Rowan Kavner
BOSTON – Lester Hudson got some good news when he landed in Chicago, where he connected coming from China back home to Memphis.
Hudson, who was the Chinese Basketball Association’s MVP for 2014 and 2015, got a message from his agent about the Clippers’ intentions to sign him. The exhaustion of flying from Beijing to Chicago to Memphis and then to Boston to join the Clippers wasn’t so bad knowing he’d be returning to the NBA on a 10-day contract.
“It was great,” Hudson said. “I knew it was a playoff team, a contending team. The opportunity is great. It’s a blessing.”
Hudson most recently played for Liaoning in the Chinese Basketball Association, averaging 31.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 50 games, but he’s got NBA experience.
He was originally drafted by the Celtics in the second round in 2009, and he has three seasons under his belt in the NBA, playing 52 career games combined in Boston, Memphis, Washington and Cleveland. His last game action came for his hometown Grizzlies at the end of the 2011-12 season, although he was also signed and waived by the Jazz in October 2013 before returning to China.
On Sunday night, he found himself back in Boston, where his NBA journey began. This time it was with a new team, but the coach was the same. He played 16 games for Doc Rivers his rookie year.
Rivers said the Clippers needed another guard after Nate Robinson hurt his knee while playing on his second 10-day contract, and they thought Hudson was the best available.
“I just know that I’ve had him before, and I know he can score,” Rivers said. “I think where he’s grown is he’s a better defender. He’s just more mature. He’s grown up, and so I think he deserves another shot.”
Rivers said a lot’s changed since the last time he had Hudson, and the first thing Hudson told him when he arrived was “it’s not even the same team offensively.” Rivers said there wasn’t as much sprinting up and down the floor in Boston, which featured a completely different style of offense.
But there are a couple things Hudson remembered about Rivers that remain the same.
“He’s going to hold you accountable on the court and off the court,” Hudson said. “Just play hard, play smart, play together. He just likes us to play together, pass the ball, things like that. It’s a great opportunity to play for him again.”
Hudson said he’ll try to pick up as much as he can as he figures out his role. He said it can be tough to join a team this late in the season, but it’s also exciting. Whether he’s asked to cheer on the bench or play, he wants to help however possible.
He wasn’t sure if or when his NBA chance would come again, but he was playing hard and hoping and praying he’d get another shot. He said he thought the opportunity he had in China was great, and he hoped an NBA team would notice his play.
“They noticed it,” Hudson said.
He’s now playing for a team he got to watch some of in China this year. He’d catch as much of the NBA as he could, and the Clippers were a team he got to see.
“China had a deal with the NBA, so three or four games a week come on the sports channels,” Hudson said. “It was mostly the West Coast teams, so I saw the Clippers a lot this year. It’s great to be here.”
For his NBA career, Hudson holds averages of 4.9 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 10.3 minutes per game. Hudson, who spent his final two years of college at Tennessee-Martin, is also the only NCAA player to ever record a quadruple-double in a college game, racking up 25 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals.
“They bring it up a lot in China and when I come back home,” Hudson recalled. “That was great.”
