Dajuan Wagner joins ABA's Philadelphia Spirit
Camden basketball legend Dajuan Wagner will begin his comeback with the Philadelphia Spirit of the American Basketball Association. Wagner signed with the Spirit on Thursday night before a practice at the team's home court at Life Center Academy in Burlington Township.
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Camden basketball legend Dajuan Wagner will begin his comeback with the Philadelphia Spirit of the American Basketball Association.
Wagner signed with the Spirit on Thursday night before a practice at the team's home court at Life Center Academy in Burlington Township.
"I need to get some good up-and-down going," Wagner said. "I've got to get my feet wet and see where I'm at."
Wagner, 31, last played in the NBA in November 2006.
He has been engaged in an intensive workout program for about a year to determine if he can resurrect his professional career.
"I'm feeling good, but I need to take the next step, going up and down the court," Wagner said. "This is going to be a good test for me to see where I'm at."
Wagner said he probably won't play a game for the Spirit until after about a week of practices. He said he won't play in the team's home game Saturday against the Brooklyn Skyrockets.
The Spirit are a new franchise in the ABA, a minor league based in Phoenix. The ABA has more than 80 teams in the United States and Canada.
Among Wagner's teammates with the Spirit will be former Schalick and Seton Hall star Paul Gause and former Roman Catholic and Niagara star Charron Fisher.
Wagner is widely regarded as the best high school player in New Jersey history. He scored a state-record 3,462 points in his career at Camden.
Wagner played one season at Memphis and was the No. 6 overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He played three seasons for the Cavs, but his career was marked by illnesses and injuries. He played briefly for the Golden State Warriors in 2006.
Wagner said he was contacted by a couple of teams in the NBA Development League after word of his comeback plans became public.
Wagner said he preferred to launch the next step in his comeback at a lower level to better gauge his conditioning and the sharpness of his game. He said that if things go well with the Spirit he could play in Puerto Rico this summer.
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