<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'> What if?</p> As he bounced around the alphabet soup of basketball minor leagues, toiling away in such outposts as Gary, Ind., Albany, N.Y., Rome, Ga., and Huntsville, Ala., the question was never far from Jamario Moon's mind.</p> What if he got his shot? What if some team took a flier on 27-year-old athletic freak? What if a kid from small-town Alabama, a kid who frittered away honourable mention all-American high school talent because he chased a dream he wasn't ready for, finally had a chance?</p> "All I do every day is thank God – every day – for finally giving me the opportunity to show people what I can do," Moon said. "That's all I do, every day."</p> No one knows much about Moon, a native of Goodwater, Ala. ("maybe 2,000 to 2,500 people ... one traffic light," he says), except that he'll be in training camp later this month with a non-guaranteed deal. He's been floating around the minors for six seasons and caught the eye of Raptor brass at a July free agent camp. It resulted in him getting an invitation to a NBA training camp for the first – and perhaps last – time.</p> "I've been to summer leagues and mini-camps, individual workouts, a ton of them," he said. "Luckily, Toronto saw something good in me. And I'm getting a chance."</p> Raptor coach Sam Mitchell knows a thing or two about guys like Moon. Mitchell carved out his 13-year NBA career the hard way, small college, minor leagues, a chance he made the most of, and there's a kinship between the two.</p> "The kid has unbelievable talent," said Mitchell. "He's just not used to working at the level you need to work at to be an NBA player.</p> "I want the kid to be successful, he's kind of gone down the same road I went down. But, I told him, `If you don't work, I'm going to cut your ass quick.'</div></p> Source: The Toronto Star</p>
