Cal Basketball: Ivan Rabb, Tyrone Wallace Ready For Start of 2021 G League Season
Ivan Rabb and Tyrone Wallace, who spent a season as Cal teammates five years ago, will continue their professional basketball careers with the start of the 2021 NBA G League this week in Orlando, Florida.
Rabb is playing this season for the Delaware Blue Coats, an affiliate of the Philadelphia 76ers. Wallace has returned to the Agua Caliente Clippers.
Both open their seasons on Thursday, with Rabb and the Blue Coats facing the Fort Wayne Mad Ants while Wallace and the Clippers take on the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
The Blue Coats and Clippers will meet Sunday in a reunion of ex-Cal teammates.
All G League games this season will be played at two facilities in Orlando, Florida.
Ivan Rabb on defense for the Memphis Grizzlies
Photo by Jeff Swinger, USA Today
Rabb, 24, was one of the G League’s best players a year ago while playing for the Westchester Knicks. The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 16.5 points and a league-best 12.1 rebounds and was given the G League’s Jason Collier Sportsmanship Award in a vote of players. He had 32 points in one game and 24 rebounds in another.
Rabb was a five-star prospect out of Oakland’s Bishop O’Dowd High before playing two seasons at Cal. He averaged 13.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and shot 54 percent while accumulating 29 double-doubles in 65 career games. Rabb was a first-team All-Pac-12 pick as a sophomore in 2016-17.
Taken in the second round by the Orlando Magic in 2017, Rabb was sent to Memphis in a draft-night trade. He plays 85 games in two seasons with the Grizzlies, averaging 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds. He had five double-doubles those two seasons.
The Grizzlies waived him before the 2019-20 season and the Knicks immediately signed him. But while Rabb was productive in the G League, he never played a game with the Knicks.
His teammates with the Blue Coats include former Kansas guard Frank Mason and one-time Santa Clara guard Jared Brownridge.
Wallace, a 6-5 guard, played four seasons at Cal through 2015-16, when his teammates included Rabb. Wallace averaged 12.6 points. 5.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists for the Bears, including 17.1 points as a junior in 2015-15, when he was named a first-team All-Pac-12 pick.
He was a second-round draft pick of the Utah Jazz in 2016 but didn’t stick with the club. His best season came in 2017-18 with the Los Angeles Clippers and their G League Aqua Caliente squad.
He averaged 22.6 points in 26 G League games that season and played 30 games with the Clippers, including 19 starts. Wallace averaged 9.7 points that season, with 15 double-digit scoring games and a career-high 22 points against the Warriors in his their NBA game.
Wallace has played a total of 106 NBA games, with the Clippers and Atlanta Hawks, averaging 5.2 points. In 67 G League games with three different teams he has averaged 17.7 points and 4.9 rebounds.
His teammates this season with Agua Caliente include former Saint Mary’s stars Jordan Ford and Malik Fitts.
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Cover photo of Tyrone Wallace by Kyle Terada, USA Today
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo
