Oita HeatDevils forward T.J. Cummings is the Player of the Week in Japan, the bj-league announced earlier this week.
The big fellow had 31 points on 15-for-29 shooting, 18 rebounds and three assists in a Saturday win over the Iwate Big Bulls. A day later, he had 18 points, 13 boards and two assists. Oita swept Iwate.
Cummings, a UCLA product, is averaging 18.8 ppg and 10.1 rpg. His father, Terry, played in the NBA for 18 years, starting with the San Diego Clippers in the 1982-83 season — he was the No. 2 pick the '82 NBA Draft — when he was named Rookie of the Year.
The elder Cummings, now a Pentecostal minister, later played for the Bucks, Spurs, SuperSonics, 76ers, Knicks and Warriors in an 1,183-game, 19,460-point career that ended in 1999.