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FSU Alums: Xavier Rathan-Mayes opens strong for Lakers in summer league

By Jason Parker

ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 16: Xavier Rathan-Mayes #22 of the Florida State Seminoles shoots the ball against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Amway Center on March 16, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 16: Xavier Rathan-Mayes #22 of the Florida State Seminoles shoots the ball against the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Amway Center on March 16, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Former FSU basketball star Xavier Rathan Mayes is spending the summer playing for the Lakers’ team and has shown his skills quite early on.

In the period of just under four months, former FSU basketball star Xavier Rathan-Mayes has had the joy of playing for three different organizations in the NBA. At the beginning of March, XRM was a member of the developmental team for the New York Knicks (who some would say is better than the real team) before signing a 10 day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.

After appearing in five games for Memphis and averaging nearly six points a game, it was back to the Knicks’ farm team before signing with the summer league squad for the Los Angeles Lakers. Like former teammates Dwayne Bacon (Charlotte), Malik Beasley (Denver) and the Orlando duo of Jonathan Isaac and Braian Angola.

While he will see his FSU teammates in the coming weeks in Las Vegas, Rathan-Mayes and his new Lakers team got a chance to take part in a four team tournament that started Monday in Sacramento – and while the purple and yellow lost to the hometown Kings, XRM got a chance to showcase his talents while playing nearly 30 game minutes.

At times, Rathan-Mayes made himself a scoring threat – we all remember that insane final five minutes against Miami during the 2014-15 season – before becoming more of a facilitator when players like Bacon, Beasley and Isaac joined the Seminoles.

On Tuesday, Rathan-Mayes and the Lakers took on the Miami Heat’s summer league team and the former FSU star finished with nine points to go along with five assists and two rebounds.

Next: Dwayne Bacon looking to become complete player in Charlotte

With the recent moves by the Lakers in the free agent period – signing a few players, including someone named LeBron you might have heard of – one would think that it’s going to be difficult for XRM to make the big club this season. However, a good showing could keep him in the developmental league or possibly get another team to sign him for the big club.

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