‘Hasn’t fully sunk in.’ Ben Gregg’s pro career takes brief detour at NBA Summer League before opportunity in France

LAS VEGAS – With all the mileage he put on in a Gonzaga jersey, Ben Gregg’s first time in five years wearing another uniform was always bound to be somewhat disorienting.

After making 141 appearances over 4½ seasons in Spokane, ranking No. 7 on the school’s all-time list, Gregg spent roughly a month acclimating to life in a Boston Celtics jersey, playing for the iconic NBA franchise at Las Vegas Summer League.

Strange as that felt, it was equally jarring to see a handful of former college teammates wearing other uniforms just four months after Gregg shared the same floor with many of them during an NCAA Tournament Round of 32 loss to Houston in Wichita, Kansas.

There was one instance right before Boston’s first Summer League game. As the Celtics were arriving at Thomas & Mack Center, the Dallas Mavericks were wrapping up a morning practice session at a smaller gym inside the same facility. As Gregg made his way down a concrete ramp toward Boston’s locker room, he crossed paths with Nolan Hickman, who was walking toward Dallas’ bus. The two shared a brief hug before going separate ways.

“It still hasn’t really fully sunk in,” Gregg said. “It’s crazy seeing the teammates here with different jerseys on. It’s crazy. It was a great run, all 4½ years, I had a great time. Relationships that are going to stick with me for a lifetime.”

With all 30 NBA teams playing games at arenas adjacent to one another over a span of two weeks, the Summer League setting is conducive to such encounters.

Gregg was walking off the floor at Cox Pavilion three days later when he bumped into Khalif Battle, whose Phoenix Suns were taking the court for pregame warmups. The forward’s first minutes at Summer League came on July 13 against the New York Knicks and former frontcourt mate Anton Watson, who was on the floor when Gregg checked in late in the fourth quarter.

Gregg conducted predraft workouts with 12 NBA teams and latched on with the Celtics, who offered the forward a Summer League invitation shortly after the NBA draft concluded. Gregg was grateful for the experience but didn’t place much stock in his minutes or role with the team in Las Vegas.

By the time he agreed to join the Celtics on a Summer League-only basis, Gregg and his agent were deep into negotiations with SIG Strasbourg, a French team competing in the nation’s top basketball league. Strasbourg announced it signed Gregg to a one-year deal – a standard contract for European teams – on July 2, roughly a week before he arrived in Vegas with the Celtics.

“They’ve been talking to my agent a lot and it’s in a great league over there in France, a great team,” Gregg said. “l have an opportunity over there. I’ll get a lot of minutes with them, so that’s exciting, it’s kind of a neat opportunity and hopefully work my way up over there.”

Gregg wasn’t opposed to professional opportunities in the United States but felt it would be easier to adapt to the playing style in Europe, thought to be more organized and methodical than the up-tempo, often cutthroat NBA G League.

He’ll join a Strasbourg team that recently added two former foes from the West Coast Conference: Santa Clara’s Adama Bal and BYU’s Fousseyni Traore.

“Even just seeing (Summer League), it’s super fast-paced, a lot of just athletes,” Gregg said. “I think my (game) is more like basketball IQ and stuff like that. More structured. I’m definitely excited to get over there and get it going.”

It signifies a major lifestyle change for Gregg, who’s never left the Pacific Northwest for an extended period of time, starring at Clackamas High School in the Portland area before moving to Spokane midway through his senior year to enroll early at Gonzaga, where he’d spend the next 4½ years.

“I need to find some hobbies, because I don’t do too much besides play basketball and just chill out, so I looked at pictures and stuff,” Gregg said. “I’ve never really been out of the country, so this will be my first time in Europe. Looking forward to having a new place to live, having new teammates and hopefully building new relationships.”

It’ll also be a decidedly longer commute for parents Matt and Kori, who juggled work and family obligations to catch most of Ben’s home and road games at Gonzaga – particularly over the past two to three years as he saw his role grow for Mark Few’s teams.

Even with a warning that Ben may not see much time at Summer League, the Greggs weren’t going to miss their son’s stint with Boston and attended all five games in Vegas, proudly wearing Celtics shirts they’d purchased before heading down.

“I told them I probably wasn’t going to play and they still came and bought gear, of course,” Ben said. “That just shows the love and support they have for me. I’m not sure how much they’re going to come out to France to see me play, so it’s going to be hard.”

Matt and Kori Gregg were told Ben wasn’t in the team’s plans prior to a game against Watson and the Knicks. They still found seats near the top of Cox Pavilion and were surprised when Ben walked to the scorers table with 1 minute, 52 seconds remaining in the second half.

“We took a lot of pictures,” Matt said. “… About two minutes left and they put him in, we just started snapping pictures straight away. It was awesome, it was great to see him do that and got in the stats, so there we go.”

Gregg saw playing time in two games, getting extended run in Boston’s Summer League finale against Atlanta when he played 20 minutes and put up a solid stat line of 13 points, eight rebounds and two assists. Gregg finished 5 of 8 from the field and 3 of 5 from the 3-point line.

“Literally didn’t know what their roster was going to look like until I got to Boston,” Gregg said. “Not really what I was expecting, but I’m very thankful for the opportunity to be able to work out with them and do a little training camp in Boston.

“It is special. Very storied program and franchise. Definitely is cool, I wish I got to see the real jersey a little bit more, but it’s all right.”

Gregg’s time in Vegas gave him multiple opportunities to reminisce on his time with another storied program. The forward showed up for the annual dinner for NBA Zags, attended one of Ryan Nembhard’s games at the Thomas & Mack Center and sat in the bleachers for an all-GU clash featuring Watson and Drew Timme. Few watched Gregg’s game against Watson, sitting alongside Celtics GM Brad Stevens and Los Angeles Clippers assistant Jeff Van Gundy at Cox Pavilion.

“I had very high expectations, so it’s hard to top what I was expecting,” Gregg said, reflecting on his time with the Zags. “But like I said, I had a lot of fun. Every game day in the Kennel was special, the road trips, the team dinners, all that little stuff. You’re definitely going to miss and remember for a long time. But everything about it was top notch.”