Former Alabama players Charles Bediako and Alex Reese were on the same court for an NBA preseason game on Tuesday night, when the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets 124-94.
On Wednesday, they were on the NBA transactions report together, too. Both were waived – Bediako by the Nuggets and Reese by the Thunder.
Reese signed with Oklahoma City on Sept. 27. Bediako joined Denver on Oct. 8.
Both players were in training camp on Exhibit 10 contracts.
An Exhibit 10 contract is a one-year, minimum-salary, non-guaranteed deal. If the player doesn’t make the NBA team’s roster, the contract includes a provision that will pay the player a bonus of up to $77,500 if he spends at least 60 days with the team’s NBA Gatorade League affiliate.
The Thunder’s G League affiliate is the Oklahoma City Blue. The Nuggets’ G League affiliate is the Grand Rapids Gold.
Reese and Bediako were not teammates with the Crimson Tide. A former Pelham High School standout, Reese played for Alabama in four seasons — from 2017-18 through 2020-21. Bediako played for the Tide in 2021-22 and 2022-23.
Reese had a season off after Alabama before averaging 23.7 points in the Luxembourg Basketball League in the 2022-23 campaign.
Last season, the 6-foot-9 forward averaged 11.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots in 43 games with the Rip City Remix of the NBA G League.
Reese averaged 7.6 points per game playing for the Portland Trail Blazers’ entry in the NBA 2K24 Summer League in Las Vegas in July.
Reese played in three of the Thunder’s four preseason games. He had seven points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
Bediako averaged 5.5 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17 games for the Austin Spurs in the NBA G League last season.
The 7-0 center averaged 3.7 points and 2.3 rebounds for the Orlando Magic in the NBA 2K24 Summer League.
Bediako got 51 seconds of court time in Tuesday night’s game for his only preseason action.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
