrong, you see the disappointment on their face like, 'Man, I was wrong,'...I think that's the most fun thing I can think of during this process. I've been proving people wrong my entire life, and I don't plan on stopping until I get the respect I feel like I deserve."
Dentmon is back on the NBA radar after a brilliant effort in the Las Vegas Summer League, and his best chance to prove doubters wrong is right now.
Summer Breakout
According to Synergy Sports, Dentmon was one of the most efficient scorers in Las Vegas.
Playing for the NBA D-League Select team, he averaged 17 points per game on 56.5 percent shooting from the field and 54.5 percent from long range. Everyone but Dentmon, who has bigger goals, was impressed with the performance.
"Summer league wasn't a high point or a big moment, really," the 6'0" guard said. "It just shows that I'm working."
Working toward the same goal he's been chasing since going undrafted out of the University of Washington in 2009: a chance to stick with an NBA team.
"Right now there's a lot of buzz going around," Dentmon said. "My days now are just about patiently waiting on the next move. Hoping my agent will push for me hard after this summer league. Hopefully I turned a few heads, or enough to get an invite or a chance to make a team."
What's next is unclear, but if Dentmon's breakout gets him a camp invite, it'll bring him one step closer to realizing a dream.
The Close Calls
Dentmon was the MVP of the D-League in the 2011-12 season, a performance that earned him a pair of in-season call-ups. And one of them looked like a big break...until it didn't.
"The biggest disappointment was in Toronto because I thought I had a really good chance of making that team, and they let me go—saying that they weren't looking for a guy like me, for a scoring guard, at that time. And then the following year, they signed Kyle Lowry, so that kind of messed with my head a little bit. I was wondering what I did wrong because I went into that situation being myself."
This is a core principle for Dentmon: a commitment to playing his game. During previous unsuccessful stints in NBA camps, he failed to land a job because he played like someone he thought teams wanted—not the player he'd been all his life.
| Season | Team | Games | PPG | APG | 3P% |
| 2009-10 | Hapoel Afula (Israel) | 22 | 19.8 | 2.8 | 36.0 |
| 2010-11 | Texas Legends (D-League) | 50 | 19.1 | 4.0 | 42.9 |
| 2011-12 | Milano (Italy) | 3 | 4.3 | 1.3 | 20.0 |
| 2011-12 | Austin Toros (D-League) | 40 | 22.9 | 5.5 | 42.9 |
| 2011-12 | San Antonio Spurs | 2 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| 2011-12 | Toronto Raptors | 4 | 5.5 | 2.3 | 20.0 |
| 2012-13 | Austin Toros/Texas Legends (D-League) | 42 | 22.9 | 3.8 | 36.2 |
| 2012-13 | Capitanes de Arecibo (Puerto Rico) | 16 | 14.8 | 4.7 | 37.4 |
| 2012-13 | Dallas Mavericks | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2013-14 | Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania) | 24 | 16.9 | 4.1 | 44.3 |
| 2014-15 | Qingdao DoubleStar (China) | 44 | 30.4 | 5.0 | 44.3 |
| 2014-15 | Texas Legends (D-League) | 13 | 16.3 | 6.3 | 43.9 |
Dentmon is a scorer—one who has shot 40.4 percent on 836 career long-range attempts in the D-League. But at just 6'0", Dentmon must constantly fight against demands that he distribute more.
"I remember when I was with the Hornets [in the 2011-12 preseason], I went in there trying to be something I wasn't. I was doing things they wanted me to do instead of being myself, and they didn't keep me. So I wanted to go to Toronto and be myself. My thought was, if you fail being yourself, you have no one else to blame. You go out on your terms that way, at least."
Dentmon played four games with the Raptors, averaging 5.5 points in 18.0 minutes before being waived. It was a painful blow—one that stung all the more because an earlier two-game call-up with the San Antonio Spurs had boosted his confidence.
"[Gregg Popovich] and his staff told me no doubt that I'm an NBA player, and that it was just all about the right fit, the right time."
Players like Dentmon often fall victim to a numbers game, losing out to players with guaranteed contracts or more perceived upside. Actual basketball skill isn't always the deciding factor.
The story was the same with the Dallas Mavericks in the 2012-13 season. Dentmon played just two games before he was sent back down to the D-League.
The Changing Times
Despite the disappointment, Dentmon's confidence remains unshakeable.
"To be honest, I never thought about walking away. I always think I have a good chance."
Dentmon believes every stop on his journey improves him, gives him the opportunity to silence doubters who say he's just an undersized shooting guard.
"I think there's a misconception about me that I'm a small combo guard. I'm a point guard that has the ability to score the ball. I'm not a 2-guard that can play the 1."
Case in point: Dentmon's 2011-12 MVP season, in which he complemented his 22.9 points per game with 5.5 assists.
Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving and reigning MVP Stephen Curry are all score-first assassins who also happen to occupy the point guard spot. The NBA is increasingly dominated by players like Dentmon, and that hasn't been lost on him.
"Yeah, I was looking at that the whole entire time. But there's always an excuse. I'm too small. Well, now you've got Isaiah Thomas, Pierre Jackson...those guys are in the league."
Dentmon's defiance pokes through when he says this.
At his very core, he knows he belongs. And it's hard to question his frustration—especially at a time when primary ball-handlers who can shoot and score are dominating the NBA game.
Why keep fighting? Why not go overseas for good? Why keep chasing the NBA dream?
Paying It Back
Because to Dentmon, sticking in the NBA is more than a dream. It's a way to validate the sacrifices his family made to help him reach this point.
"What drives me is the fact that my mom was a single parent, and how strong she was. I always felt like, if she can be strong for us, I can at least be strong for myself...and not give up."
Dentmon's mother was 13 when he was born. His introduction to his father, Marcus Robinson, happened when Dentmon was a teenager. Robinson was in jail the first time the two met.
"My mom sacrificed a lot of things, whether it was paying for road trips for AAU or getting me through college. You have aunties who help pay for prep school or even food. Friends sacrifice a lot of things, too. Taking time off work to come over to Europe to spend time with you just so you're not lonely."
Dentmon believes he owes it to these people to make the NBA, and he wants to make good on his debt.
"It pushes me to keep trying. If I didn't have all those people who sacrificed a lot of things, maybe I wouldn't be motivated by the fear of seeing the disappointment on their faces if I didn't get done what I want to get done. It might be a lot different. I'd probably just go over to Europe and just forget about [making the NBA]."
Doors are Open
With three stints in the NBA, a dominant D-League career and a handful of successful trips overseas, Dentmon has had an objectively good basketball career.
"People around me say that I've made it. My standard is different. I don't think I've made it. I guess I've made some money in my lifetime, but I don't think I've made it yet. So when I get a year's contract in the NBA, I'll feel like I've made it."
A training camp invite seems likely this summer, which would give Dentmon a shot to earn a guaranteed contract. And if nothing materializes this time around, don't expect him to give up.
"I really don't know when, but whenever the door is closed on the NBA, that's when I'll stop. I still don't think the door is closed. I still see the door open for me. I just got to find a way in and close it behind me."
All quotes obtained firsthand.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @gt_hughes.
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