Jim Ayello

Jim Ayello

INDIANAPOLIS — There’s no need to audition, Larry Bird told Kevin Seraphin. “I already know what you can do.”

But there was one thing the Indiana Pacers president needed to know before signing the 26-year-old free agent to a contract earlier this month. He put it bluntly.

“What the hell happened to you?”

It was a fair question, the 6-9 French forward concedes.

“He thought by now I’d be this big-time player,” said Seraphin, now a six-year NBA veteran. Instead, Bird was able to sign the former first-round pick to a contract worth little more than the league veteran minimum.

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And frankly, Seraphin said, Bird didn’t have a whole lot of NBA competition for his services.

There was such little interest in him during the summer that Seraphin fired his agent. At one point, he resigned himself to the fact that he would probably have to play this season in Europe.

“It was tough,” Seraphin said. “All that waiting. I kept thinking, ‘How the hell do I not have an (NBA) offer.’ I feel like I’m young, and I still have a lot of potential; I still have a lot in the tank.”

NBA executives didn’t agree. And they had good reason. Seraphin was coming off what he admits was the worst season of his career.

Last season, with the New York Knicks, Seraphin wasn’t himself, he says. He put on weight; he missed games because of a knee injury; he lost confidence in himself.

The results were predictably ugly: He averaged just 11 minutes, 3.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.

“I just messed it up,” Seraphin said of his time in New York. “I take the blame. At one point you have to look at yourself in the mirror and be a man about it."

So let’s get back to Bird’s question. What happened to Kevin Seraphin? How did it come to that in New York, and where did the ultra-strong, athletic big man Bird loved so much coming out of the 2010 NBA draft go?

To hear Seraphin tell it, his problems trace back to his days in the nation’s capital.

Seraphin, selected No. 17 overall by Chicago but traded to Washington on draft day, was considered a raw prospect coming out of France. It didn’t take long, however, for him to learn the pace and style of the NBA game. Seraphin began showing improvement during his sophomore campaign and was thriving by the end of this third year.

In the final month of that 2012-13 season, Seraphin — still only 23 and armedwith a deadly jump hook and reliable midrange jumper — averaged 15.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.

He posted three double-doubles that month, including a 19-and-10 effort against the Pacers. The sterling finish led many to believe the skilled big man was destined to break out the following season.

It never happened.

Instead, Seraphin seemingly regressed under Wizards coach Randy Wittman and began to lose playing time. He went from being on the court 22 minutes per game in 2013 to half that the following season.

According to numerous reports, Wittman was tough on Seraphin, often berating the young forward after he made a mistake.

The “tough love” Seraphin could take, he said, but the lack of opportunity, that he couldn’t stand. In a recent interview, he told Frenchnewspaper L'Equipe that he repeatedly asked the Wizards to trade him, but they always refused.

During the 2014-15 season, his last with Washington, Seraphin saw a few more minutes per game, but his playing time, he said, was inconsistent.

“They had no plan for me,” he said. “I was really disappointed I didn’t get a trade, because my whole career could have changed. The way I got coached wasn’t consistent. I wasn’t playing consistently, so how could I be consistent?”

During that final season in Washington, Seraphin averaged just 6.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. At season’s end, he and the Wizards parted ways.

Seraphin entered free agency excited to find a “real opportunity” with a new team. But no one came calling — at least not with the kind of offer he thought he deserved.

Seraphin wound up signing with the Knicks late in free agency, for just one year and $2.8 million.

“I let that affect me. I let it affect my motivation to work. I came in out of shape. … I regret what happened in New York. I didn’t give New York the real me.”

So, “what the hell happened” to Kevin Seraphin? That was the long answer. That was what Bird heard a few weeks ago when he elected to add the big man to an already deep and talented roster.

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But he also heard other things. Things he needed Seraphin to say.

“I’m in shape,” Seraphin told Bird. “I’ve been working all summer; I didn’t take a vacation. I told myself, I can’t make this mistake twice. I can’t do what I did in New York again.

In return, Bird told Seraphin the things he needed to hear: No audition needed. We know you’re good enough.

“It felt so great to actually talk to someone, you know the president of a team, who believes in you,” Seraphin said with a smile. “And saying you can be great. I was like, ‘finally.’ ”

Seraphin has wasted no time impressing the Pacers president. Bird said when he walked into a practice recently, he saw Myles Turner pounding away against Seraphin inside. But the next day, when Bird arrived at practice, he found Turner far away from Seraphin, shooting 3s.

“That just tells you how physical Kevin is,” Bird said. “He wants to be here. He’s a talented kid. He can really get some things done for us. I told him there is probably going to be playing time; you just gotta go get it.”

That’s exactly what Seraphin intends to do.

Follow IndyStar producer Jim Ayello on Twitter: @jamesayello.

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