Lance Allred -- the first legally deaf player ever in the NBA -- will get another shot as he has been given a make-good contract to the Pacers camp, according to a tweet from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo.
The Pacers have injury questions with Tyler Hansbrough and Josh McRoberts along their front line and are considering adding some depth to the roster. Allred, a 6'11" forward, could provide some of that, although he may just be camp fodder. At least he is getting a shot.
Allred played in a game as part of a 10-day contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2008. He has bounced around with a variety of other teams, including the Idaho Stampede of the D-League. Most recently he played for Khimik Yuzhny but he never really got a shot there.
Allred is an interesting guy -- a writer (he published Longshot: The Adventures of a Deaf Fundamentalist Mormon Kid and His Journey to the NBA), blogger and motivational speaker, a guy actually raised on a polygamist compound in Utah until the age of 13, someone who has written about the challenges of making a living as a basketball player.
