'It's taken me 27 years to feel this confident.' Nate Sestina is hitting his stride with La Familia

Nate Sestina has played a lot of basketball in his life. He was Conference Player of the Year during his senior season of high school before spending four seasons at Bucknell. Following a terrific senior campaign for the Bison in 2018-19, he transferred to Kentucky and was a key piece in that group of Wildcats making a run late in the season — before COVID-19 shut everything down, that is.

After college, the 6-foot-9 forward has played for multiple teams overseas, making stops in Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Turkey, and, later this year, Spain. He also had a stint in the NBA’s G League after going undrafted in 2020. Sestina helped Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahçe win the Basketball Super League (BSL) this past season. He’s been around the block a few times.

But only now is he playing the best basketball of his life. And he’s doing so for Kentucky’s alumni team, La Familia, in The Basketball Tournament. Not even a glob of spit from a Louisville player can slow him down.

“I’m 27. It’s taken me 27 years to feel this confident in myself and in my game,” Sestina said on Monday night following La Familia’s win over The Ville. “I speak with a mental health coach and he and I have been working the last three years to just really put misses out of my head and keep going, going, going.”

That work both on and off the floor is paying off in TBT, where $1 million is on the line for the winning team. Sestina went from starting this event going 2-10 from deep against the 305 Ballers to hitting five triples in the third quarter against The Ville, shutting the door on any possible comeback attempt from Louisville’s alumni team.

Through four games with La Familia, Sestina has been among head coach Tyler Ulis‘ top performers. He’s averaging 15 points and 5.5 rebounds per outing while shooting 47.8 percent from the floor and 41.7 percent from long range. Sestina credits Ulis and his teammates for giving him the ultimate green light.

“I had a couple of bad (shots) today,” Sestina added. “But the hard work that you put in, the trust that builds in yourself, and the trust that these guys — like I met these guys for the first time in person like two weeks ago. And it feels like we’ve been teammates forever.“

Sestina’s hot shooting has rubbed off on his teammates too. Willie Cauley-Stein — who never attempted a single three-pointer during his three seasons at Kentucky — has been firing them off with plenty of confidence at TBT. That was especially true when he went 3-3 from deep against The Ville. The Cardinals left him open and he made them pay.

“I got (Sestina) beside me telling me to pull it every time and I’m like ‘Wait, this is how you all feel? You can really just pull this every time you touch it?'” Cauley-Stein said. “And Nathan, he pulls it every time he touches it and that thing goes in. It looks good when it goes in too.”

La Familia is just two more victories away from winning TBT and the $1 million grand prize. They’ll need more big moments from Sestina to make it happen, but it doesn’t sound like he’s worried about showing up when the lights are the brightest. La Familia takes on Carmen’s Crew (Ohio State alumni team) this Friday at 9:00 p.m. EST in Philadelphia.

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