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Baton Rouge native Frank Bartley finally gets NBA chance with the Pelicans' Summer League team
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NEW ORLEANS - Since graduating from UL Lafayette, Baton Rouge native Frank Bartley has had quite the professional basketball journey.
"We start off with Canada, then Spain, Spain to Germany in COVID, then Germany to Israel," said Bartley. "Then last year, I was playing in Italy, so I'm happy to be home and hopefully I can stay."
Bartley, who was a star at Christian Life Academy in Baton Rouge, has bounced around internationally the past few years, but last season he finally broke through in Italy. Bartley lead the Serie A League in scoring, and now has gotten a chance with his home state Pelicans during summer league.
"I appreciate this opportunity so much," Bartley said. "I talked to David Griffin and Trajan Langdon, I tell them all the time, 'Man, thank you all for bringing me in.' Just giving me a chance to kind of focus on my eyes and turn some heads here. I think I've been doing it the last few days, it's been solid."
"You couldn't tell he's 29, he's been really good in this little minicamp," said Pelicans Summer League coach Casey Hill. "We're expecting playing some minutes out there. He's done a nice job."
"It felt like it was my time," Bartley said. "I mean, I've been praying for it. You know, everybody's pushing for his dream and sometimes people give up with getting older and stuff, but I mean this last season for me, I've exceeded expectations. I mean, last year, I had the best year of my career. So getting a phone call, man. I'm prepared for it."
Bartley had 6 points on 2 three pointers in the Pelicans Summer League opener vs the Timberwolves.
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