Labaron Philon Gives Initial Thoughts on Potential NBA Future

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NEWARK, N.J. –– Alabama guard Labaron Philon has just wrapped up his freshman season with a loss to Duke in the Elite Eight Saturday night.
Philon has become a household name over the course of the season and his three SEC Freshman of the Week honors reflect that. He has been given expectations by analysts to be a one-and-done player and enter the 2025 NBA Draft, but Philon gave his thoughts on it after the game.
"Really I don't know what I'm going to do right now," Philon said. "I don't know if I'll enter the draft or come back. I've got to talk to the coaches and the program first. I have to put that all together. Before I make a decision, it's going to be me having a conversation with everyone around the program and seeing what's best for me.
"Coach [Nate Oats] did a great job of having me laser-focused the whole year and just not thinking about the outside noise. I'm pretty sure we'll get to that later on."
Philon is included in practically every mock draft for the 2025 NBA Draft and has a decision to make about his future.
“I don’t really look into all of that, but I hear about it," Philon told BamaCentral in February. "I just try to keep a humble mentality, keep my head down and keep working.”
The Mobile, Alabama native finished his first year of college basketball averaging 10.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and a Crimson Tide best 1.3 steals per game.
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Hunter De Siver is the lead basketball writer for BamaCentral and has covered Crimson Tide football since 2024. He previously distributed stories about the NFL and NBA for On SI and was a staff writer for Missouri Tigers On SI and Cowbell Corner. Before that, Hunter generated articles highlighting Crimson Tide products in the NFL and NBA for BamaCentral as an intern in 2022 and 2023. Hunter is a graduate from the University of Alabama, earning a degree in sports media in 2023.
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