Assist Brian Kortovich
Brian Kortovich (BK) has a game that’s NBA-proven and a jump shot that’s second to none. Known as Smokin’ Aces after a breakout performance in Harlem’s Rucker Park, he’s got the grit, determination and unshakeable charisma to take the hard court by storm.
BK is poised to make a name for himself and get into the NBA, but Team Kortovich knows he can’t
do it alone.
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> 1. Why Should I Vote?
Assist Team Kortovich: tweet your vote. Get free gear. Every time you share a content from this site, we will contact someone in the NBA. With your help, BK will be one step closer to playing in the league and as our thank you, for every 500 votes until we reach 10,000, we'll auction off free gear from our sponsors. It’s a win, win situation.
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> 2. What are NBA personnel saying?
“I played ball with Brian recently and there is no doubt he can play in the NBA. He has the talent, work ethic, and his jump shot is on point. If I were a GM, he'd be on my team."
-Carmelo Anthony
New York Knicks“Brian is a lights out shooter and has a great understanding of the game. He has obviously been overlooked for whatever reason. He can play in the NBA and proved it against our guys in camp. There’s a spot on every NBA roster for Brian.”
- Dan D’Antoni
New York Knicks’ Assistant Coach“Brian is a tough competitor who knows the game and has a great stroke. He has seen the level of energy and commitment that it takes to play at this level. I love his passion.”
- Allan Houston
New York Knicks all-time great and current Knicks’ Assistant GM“BK can shoot the rock with the best of them, at any level. He can definitely be an asset to teams in the NBA.”
- Sam Mitchell
Former NBA Coach of the Year: Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets Assistant Coach“Brian is a great floor leader, very heady, can make shots off the dribble or catch and shoot. He’s got a great chance to make an NBA roster and his work ethic will keep him in the League.”
- Anthony Marrow
New Jersey Nets SG"BK has a deadly jumper from the PG position He can run a team at this level if called upon and I know he can land a roster spot on a lot of teams in the NBA."
- Kevin Martin
Shooting Guard, Houston Rockets"Brian Kortovich is a great shooter from the PG position who also has a good mind for the game."
- Speedy Claxton
10year NBA Career (76ers, Spurs, Warriors, Hornet, and Hawks)
NBA Champion: San Antonio Spurs 2003
Current Golden State Warriors Scout - > 3. How Can I Help?
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> 4. Read Brian’s Story (Extended Version)
At 6'1" Brian Kortovich has never been a likely candidate for professional basketball. In fact, most people give him the cockeyed “you’re crazy” look when he tells them of his plan to play in the NBA. That is, until they see him on the court. For the last two decades, not a day has gone by without him in some way working on his game, aiming to perfect his form, speed and agility.
From the time he was in elementary school, he could be found outside shooting baskets for hours on end. When no one else was around to play with him, he turned to this sport because he could do it alone. Caught between separated parents and sleeping under a family friend’s pool table for two years, Brian took solace in the repetition of shooting basket after basket. He didn’t know it at the time, but those initial years of independent practice did more than make way for the nickname, Smokin’ Aces, that would be bestowed on him years later during his breakout performance at the EBC tournament in Rucker Park. It also instilled in him the pure bred tenacity that has carried him through each day since.
Never the type to take “no” for an answer, Brian refuses to accept the easy way out. Injuring every major ligament in his knee not once, but twice during his college career resulted in a roller coaster of transfers, intense rehabilitation programs, and limited court time during his junior and senior years. Everyone told him his career was over before it started. Fueled to prove them wrong, he worked harder and longer and entered the business world in summer 2006 wearing a suit on Wall Street. Continuing to improve his game, he spent his off hours in high tops on the courts of Harlem, the Bronx, and Washington Heights. Against impossible odds, he became a New York street baller with enough tournament play and statistics to network his reel into the hands of international scouts.
Deserving is not in Brian Kortovich’s vocabulary. For him, it’s about earning, and nothing in his life exemplified this better than his mother’s relentless desire to make a better life for her and her two children. With no support, she started from scratch and worked multiple jobs to put herself through school during Brian’s youth. Through her, Brian’s greatest role model of all, he dimensionalized the value of hard work and learned the art of balancing goals with reality.
Demonstrating a steely grace and unrelenting passion after losing his father to an aggressive cancer, 10-year-old Brian plotted the course of his future and vowed to make his father proud with a list of 25 things to live by and accomplish. With 24 of the 25 fulfilled, just one remains...to play in the NBA.
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> 5. Who is Brian Kortovich [BK]?
Brian Kortovich is Smokin’ Aces. He has spent the last four years playing basketball in Kuwait, Italy, France, Isreal, and the Dominican Republic and he's been a fierce competitor, in both the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets preseason workouts in the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons, making believers out of NBA personnel. After being drafted into the NBA D-League, it’s clear that BK is just getting started.
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> 6. About Team Kortovich
We’re a ragtag group of sports enthusiasts and creative professionals who met Brian and wanted to do everything in our power to help him succeed. He’s a phenomenal athlete but an even better person. Get to know him, you won’t regret it.
Contact: Info@givebkashot.com
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