SANTA CRUZ — During the summer, most people try to soak in as much sun as possible. Alex Hamilton, however, was trying to soak in as much basketball knowledge as he could.
The Santa Cruz Warriors second-year point guard spent the summer with the Golden State Warriors Vegas Summer League team and earned an invitation to the defending NBA champ’s training camp, where he brushed shoulders with two-time NBA M.V.P. Stephen Curry, Finals M.V.P. Kevin Durant and the rest of the Warriors’ star-studded roster.
A breakout star for Santa Cruz last season, Hamilton spent the seven-day training camp learning from the champions yet only saw action in one preseason game — he played just a little less than three minutes and scored one bucket — before being cut. But the Louisiana Tech alumnus said the experience of seeing how the reigning champions approached practice has been irreplaceable.
“Just being able to learn from those guys that they have, being around [Curry], being around [Durant] and Draymond (Green), seeing them work, was big,” Hamilton said. “Hopefully I can bring that back with me to Santa Cruz.”
First-year head coach Aaron Miles and the rest of the Santa Cruz brass hope so, too.
A year after averaging 11.4 points and 4.5 assists per game and shooting close 50 percent from the field as a rotational player, Santa Cruz will ask for more from the young and developing leader. Hamilton played in 43 regular season games and all three of the Warriors’ playoff games but started just five times. That figures to change this season with a full year in the G League under his belt and the offseason experience, too.
After day one of a six-day training camp in Santa Cruz, Miles said he was impressed with Hamilton and he could see him starting to develop into a leader that the Warriors will need when they start their season on Nov. 3.
Miles, who also attended Golden State’s training camp as a coach, said Hamilton more often than not deferred to guys like Curry, Green and Durant while he was in Oakland. But in Santa Cruz, Hamilton is starting to assert himself more.
“He was trying to feel it out a little more as opposed to just going out and asserting himself,” Miles said. “Out here, he’s taking control. He can take control and do things. I think he could’ve did it up there but I think in his mind he was like, ‘I have to kind of feel it out.’ I guarantee you when he goes back to a training camp next year, he’ll be a lot better. Alex has a lot of potential.”
Hamilton has also been like an encyclopedia for the newcomers, answering questions, coaching other guards through reads and telling guys where to go. Being a floor general, Hamilton said, is something he picked up from watching Golden State’s backup point guard Shaun Livingston.
“I don’t know where he was last year but, for a point guard, that’s big,” said Miles, who played the position at a high level throughout his collegiate and professional career. “That’s big in his development, to take charge. It’s a big step.”
