By Robert Wilson
Former Callaway High star and High School All-American Malik Newman could make an NBA roster this season if he puts up numbers like he did Tuesday night with the San Antonio Spurs in the Las Vegas Summer League.
The 6-foot-3 guard poured in 19 points with 6 rebounds and 4 assists in 25 minutes off the bench in a 92-89 loss to the Chicago Bulls. It was only Newman’s second game in the league. He scored 6 points in 11 minutes Monday in a 91-89 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Newman, 24, has played in only one regular season NBA game since he left Kansas after his redshirt sophomore year. He was not drafted but signed with the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the NBA G-League. Newman played for the Skyforce in 2018-2019 then was traded to the Canton Charge for the 2019-2020 season. The Cleveland Cavaliers signed Newman to a 10-day contract, and he played one game with the Cavs in February 2020, scoring two points in four minutes. He has played in Turkey and Israel in the past year.
Newman won four state championships at Callaway, averaging 29.7 points as a senior and was named to the McDonald’s All-American Game in 2015 and was ranked as the eighth best player in the country in the class in the country by Rivals.com. He signed with Mississippi State where his dad, Horatio Webster, played in the late 1990s. He averaged 11.3 points during his freshman season before transferring to Kansas. He redshirted in 2016-2017, then averaged 14.2 points and was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. He scored a season-high 32 points to lead Kansas over Duke to put the Jayhawks into the Final Four. Newman decided to turn pro once the season ended.
Malik is an NBA player,” said Copiah-Lincoln Community College coach David Sanders, who coached Newman his junior and senior years at Callaway. “Period. End of discussion. The team that drops the ego and gives him a shot will certainly reap the benefits.”
