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Kansas basketball: Frank Mason strong in NBA debut

By Stan Unruh

GREENBURGH, NY - AUGUST 11: Frank Mason of the Sacramento Kings poses for a portrait during the 2017 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot at MSG Training Center on August 11, 2017 in Greenburgh, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
GREENBURGH, NY - AUGUST 11: Frank Mason of the Sacramento Kings poses for a portrait during the 2017 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot at MSG Training Center on August 11, 2017 in Greenburgh, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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The hero of the 2016-17 Kansas basketball season made his official NBA debut Saturday in Denver. The Kings and others used social media to feature Frank Mason.

Kansas basketball fans celebrated the next step on Frank Mason’s journey Saturday. The darling of Bill Self’s 2016-17 team won just about any award anyone wanted to give. As a matter of fact, Mason deserved all of them too. Frank deserved the ESPY too.  He didn’t attend that award ceremony because he had an NBA contract to sign that afternoon. 

Forget Mason’s hardware haul.  Kansas basketball fans are celebrating the fact that Mason is earning an NBA paycheck. It was fun watching Sacramento take the 5-foot-11 guard from Petersburg, Virginia in the NBA draft.  We all want to see Frank do well playing the NBA’s game.

We watched him in the Summer league where Mason averaged 8.5 points in the 16-minutes a game he played. He did many of the things in Vegas we watched him do during four-years of Kansas basketball.  Now we wanted to see him do it against regular season competition.

During the NBA preseason, I marveled at what Frank did and how the Kings featured his talent via social media.  If they don’t like you, they don’t continue to show you off.  They did that Saturday too when Mason entered the game against the Nuggets in Denver.

Next: Malik Newman deserves his national attention

Mason looks good in NBA debut

I’m sure coach Self and many of his former Jayhawk teammates are thrilled for Mason.  He scored 7-points in 17-minutes of his NBA regular season debut. He looked confident and showed he belongs.

Sure, the Kings have a lot of talent.  They show off Buddy Hield, DeAaron Fox and others on their social media. I’m glad they are including Mason. I think he is going to have a great NBA season and his future is bright.

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