Cedric Ceballos buys piece of ABA team in Phoenix

Cedric Ceballos is still in Arizona. No Lakers fans, not jet skiing on Lake Havasu, he lives there now. He’s the in-game MC for the Phoenix Suns. So, like the rest of us, he hopes to get back to his new job sooner rather than later.

But he’s picked up a side gig — he is now part owner of an ABA franchise.

He explained it to the Suns team Web site.

“I should’ve done it (a few years ago) just so I could’ve learned a little bit more,” Ceballos said. “After talking to and learning from (Suns President and CEO) Rick Welts, he encouraged me by saying that I should go and learn and get as much knowledge as I could.”

Ceballos actually played with some ABA teams after his NBA career wound down. He wants to get into the ownership side of the NBA business and this seemed like a good way to learn. He and Ron Tilly will co-own the Phoenix Scorpions, an expansion team in the ABA. The ABA itself is one of the minor professional basketball leagues in the United States (a step or two below the D-League). Still, it’s a good place to learn.

‘I think that you would need somebody that has a proper basketball background,” Ceballos said. “All of the help I’ve been getting over the years with (Suns Managing Partner Robert) Sarver and (Suns Chairman Jerry) Colangelo letting me into the office, and just learning and being taught under Rick Welts, motivated me to get involved and take my crack at it.”

Ceballos may have his hand in the only professional basketball in Phoenix this fall, but he will still be an employee of the Suns, hoping to be working there again soon also.