7-footer Skal Labissiere fights pre-draft 'soft' label
Being young, skinny and tall with statistics as underwhelming as his strength, Skal Labissiere gets a “soft” label that is difficult for him to accept.
Surviving Haiti’s horrific earthquake after three hours under his apartment complex’s rubble is an experience that would harden most people’s steel.
Picking up basketball at age 11 on his impoverished, soccer-favoring home country’s asphalt courts is no smooth course to the NBA, where the skilled 7-footer is set to become a first-round draft pick on June 23.
Labissiere (pronounced La-BISS-ee-air) might only carry 216 pounds on that lanky frame and only averaged 15.8 minutes per game as a Kentucky freshman but he considers “physicality” to be his best asset. Undeterred confidence might be right there with it, as he sets Hall of Fame goals at age 20.
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“Some people say I’m soft but that’s something I’m still learning how to do,” said Labissiere, who had his first pre-draft workout, a solo one, with the Suns last week. “How to be physical. How to play lower. I think, with time, that’s going to come.”
Labissiere even said Suns center Tyson Chandler would be an ideal mentor for him. Labissiere could be among the Suns’ power forward considerations with their No. 13 pick, one of four they own in the draft’s top 34 (also Nos. 4, 28, and 34).
“I feel like people are underestimating me a little bit but I like that,” Labissiere said. “It makes me work even hard and I know how good I can be so it doesn’t really bother me.
“I think I can be really good. It’s just a matter of me working really hard, working at my game every single day and getting stronger and bigger in the weight room, which I’ve been doing.”
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Labissiere entered last college season not far behind likely top pick Ben Simmons in NBA draft projections. Labissiere’s adaption, particularly to a post-up role, proved more difficult and he wound up with a limited but efficient role (6.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 15.8 minutes per game).
His fluid movement, soft touch and coachable demeanor are enough for many teams to look at Labissiere as a stretch power forward who could also defend guards in pick-and-rolls and protect the rim eventually. Labissiere could be a draft-lottery range choice this year for a team who figures he would have become a top pick by next year.
“I have a post game,” said Labissiere, who has been training at IMG Academy in Florida. “People underestimate my post game. I have a left and a right-handed jump hook. I just need to get stronger. Then I’ll become more effective down low. My footwork is there. I just need to learn how to use it in games.”
Labissiere played soccer until he outgrew the sport and took up basketball at the suggestion of his mother, a kindergarten principal in Haiti. He played and watched basketball as much as any Haitian kid could.
He favored Kobe Bryant and developed a soft shooting touch despite his size. Haiti only has produced three NBA players – Samuel Dalembert, Olden Polynice and Yvon Joseph (one game) – but Labissiere’s development was fast-tracked by the earthquake.
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Labissiere, his mother and his brother were in their third-floor apartment in Port au Prince when the 7.0 earthquake’s epicenter 16 miles away shook the building to the ground. The three were trapped until his father, a carpenter, and neighbors dug them out after three harrowing hours. Labissiere's injured legs were a fortunate outcome in light of how more than 100,000 countrymen died and more than 1 million people were left homeless.
After the Labissieres lived in a tent for the next five months, Labissiere’s parents were prompted to allow him to move near Memphis, Tenn., in 2010 at age 14 with a family that had a non-profit agency for disadvantaged international athletes.
Labissiere played at an area high school until a senior-year transfer limited his game experience just as he chose Kentucky to face the best competition.
“I think I’m a pretty tough kid if you look at my history,” Labissiere said. “Not many have been through what I’ve been through and are still following their dreams. I think I’m pretty tough.”
Reach Paul Coro atpaul.coro@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-2470. Follow him atwww.twitter.com/paulcoro.