Karl hoping to use summer league as avenue back to NBA

Former Boise State standout Coby Karl started his quest to make it back to the NBA on Monday night.

Karl is playing for the Boston Celtics' summer league team in Orlando, Fla., but did not see action in an 87-56 win Monday against the Utah Jazz.

The 2007 BSU graduate is hoping to use this week's games in Orlando as a steppingstone to get back in the NBA. Karl played for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2007-08.

"My goal is to be on an NBA roster at the beginning of the season," Karl told the Idaho Statesman before Monday's game.

Karl is a free agent, meaning he can sign with any team. He'll get another chance to audition for more NBA clubs when he competes in the Vegas Summer League later this month with the Denver Nuggets.

Karl also considered playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in Las Vegas, but opted for Denver because "there is more of an opportunity to play with Denver."

Karl's father, George, is the head coach of the Nuggets. The elder Karl, however, isn't coaching the summer league team.

After the two summer leagues, he and agent Dan Fegan will explore Karl's options and pick a training camp. It could be the Celtics, who looked hard at Karl after his senior season at BSU.

"They thought I would have a chance to get to camp and make the team if I play well, and that's all I am looking for right now," Karl said. "But there is nothing in stone with any team - we'll see where I can go to camp and see what team I can make."

After being cut by the Lakers prior to the 2008-09 season, Karl played 22 games for the Idaho Stampede of the NBA's Development League.

He left Idaho to play in a high-level pro league in Spain, where he was a teammate with Ricky Rubio, the No. 5 pick in this year's NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Rubio and Karl share the same agent.

"Spain was a great experience off the court," Karl said. "It was fun being in Barcelona - I was just three blocks from the beach and a 20-minute walk from the middle of the city."

But Karl, who was the Stampede's leading scorer when he left for Spain, didn't have the same success overseas. In 16 games with DKV Joventut Badalona, he averaged 4.6 points in 10.4 minutes per game. For the Stampede, Karl was scoring 18.6 points in just under 37 minutes a game.

"I had a couple of pretty good games, but I was hoping to go over there and contribute more," Karl said. "It didn't turn out the way that I was anticipating it."

Karl returned to the U.S. on May 29 and worked out in Denver. He lives at his townhouse in Boise - he's taking over the payments from his dad - and plans to spend more time in Idaho before heading to wherever basketball takes him.

® Jason Ellis, who is Karl's former teammate at BSU and the Stampede, is in Orlando playing for a Philadelphia-New Jersey combination team. Ellis scored two points and had one rebound in 9-plus minutes Monday.

® Lance Allred, who played for the Stampede, is on the Orlando Magic's team. He didn't score and had one rebound in 7-plus minutes Monday.

Nick Jezierny: 377-6420