Forgotten NBA man who has made $69m in career earnings still searching for team a year after being made unemployed
AVERY Bradley has disappeared since ending the 2021-22 NBA season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The ex-No. 19 overall pick won a championship ring in his first stint with the Lakers just three years ago.
But Bradley – who will turn 33 in November – has been out of the league for over a year now.
The 6-foot-3 guard also hasn't continued his career overseas as some of the ex-NBA stars have while struggling to get a job in the Association.
And he has hardly spoken to the media about his future in the last 12 months – and hasn't officially retired yet.
Bradley made a name for himself as one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA after the Boston Celtics drafted him in 2010 – making the All-Defensive first team in 2016 and second team in 2013.
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Over the years, he also turned into a prolific scorer.
In 2016-17, he was Boston's second-best scorer behind Isaiah Thomas, averaging 16.3 points per game on 46.3 percent from the field and 39.0 percent for three.
Bradley also logged 6.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.2 steals in what would turn out to be the best individual season of his career.
Three years later, he became an invaluable piece of the elite Lakers defense that fired Los Angeles to the top of the Western Conference before the coronavirus pandemic halted the 2019-20 season.
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LeBron James and Co. won the 2020 NBA Finals without Bradley as family reasons forced him to opt out of playing in the Orlando bubble – where the league had restarted.
Still, the guard's contribution to their championship run in the first part of the season couldn't be overstated.
It's been a steep decline for Bradley since that year, though.
With his offense fading away, the veteran failed to carve out a significant role on the Miami Heat and Houston Rockets in 2020-21.
He then returned to Los Angeles when the Golden State Warriors cut him just before the 2021-22 campaign tipped off – but only to put on a mediocre performance on a dreadful Lakers team.
And in his exit interview, Bradley – who earned $69.1million in career earnings – sounded unsure of what the future held for him, foreshadowing his soon-coming NBA exile.
"Everything is in God’s hands," he said.
"I’m following whatever he wants me to do because I’m not in control, I can’t control whether I’m gonna be here or anywhere else so I’m just praying about it and we’ll see.
"I’m gonna follow whatever I’m supposed to do."