After a disappointing career, Dajuan Wagner is attempting an NBA comeback at age 31 (Ball Don’t Lie)

In the summer of 2000, at the grizzled age of 20, I was paid by a scouting service to submit reports on every member of that year's Nike All-American Camp in Indianapolis. I was tasked with writing about the prospects and futures of a series of youngsters that were just a few years younger than me, which was weird, but the real focus of my time spent at the contests was to put pen to paper about Dajuan Wagner – the established star of his 2001 high school class. Wagner, the son of former NBA pro Milt Wagner, had by then already committed to Memphis, and he had no real use for the camp outside of letting us leering scouts, college coaches and assorted hangers-on determine just how he stacked up against his peers. Wagner didn't play poorly, there were several jaw-dropping moves; but he was aware of station and steadied college commitment – working mostly off the ball as a solid teammate and rarely showcasing the sort of ball-dominating one-on-one moves we expected from someone who was labeled as the perfect hybrid of Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury. He left the camp early, with his status assured. After a disappointing year in Memphis, he was drafted as a lottery pick...