Shoot the J: From out of nowhere
What makes Moon’s success all the more mind-boggling is that somehow, for six years, no other team in the NBA brought him aboard for even a ten-day contract.

Moon’s NBA career before this year can be summed up like this: Two summer league invites with Milwaukee. Three with the Los Angeles Lakers. No NBA games.

Instead, the young man from Goodwater, Alabama bounced around the minor leagues, playing for teams like the NBDL’s Huntsville Flight, the USBL’s Gary Steelheads and the CBA’s Albany Patroons, where he was named CBA defensive player of the year.

That helped Moon get an invite to a Raptors free-agent camp last summer, which ultimately landed him his first training camp invite this fall.

So, how come this never happened before? Moon said there’s no great conspiracy at work; it’s just timing.

“I thought when I came out in 2001 I was ready, but it didn’t work out that way,” he said Sunday. But he said the leap to the big league isn’t so big, in part because the quality of play in the minors is so high.

“There’s not much difference between the play in the NBA and in the CBA. There are guys there that can play and a lot of guys who could start if they were put in my position,” he said.

“It’s all about getting that one good shot, and this is mine.”