Erik Reynolds II just wanted to make a good first impression.
St. Joe’s all-time leading scorer is one of countless 22-year-olds trying to turn a Summer League invite into an NBA contract. That’s the beauty — and tension — of the NBA Summer League. It’s as much a proving ground as it is a pressure cooker, where everyone’s trying to prove the same thing at the same time.
For fans hoping to spot the next project the Oklahoma City Thunder’s development staff might snag, this night delivered something else. Reynolds, nerves getting the better of him, accidentally scored on his own basket with under four minutes left in the third quarter.
To make matters worse, Brooklyn head coach Jordi Fernández was right in the middle of an interview with Marc Kestecher and Seth Greenberg when it happened. Summer League blunders aren’t exactly rare, and Shaqtin’ a Fool moments don’t pop up every game, but this one felt all the more magnified thanks to live commentary from the opposing bench.
“Erik Reynolds scored about 2,400 points in college at St. Joe’s, and he just scored his first two points for the Nets,” Greenberg said.
“We appreciate that,” Fernandez deadpanned.
Most Summer League teams are run by assistants or G League staffers. Fernández isn’t that. He’s an actual NBA head coach, fresh off his first season at the helm in Brooklyn. So instead of quietly observing, he was talking through the Nets’ player development process with ESPN’s broadcast crew.
Fernández spending time on the mic isn’t like a manager being mic’d up during a spring training game. This was different. He can’t make substitutions or pitching changes while talking to ESPN’s announcers. We’ll leave that to New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza.
But what we can leave Fernández to do is to break down Brooklyn’s record five first-round picks while Reynolds fights for a spot on the defending champs.
Reynolds shouldn’t be defined by one awkward sequence. He played four seasons at Saint Joseph’s (2021–25) and left as the program’s all-time leading scorer. He racked up 2,175 points, hit 350 threes, and shot nearly 87% from the line. As a senior, he averaged 16.4 points per game on 41.1% shooting. He’s earned this shot.
Now, he’s trying to earn the next one.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.