Former Penn Standout Running the Point for the Lakers

ESPNLosAngeles.com Feature | NBA Summer League Broadband

Courtesy of Penn Athletic Communications

PHILADELPHIA -- Basketball fans looking for a hoops fix this week can follow the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League online at NBA.com - and viewers of Los Angeles Lakers games will spot a familiar face to Red and Blue followers in Ibrahim Jaaber.

The 2006 and 2007 Ivy League Player of the Year has spent the last three seasons playing professionally in Europe, most recently with Lottomattica Roma. This is Jaaber's second stint in the NBA's summer leagues as he played with Detroit in the summer after graduating from Penn.

Jaaber has started both of L.A.'s games so far in the Summer League, averaging 6.5 ppg and 6.0 apg for the Lakers. His first game against Detroit was an 11-assist, six-point effort.

Ibby's work so far in the summer has drawn the attention of not only ESPN.com but the front office of the two-time defending NBA champions. In an interview found at ESPNLosAngeles.com, Lakers' GM Mitch Kupchak said of Jaaber, "He's had a really good 10-day period for us."

The situation with the Lakers is a positive one for Jaaber at the moment. All three of L.A.'s point guards from the championship squad are free agents and a strong performance in Vegas could earn Jaaber a trip to training camp later this summer.

Kupchak acknowledged that Jaaber is making a strong case for himself so far in Las Vegas and Lakers assistant coach Rasheed Hazzard has seen flashes of the defense that made Jaaber a star while in University City.

"He definitely has a gift in that area," Hazard told ESPNLosAngeles.com, "But to start out, you have to be solid, earn that trust, and then that gift will take over, and it will come out and help us out."

Transitioning from the fast-paced game in Greece to Phil Jackson's famed triangle offense is something Jaaber knows is vital to his ability to find a home in Los Angeles. And it is a task he is ready to handle.

"It's a little bit of an adjustment for myself playing a real slow point guard role where I can't be as aggressive as I'm normally asked to be," he said when asked about the differences by ESPNLosAngeles.com. "But at the same time, it gives me an opportunity to show versatility and show that I can organize a team."