Former FSU guard Angola chasing NBA dream with Orlando Magic
Not everyone can be Marvin Bagley. Or Jonathan Isaac. Or even Dwayne Bacon.
No matter how well they played in college, most starters in the ACC are never drafted. Most, like former FSU guard Braian Angola, have to chase their pro basketball dream without shoe contracts and green rooms and any type of guarantee they'll make it to the NBA.
They're just looking for a chance.
And that's what Angola, a Colombia native who averaged 12.5 points per game for the Seminoles in 2018, got when he agreed to a deal to play for the Orlando Magic summer league team starting this week in Las Vegas.
"My mentality is just be me and do what I do," Angola said. "I feel like they have watched me play ... they like me, so I'm just going to do what I do. Play defense. Shoot open shots, shoot good shots and just play as hard as I can every single possession."
The Magic were one of four teams Angola worked out for during the months preceding the NBA Draft. And while he was hoping to hear his name called on draft night, he also understood there are only 60 available spots. And if you're not a first-round pick, then nothing is guaranteed anyway -- second-round selections often don't make NBA rosters.
"I talked to my agent and he was not discouraged," Angola said. "The chance (to get drafted) was there, but I wasn't going to be discouraged. I knew I was going to play for a team in the summer league."
And after the final pick was announced, Angola didn't have to wait long for his phone to ring.
"I got a call like five minutes after," he said.
It was from the Magic, asking him if he wanted to be on their summer league roster.
Now on Monday, he'll be flying out to Las Vegas to be reunited with his former teammate Isaac, a lottery pick from a season ago who missed most of his rookie year due to injury.
"I talked to Jon the day I was working out for the Magic and then I talked to him a couple of days ago when I found out I was going to play for them," Angola said. "It's a special moment for us. ... Now going back to play with him is going to be fun."
The odds are obviously still very much stacked against Angola making an NBA roster in 2018-2019. There are only a few spots available, and the Magic have no money invested in him. But it's been done before.
Fellow FSU grad Okaro White wasn't drafted, and he had to play in multiple summer leagues and in the NBA developmental league before he finally got his shot. Angola could go that route.
Or he could play overseas. And then get another shot at the NBA later in his career.
Either way, he's now a professional basketball player. Chasing the dream he's had since he was a little kid in Colombia.
"It's hard," Angola said. "But this is what I've wanted to do my whole life. So I love it."
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