Raptors’ Powell making most of his time at home

Josh Lewenberg

TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO – When life has given Norman Powell lemons, he’s always found a way to make lemonade.

As a freshman at UCLA, the San Diego native was unhappy with his limited role, and his play reflected it. So he put in the work, improved his game and by the end of his four-year college career he was on the NBA’s radar.

On draft night, back in 2015, Powell fell to the middle of the second round. He knew he was better than that. So, after spending some time in the G League, he finally got an opportunity with the Raptors and he took advantage of it, quickly becoming a fan favourite and playoff hero in Toronto.

After signing a lucrative contract extension in 2017, he got hurt and began to slump. Before long, he had lost his starting job and would spend the next couple of seasons bouncing in and out of the Raptors’ rotation.

The 2019-20 season was shaping up to be his breakout campaign.

The 26-year-old guard was playing the best basketball of his career in December when his shoulder popped out for the second time in 12 months. He made his return a month later, picked up where he left off, and then suffered another freak injury – a broken finger. So he missed another month, came back, was playing even better than he had been playing before, and then turned his ankle in Utah on March 9.

Fortunately, it seemed like he had finally caught a break. The injury wasn’t serious and he planned to play in the team’s next game (March 14 against Detroit). Only the Raptors never played another game.

Like every other player in the NBA, Powell’s season and professional life were put on hold when the league suspended operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the evening of March 11.

Now, one month later, the fifth-year pro is doing whatever he can to stay positive and make the best of an unfortunate situation. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. He’s made a career out of overcoming setbacks.

“It’s been the same mindset and the same focus [for me],” said Powell, speaking on a conference call from his home in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon. “You just have to change your workouts and adjust to what’s available to you. But other than that the motivation hasn’t been changed at all. I’m still the same motivated person.”

After the Raptors’ precautionary 14-day quarantine period was over last month, Powell flew from Toronto to Vegas so that he could be closer to his family – his mom still lives in San Diego and his sister is in Arizona.

The team ordered him a portable hoop that he set up on his driveway. He’s also got a small home gym, complete with a few dumbbells that Raptors strength and conditioning coach Jon Lee sent over, as well as some other equipment he’s using to stay in shape. Somebody from the training staff has been in contact with each player on a daily basis to guide them through workout plans.

Powell has also been in regular communication with assistant coaches Adrian Griffin and Patrick Mutombo, who are sending him game tape and showing him areas in which he can continue to grow his game. He tries to spend at least two hours per day watching film. Specifically, he’s focusing on improving his off-ball defence.

When he isn’t studying film or shooting hoops out front – or doing what many NBA players have been doing to pass the time; playing video games – Powell is becoming multilingual. He’s starting to learn Spanish on Rosetta Stone. He also registered for an online sign language class.

Powell took sign language as a foreign language elective in college and he’s been meaning to brush up on it. His mom used to be a special needs educator, so he says he’s always felt like it’s been part of his life. Some of his fans that come to watch the Raptors play when they’re on the West Coast are hearing impaired, so he’s looking forward to being able to better interact with them.

“I always found it a beautiful language to learn and be a part of and I love that community,” Powell said. “It was just a little side hobby and interest of mine since I was a kid.”

He’s been keeping busy in self-isolation but, like the rest of the world, Powell is waiting to find out when things will go back to normal, or what the new normal might be.

The players’ association has kept him in the loop on the league’s various contingency plans, but nobody knows when it will be safe enough for sports to resume. He isn’t sure if the Raptors will get the chance to defend their title or how much longer he’ll have to wait to pick up where he left off, again.

However, true to character, he’s keeping his head up and doing everything he can to make sure that he’s ready when the time does come.

“We have to remain optimistic and hopeful that we'll be able to get back on the court, and things will go back to normal sooner than later,” said Powell, who was averaging a career-high 16.4 points – nearly doubling his average from the year before – in 44 games when the NBA hit pause.

“That just comes with, overall, wanting the world to be back running as usual, with everybody healthy and things like that. It's more than just wanting to get back on the court. You're worried about the grand scheme of things, on a global scale. You have family members that need to get back to work and provide for their families. So I'm optimistic that if we're able to resume, then everything else will start to come back and the world will get back running.”​