HORSHAM basketball product Mitch Creek has spoken to the Mail-Times on Tuesday morning to confirm he has signed an Exhibit 10 contract with NBA franchise the Brooklyn Nets.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“The contract gives me a chance to either get a roster spot, a two-way contract or I will stay as an Exhibit 10,” he said.
“I will be training with their full roster at the pre-season training camp and that will determine the kind of spot I get.
“Having spoken to a few people there they think I have a really good chance to be able to showcase my skills. Hopefully I can make a bit of noise over there; it’s all positive.”
Creek has a chance to feature in the NBA or the G League development team the Long Island Nets, or a mixture of the two.
Creek said he never thought he would have the chance to be playing with an NBA team.
“There was not one part of me that genuinely thought I would be able to play with an NBA team,” he said.
“I can’t fathom it’s happened just yet, I think for the people around me it’s hit them a bit. It’s not a full roster spot yet or anything crazy but it’s more than I thought was possible.
“I set the bar pretty high for myself these days and the fact I have gone out and started to push the barrier of what is possible, especially for a country boy from Horsham, has to be a story in itself for what perseverance and hard work is.”
Creek recently wrote a Players Voice article in which he opened up about his struggle with anxiety and depression throughout his career. He said those feelings were recently amplified when competing with Dallas at the NBA Summer League.
“It’s something I’ve struggled with for a long time, not just something I had during the Summer League,” he said.
“It was heightened then – I had relationship issues going on back home, sickness in the family and the stress of getting my foot in the door of an NBA club. It all compounded and ignited stress.
“There were times I walked into the stadium in Adelaide and balled my eyes out for 20 minutes.
“I go in and get the job done for the game and there won’t be a time in those three or four hours that you would know I was feeling like that.
“Now I’m moving for eight months into one of the most heavily populated cities in the world and I’ll be by myself. I’m trying to find some contacts and getting people over there who can help me.”
Creek said he owes everything to his former coach Owen Hughan, who is the current president of the Horsham Amateur Basketball Association.
“Horsham is where I’ve come from and I will always remember that, it’s made me the person I am now,” he said.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen when I see Owen, if I’m going to cry or just hug him. The one thing I have always said is that he is one of the best coaches who genuinely cared about me.
“He gave me time before and after school and I listened to him as best as I could.
“He is a huge factor for why I love the game. He taught me about meticulous preparation and everything he has said has come to fruition. I literally owe my success to Owen.
“He taught me so many little things about the game and that’s what has made me the player I am. He built me a fantastic foundation.”
Creek returns to Horsham on Wednesday and will be holding clinics on Thursday and Friday as well as a presentation on his journey to the NBA on Friday night.
“I haven’t been back for a long time and it’s something I really wanted to do; now that I have time and with the contract it felt like the right time,” he said.
“I’ll be talking to some schools and the clinics and then the talk on Friday night at the stadium. I want to see these children have fun and learn some things that can hopefully ignite that spark.
“I would love to see the stadium full on Friday night and some of the money I’m raising and earning will be going back to the stadium.
“I really want to get my story out there.”