The Kieran Shannon Interview: Indomitable Summers never stopped believing

A decade on from crossing paths with NBA superstar Steph Curry, Templeogue’s Lawrence ‘Puff’ Summers takes the latest step in his own incredible journey this weekend. After 10 eventful years in Ireland, there’s still one trophy he’s desperate to claim.

“A few days before my departure the team manager told me they had signed an American point guard who would be travelling on the same flight to Shannon. When I emailed to ask who I should look for he replied ‘A short black fella named Puff.’ I thought he had to be joking but it turned out that he really was called Puff and wouldn’t hit you in the eye for saying it to his face either. Puff had grown up on the pudgy side and the family nickname stayed with him even after he became an NCAA Division One athlete. I was a little self-conscious at first. It felt strange to call a grown man ‘Puff’. But I would end up loudly calling Puff’s name many times on the basketball court.” — Pete Strobl, Deadspin

Just months before Liam McHale would heartily welcome him to the west of Ireland and regale him in the hostelries of Ballina, the man known as Puff encountered another legend, the one that would go on to be known as Steph.