EIGHT GAMES INTO his rookie season, back in the state where he became a college basketball phenomenon, all the elements were in place for Los Angeles Lakers forward Dalton Knecht to continue his storybook ascent in the sport.
It was Nov. 6, and Knecht was starting for the first time of his NBA career. His coach from the University of Tennessee, Rick Barnes, was sitting courtside in Memphis -- with a Volunteers Elite Eight ring in his pocket he planned to present in person to the 6-6 wing who led the program further in the NCAA tournament it had been in more than a decade as he became an All-American in his lone season donning orange.