The majority of players from the Golden State Warriors have already made their way into the weight room of their downtown Oakland practice facility. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" blares from inside the room and the player's laughter fills the air.

Aside from a sweating Baron Davis shooting free-throws at the far end of the facility, CJ Watson and Kelenna Azubuike are the only players still on the glossy basketball court. For the past half-hour the two have been struggling to finish a shooting drill, and frustration begins to show in their faces.

"Let's go, baby!" yells Watson. The two players finally get into their groove and Azubuike begins to build a rhythm with the music. His fingers snap, and he gives his best Michael Jackson impersonation each time he strikes a three-pointer.

These two may relish moments like this more than other Warriors players, because they both had to work their way through the NBA's Developmental League (D-League) before finally making it into basketball's upper echelon.

Players that are serious about playing with the cream-of-the-crop in the NBA often compete in smaller professional leagues like the D-League as a way to gain exposure. Others go overseas where there are hundreds of leagues and opportunities. The reality for each of these hopefuls is that the NBA only makes room for about four-hundred players, meaning there aren't many moonwalks to go around.

"It's not easy because every player has the dream," says Devougn Lamont, who played for the San Francisco Rumble, a team within the American Basketball Association (ABA).

Lamont, a six-foot-ten center who led the team in points and rebounds, says he wants to play in the NBA but isn't going to get his hopes up. "I have to be realistic," he says. "There's so many players nowadays. There are players from the NCAA, the ABA, overseas, everywhere. It's a really tough league to get into."
It is so difficult to break into that the National Collegiate Athletic Association estimates NBA teams will only draft 1.2 percent of male college seniors playing NCAA basketball. Even more intimidating, NBA teams will draft just three high school senior players out of every ten thousand.

Having a chance against these ratios involves more than just being a skilled player and a little luck. "There are so many variables," says Damone Hale, owner of the Rumble. "There's some that certainly have the ability, but whether or not they meet the right person, or they have the right breaks

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