Turns out Canada's Kelly Olynyk isn't just keen for the bright lights of an NBA arena, he's also fond of the glitz and glam of Hollywood.
The Toronto-born big man recently added a new team to his resume, the "Portland Storms," and if you're not familiar with it, that's because it's a fictional basketball squad from the new Netflix show Running Point.
It's a comedy series starring Kate Hudson and Brenda Song, among others, co-produced by Mindy Kaling and Jeanie Buss, controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, the show features the "Los Angeles Waves," which is based on the Lakers and the life of Jeanie, who inherited the team from her late father, Jerry Buss.
As for Olynyk, he made a cameo in the season finale of the show as "Ralston," the name on the back of his jersey, or "Portland Big Man," as it appears in the credits. And although the Kamloops, B.C., native did not have any dialogue, he was plenty memorable.
Spoiler alert: Olynyk's character nails a buzzer-beating heave to sink the Waves in Game 7 of the playoffs.
And while Olynyk hasn't confirmed if that's the biggest shot of his basketball career, fictional or otherwise, it certainly adds to his 12-year career in the pros.
The centre was selected 13th overall by the Dallas Mavericks in 2013 but was sent to the Boston Celtics in a draft-night deal. He's played for seven teams in the NBA, including stints with the Houston Rockets, Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors and currently the New Orleans Pelicans.
Olynyk holds averages of 8.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists on 37 per cent shooting from beyond the arc through 791 career games.
The Raptors acquired Olynyk at the trade deadline last year, later signing him to a two-year extension. He went on to play 52 games for Toronto between the last two seasons — averaging 10.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists in that span — before getting dealt to the Pelicans at this year's deadline.
When Olynyk does decide to hang it up for good, he may have his post-playing career sorted out.
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