Two hours before the sun rose over Los Angeles on Friday morning, David Nwaba and L.A. D-Fenders general manager Nick Mazzella boarded a plane in McAllen, Texas, a town pushed right up against the border between the U.S. and Mexico.
Nwaba was coming off a doubleheader. He’d played 28 minutes for the Lakers in their win over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night, then rode in an SUV with Mazzella for more than 3½ hours from San Antonio to the border. On Thursday night Nwaba played for the D-Fenders, the Lakers’ Development League affiliate, in their playoff opener against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.