When Brian Taylor walked into Bucks Media Day, the Bucks didn't even have a uniform for him.

While his new teammates posed for pictures in their home whites, Taylor stood to the side, dressed in street clothes, hair in tight cornrows, anonymous among the television cameras, reporters and Bucks employees going about their work on the Bucks practice court.

He stood quietly, minding his business while veteran players and coaches told their stories to the media. Little did the media - some players for that matter - know that the man with perhaps the best story to tell was standing alone, having just made the infinite journey from obscurity...in about three hours.

Brian Taylor was at his Michigan City, Ind., home at 11:00 that morning when the phone rang; it was a call that he was not waiting by the phone for, but one he had dreamed about.

Bucks Assistant General Manager Larry Harris was on the line, inviting Taylor to his first NBA training camp, an invitation that required him to be in Milwaukee by 2 p.m. Wasting no time, Taylor got in his car and headed to Milwaukee. Upon his arrival, the specifics of his non-guaranteed contract were ironed out. By the time media day festivities began at 3 p.m., his dreams were answered. The 6-foot point guard was on the Bucks training camp roster as maybe the league's biggest longshot.

Taylor's journey to Milwaukee began this summer when he traveled with the And1 Mix Tape tour, the shoe company's coast-to-coast celebration of street basketball. One of the biggest draws on that tour is the Bucks Rafer Alston, the New York City playground legend known as "Skip to My Lou."

"I met him in Chicago during the Mix Tape Tour," Alston explained. "Brian was on the opposing team. He came out, and everyone is yelling 'Kool-Aid!' Those of us from New York, we all wanted to know who Kool-Aid was. I did my tricks on him, he did a few on me, and we've been good friends since."

Kool-Aid, so nicknamed as a youth because of his "big, ol' Kool-Aid smile," was invited by Alston to bring his game to Milwaukee for Sam Cassell's celebrity game. Taylor did, and scored 43 points. He stuck around Milwaukee for two weeks of informal workouts with several Bucks in advance of training camp.

As camp was set to begin, Taylor headed home, assuming his career would resume in the NBDL, the ABA2000 or even overseas.

His career has been a virtual World Tour since his last year of college basketball, at South Florida in 1997-98. There was a stint in the CBA, where he dwelled on the injured list. In the USBL, he earned a job in Dodge City, Kansas, and his team won a league championship in 2000.

After that, it was on to South America for a team in Venezuela's league last summer.

"The game was pretty much the same in Venezuela," Taylor said. "The fans had a tremendous passion for the game. They really loved to watch the American players play."

Since each team in the league was allowed only three American players, Taylor was forced to learn a foreign culture and a new language. Spanish was difficult for Taylor, who studied French in school. When he grasped the language, however, things became easier.

"We had translators who helped us," Taylor said. "Being around my teammates all day, it was easy to learn the language and understand how they played the game."

Taylor returned stateside last season to play for the Indiana Legends in the ABA2000, but none of his experiences compare to "The League," where he has quickly realized how good the competition is.

"Other teams I played for only had maybe three or four good players, but when I got here, everyone was good-real good," Taylor said. "I'm here playing with the best of the best."

Taylor made his unofficial Bucks debut in front of nearly 10,000 fans at the Bucks Open Scrimmage on October 6. He received a welcoming response from the crowd, even though the majority of fans had not heard of him. He responded throwing down a dunk during one of the drills to wow the crowd.

Brian Taylor will have to compete with the likes of Rafer Alston for a roster spot. NBAE Photos

"This is the place where you want to be if you are a basketball player," Taylor said. "I feel I have gotten a lot better. Sam, Ray, Rafer, everyone has really helped me out. I feel like I have a chance to play at this level, and I would love to start my career with the Milwaukee Bucks."

That optimism alone isn't likely to earn him a spot on the team's 12-man roster, particularly with veterans Sam Cassell, Alston and Jason Hart ahead of him on the team's depth chart.

"If you look at the roster last year, they kept four point guards," counters an optimistic Taylor. "Realistically, if I make the team, it's probably on the injured list and I just have to keep working hard."

If he doesn't make it, he is still the beneficiary of a great experience for his basketball resume.

"I've learned a lot here that will make me a better player," Taylor said. "I might get looks that I might not have gotten before without that on my resume."

Bucks coaches concede that Taylor would have to make a giant leap to earn a roster spot, but they have been impressed with the performance of the relative unknown.

"He has been a great addition to camp," assistant coach Terry Stotts said. "No one really knew much about him prior to camp, but his attitude and athleticism are getting our attention."

His biggest weakness, according to Alston, is a basic understanding of the sctructured playbook. "He's had some trouble with the plays, because George is not an easy guy to please. He's never been in an NBA setting, and it's tough."

In an attempt to become an NBA player, Taylor is not only spending extra time working with coaches after each practice, he's also doing his best to look the part. The cornrows, two years in making, are gone.

"When I came here I had the braids," Taylor said. "This team is more structured, more professional than other teams, and I thought a nice, clean haircut would help me represent the Bucks better on and off the court. It hurt me, but I think it made sense."

They say that rookies have to earn their uniforms in training camp. Taylor, perhaps more than any other player in the league, can attest to that in both a literal and figurative sense.

As media day progressed on his first day as an NBA player, a jersey was located for Brian Taylor. It wasn't his own - he had to settle for Alston's #11 - but it was sufficient for him to join his new teammates in the photo line, his first official duty as an NBA player.

"When you put that uniform on for the first time and that Jerry West logo is on your chest, you feel a goal has been accomplished," Taylor said.

"Now that I've accomplished that, I know I have to keep raising my bar. I have to have something to reach for, or I'm just coming out wasting my time."