Golden Memories Keep Wood Going : Basketball: Member of ’84 Olympic team tries to renew chances to return to the NBA by playing in Summer Pro League.

Leon Wood sat high in the bleachers at Gersten Pavilion at Loyola Marymount University. He had to wait an hour before he could do his favorite thing, play basketball.

Wood is playing in the Summer Pro League, as he has every summer since he finished his first NBA season in 1985.

But this time Wood is not merely honing his skills.

“I’m trying to make a team, trying to get a job,” he said.

“My first three or four years (as a pro), I was on a team already,” Wood said. “I was pretty much trying to work on certain things. Now it’s kind of hard to just work on certain things when you don’t have a job. You have to do everything and showcase yourself. I’m trying to go out here and play an overall game.”

It’s a strange situation in which to find a player with Wood’s credentials.

He was a two-time Southern Section 1-A Player of the Year at St. Monica High and set a section career scoring record of 2,693 points that stood until last year, when it was broken by Tracy Murray. Wood’s career scoring average of 33.7 points is still a section record.

At Cal State Fullerton, Wood was an All-American and led the nation in assists his junior year. He played on the U.S. Olympic team that won a gold medal in 1984, and was a first-round draft choice of the Philadelphia 76ers and the 10th player selected in the 1984 draft.

But Wood never has found a place in the NBA, drifting among five teams in five seasons. He has even played in the Continental Basketball Assn. and in Spain.

What happened?

“I haven’t been in the right place at the right time,” Wood said. “Nobody can question my work ethic or my love of the game. Basically it’s being in the right place at the right time. I haven’t had that opportunity.”

When Wood joined the 76ers, he had to take his place as the fifth guard behind Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, Clint Richardson and Sedale Threatt. Later, Philadelphia shifted Julius Erving to guard, moving Wood even further down the depth chart.

“I’ve been playing catch-up ever since,” he said.

Wood played in only 38 games his rookie season. Things weren’t going much better his second year until a mid-season trade sent him to the Washington Bullets.

Given playing time and the green light to shoot by Coach Gene Shue, Wood responded with a 30-point performance against New Jersey in his fifth game.

“It was unbelievable,” said Shue, now the general manager of the 76ers. “We felt we had a fantastic player. As the season progressed, I don’t know whether he lost confidence, but his numbers started to shrink. He never really recovered.”

Shue was fired late in the season, and when Kevin Loughery took over as coach, he decided to go with the veterans in the playoff drive, reducing Wood’s playing time.

Wood spent the next season with the New Jersey Nets and enjoyed his most productive year. Playing behind rookie Dwayne (Pearl) Washington, Wood appeared in 76 games. He averaged 22 minutes, 7.3 points and 4.2 assists and made a club-record 60 three-point field goals.

Wood was waived the next season. Since then he has played for the San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks, a team in Spain, the CBA’s Santa Barbara Islanders and finally the Nets again this year. Wood’s contract expired at the end of the season, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Laker General Manager Jerry West, at Gersten Pavilion to watch his team’s summer league entry, said that although Wood’s well-traveled past might be a warning sign to some teams, it says a great deal about his tenacity.

“It takes great mental strength and mental integrity to play so long with so many teams,” West said. “To his credit, he has been able to do that. He loves the game.”

Marty Blake, the NBA’s director of scouting services, has never doubted that Wood could play in the NBA. “I think he deserves a shot,” Blake said. “I think he has become a better player the last couple of years. He has matured. And I always thought he gave 100%.”

Maturity, however, takes time to develop. And Wood, 28, has grown as a player and a person since he became a professional almost six years ago.

“I’m older, I think I’m more experienced,” Wood said. “I know what to expect as far as what coaches look for. They look for the complete package. If you come in as a scorer, they know you can score, but they want to see what else you can do.

“I think I’ve gotten a lot smarter. I’ve improved in certain areas. The bottom line is that I’m a lot older and the mentality’s a lot different. I’m married now.”

Wood and his wife, Tia, have a 14-month-old daughter, Whitney.

“I went on vacation with my wife for a week after the season,” Wood said. “I’ve never done that before. Now I’m starting to relax. I’m starting to enjoy myself and enjoy basketball while maintaining that eye of the tiger, that hunger.”

Whenever feels down, all he has to do is play his tape of the 1984 Olympic team’s games.

“I had an awesome time,” Wood said. “To finally get that (final) game over with, just to finally see the clock tick to zero and we had that gold medal . . . it was unbelievable. It was in my hometown; people from my high school were in the stands, people from college; it was just unbelievable. The only thing missing was the Russians.”