KEY POINTS:
Kirk Penney's mysterious absence from the Tall Blacks' transtasman series against Australia can finally be explained - the NBA beckons once more.
The Breakers guard has been attempting to revive his NBA dream, trialling with the San Antonio Spurs following their elimination from the Western Conference finals at
the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Penney, who played briefly for the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers in the world's highest-profile basketball league, has been involved in summer workouts with the Spurs under coaches Gregg Popovich, who has four NBA titles with the Spurs since taking over as head coach during the 1996-97 season, and former Sydney Kings coach Brett Brown.
Previously his absence from the Tall Blacks squad for the two tests against Australia, the last of which was played last night in Melbourne, has been explained away as a holiday with his American girlfriend before joining the squad in Canada for a tri-series involving Lebanon.
The reason for the subterfuge is unclear. Although in December last year he inked a new two-year deal with the Breakers after an impressive first season in the Australian National Basketball League, he is allowed to trial with NBA teams in the off season.
"Everyone that plays in the ANBL signs a collective agreement that gives them an out to play in the NBA if they get a full contract," Breakers general manager Richard Clarke said.
"We have a good relationship with the Spurs which is part of why Kirk was there. It was more a case of him working out with them rather than trialling for a spot."
That might be the case but a Herald on Sunday source said that the Spurs' coaches were impressed with the ANBL first-team all-star's ability to read screens and find space to shoot.
"He enjoyed his time there," Clarke said. "He was seeing where he was at in terms of his game and he was pretty happy from their comments as to where his game had progressed to since they'd last seen him.
"He'd progressed because of his role in the ANBL where he is more than just a spot-up shooter, but he hadn't heard anything more in terms of being picked up."
If Penney is picked up by the NBA giants, who number future Hall of Famers Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobli among them, it won't be the first time the Breakers have suffered at their hands.
Two years ago American import Rich Melzer was picked up by the Spurs and offered a contract. Although he was eventually the last man cut from the roster as it went from 16 to 15 the Breakers had no choice but to let him walk out of his contract at the time.