http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/14244009p-15062655c.html
With Kings, Burrage finds his niche, advances rapidly
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, April 16, 2006
And to think, Bubba Burrage was done with basketball.
Before his 20th birthday, Burrage had lost the love for hoops right in the middle of the center of Hoops Universe. He was a young man playing at Indiana State who didn't want to be there anymore.
"I really wanted to play NBA basketball growing up, (but) I realized right away that I really wasn't that good, so my dream was just wiped out," said Burrage, who grew up in the Southern California town of Oxnard and is now 34. "I'm far away from home, we're losing, and I wasn't that good of a basketball player. I really couldn't see myself staying there for four years and banging my head up against the wall."
Or having his coach bang it for him. Burrage, who later would take a unique road to becoming a Kings advance scout and assistant coach, was playing under the authority of Tates Locke, his college coach who later would tell the one and only Bobby Knight what to do when Knight was his assistant at Army. Hard-core? Yes, sir.
But only a few years later, Burrage found a back door into the NBA. He was about to earn a degree in journalism/public relations at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo when a family connection paid off. His uncle, Micah Hill, was the general manager of the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, a place often frequented by NBA types. Travis Stanley, then the Kings' media relations director, was one of those. Before long, Burrage had an internship as an assistant video coordinator with the Kings, a job that began his meteoric rise through the ranks.
By the time he was 22, Burrage had been promoted from assistant to lead video coordinator, and he believes he was the youngest of his type in the league. His head was spinning at his own fortune, while he soon would begin to make his own.
"My second week on the job, (management was) talking about what should we do (in that year's draft)," Burrage said. "They're saying, 'Who are we going to bring in?' And I was just thinking, What the (heck) am I doing in here? It was surreal. It was a really exciting time. I found my niche."
After his playing days as a forward for the Mustangs, Burrage was now breaking down pro games on video equipment no more fancy than what his college program used.
"I would try to take off all the (play-calling) signals I'd see during the (opponents') games, because you'd sometimes hear the coach or the players say (a play call)," Burrage said. "I'd do little things they might appreciate."
His job duties varied from the video screen to the court.
"(Kings players) would get injured, and a lot of times I'd be the guy they'd go against - with a couple of other guys on the injured list," said Burrage, who lives in Sacramento with his wife and two kids. "It'd be me and Marty Conlon versus Walt Williams and Lionel Simmons if they were hurt. Once or twice, we'd maybe beat them, and then you knew they weren't ready to come back yet."
In 1997, Burrage said the Kings were the only team that didn't have an advance scout, whose job it is to travel to the next NBA city on the schedule and help prepare for the coming opponent. Burrage became the first, beginning a life on the road that lasted two seasons.
He has scaled back this season, moving up again while the scouting duties have become a shared task. Burrage does the least advance scouting of the bunch, while R.J. Adelman - coach Rick Adelman's son - and Steve Shuman are the primary advance scouts. The heir apparent to Burrage in the video department is none other than Mike Petrie, the 29-year-old son of president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie.
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
With Kings, Burrage finds his niche, advances rapidly
By Sam Amick -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Sunday, April 16, 2006
And to think, Bubba Burrage was done with basketball.
Before his 20th birthday, Burrage had lost the love for hoops right in the middle of the center of Hoops Universe. He was a young man playing at Indiana State who didn't want to be there anymore.
"I really wanted to play NBA basketball growing up, (but) I realized right away that I really wasn't that good, so my dream was just wiped out," said Burrage, who grew up in the Southern California town of Oxnard and is now 34. "I'm far away from home, we're losing, and I wasn't that good of a basketball player. I really couldn't see myself staying there for four years and banging my head up against the wall."
Or having his coach bang it for him. Burrage, who later would take a unique road to becoming a Kings advance scout and assistant coach, was playing under the authority of Tates Locke, his college coach who later would tell the one and only Bobby Knight what to do when Knight was his assistant at Army. Hard-core? Yes, sir.
But only a few years later, Burrage found a back door into the NBA. He was about to earn a degree in journalism/public relations at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo when a family connection paid off. His uncle, Micah Hill, was the general manager of the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, a place often frequented by NBA types. Travis Stanley, then the Kings' media relations director, was one of those. Before long, Burrage had an internship as an assistant video coordinator with the Kings, a job that began his meteoric rise through the ranks.
By the time he was 22, Burrage had been promoted from assistant to lead video coordinator, and he believes he was the youngest of his type in the league. His head was spinning at his own fortune, while he soon would begin to make his own.
"My second week on the job, (management was) talking about what should we do (in that year's draft)," Burrage said. "They're saying, 'Who are we going to bring in?' And I was just thinking, What the (heck) am I doing in here? It was surreal. It was a really exciting time. I found my niche."
After his playing days as a forward for the Mustangs, Burrage was now breaking down pro games on video equipment no more fancy than what his college program used.
"I would try to take off all the (play-calling) signals I'd see during the (opponents') games, because you'd sometimes hear the coach or the players say (a play call)," Burrage said. "I'd do little things they might appreciate."
His job duties varied from the video screen to the court.
"(Kings players) would get injured, and a lot of times I'd be the guy they'd go against - with a couple of other guys on the injured list," said Burrage, who lives in Sacramento with his wife and two kids. "It'd be me and Marty Conlon versus Walt Williams and Lionel Simmons if they were hurt. Once or twice, we'd maybe beat them, and then you knew they weren't ready to come back yet."
In 1997, Burrage said the Kings were the only team that didn't have an advance scout, whose job it is to travel to the next NBA city on the schedule and help prepare for the coming opponent. Burrage became the first, beginning a life on the road that lasted two seasons.
He has scaled back this season, moving up again while the scouting duties have become a shared task. Burrage does the least advance scouting of the bunch, while R.J. Adelman - coach Rick Adelman's son - and Steve Shuman are the primary advance scouts. The heir apparent to Burrage in the video department is none other than Mike Petrie, the 29-year-old son of president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie.
About the writer: The Bee's Sam Amick can be reached at (916) 326-5582 or samick@sacbee.com.
