Salmons want to make the best of his trade to Bulls

John Salmons didn't carry nearly the same hype as No. 1 draft pick Derrick Rose.

But just like his new Bulls teammate, Salmons began his NBA career in his hometown of Philadelphia in 2002 after being chosen with the 26th pick of the draft. He doesn't recommend the experience.

"There were a lot of ups and downs," Salmons said Monday at the Berto Center. "It was pretty tough playing in my hometown. There was a lot of pressure there. I wasn't getting a lot of playing time, and when I was playing I wasn't at my best."

Salmons joined a 76ers team dominated by Allen Iverson that was struggling to match expectations built by reaching in the Finals in 2001. He tried to avoid media coverage after listening to angry fans rip on sports radio.

Salmons never did become a full-time starter, and after four seasons in Philadelphia he joined Sacramento as a free agent.

"It was a tough situation for me, but it made me better as a person," he said. "Even though I went to college four years, I wasn't really ready for that lifestyle, being the guy that the family looks up to; everybody's looking at you for decisions and support and stuff. It helped me to grow up fast."

Being traded midseason from the Kings to the Bulls wasn't easy, either, but the soft-spoken, devoutly religious Salmons is ready to make the best of it.

He scored 12 points in his Bulls debut, a 98-91 loss Sunday at Indiana. The 6-foot-6 swingman was averaging 18.3 points this season for Sacramento and is expected to play an important role on his new team.

"I'm trying to get myself comfortable, just get to the point where everything's normal," he said. "It's going to take awhile. I'm at the point in my career, if I'm open, I'm going to shoot it. I can't turn down an open look. I think that's one way to get comfortable."

Salmons, 29, grew up in North Philadelphia but spent his high school years living with the family of his best friend, Chuck Moore, in suburban Plymouth Meeting, Pa. Salmons took full advantage of having a driveway basketball hoop at his disposal.

"I was inside watching TV and doing whatever I was doing, and he was out there (in the driveway) pounding the ball," Moore told the Sacramento Bee. "With that drive and determination, I was like, 'This kid's going to make it, and he's going to be special.' "

Salmons was a little bit of a late bloomer at Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School, but he was heavily recruited by the time he was a senior.
His first choice was to attend Seton Hall with Moore and play for Tommy Amaker, but that fell through and Moore eventually transferred to Vanderbilt.

"They went after Al Harrington and some other guys and didn't get either one of them," Salmons said of Seton Hall. "They tried to recruit me again and I said no. I took a visit to UConn and wasn't crazy about my visit.

"I was supposed to take a visit to Michigan. They had a snowstorm the weekend I was supposed to go and Miami didn't. So I went to Miami. That's how I went there."

Miami has never been known as a basketball school, at least not since Ricky Barry's era.

But during Salmons' four years of college, the Hurricanes went to the NCAA Tournament three times, reached the Sweet Sixteen once and shared a Big East title. Miami's record during Salmons' career was 86-39.

"Even though we had a good team and were winning, for some reason I just never got a lot of hype," he said. "We just weren't a basketball school, so a lot of people didn't know us."

People know about South Florida, though, and it's not a bad place to attend college for four years.

"I always tell the story, in January and February, I would go from my dorm room to class and by the time I got to class I was in an all-out sweat," he said. "That's how good it was."

Chicago doesn't provide an improvement in weather from where Salmons has been living.

But the Bulls do offer a better chance at making the playoffs this season than the struggling Kings. So there are worse places he could be.

(dailyherald.com)