Two days after talking to reporters about his quest to land a spot on an NBA roster, Sharife Cooper provided another reason to wonder why he doesn’t have one already.

The former Auburn standout scored 27 points in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, the opening night of the NBA 2K24 Summer League in Las Vegas.

Cooper went 8-of-12 from the floor and 9-of-11 at the free throw line while collecting three rebounds, one assist, one steal and two blocked shots.

“You got to control what you can control,” Cooper said on Wednesday. “It’s so hard to think about: What can I do to get to the next level? You get so caught up into that, you kind of lose focus on where you are.”

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The 48th player picked in the 2021 NBA Draft after averaging 20.2 points per game in his only season at Auburn, Cooper averaged 14.8 points and 7.3 assists per game in the NBA Summer League in 2021, and he signed a two-way contract with the Atlanta Hawks.

The two-way contract allowed Cooper to play for the NBA team and its NBA G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks. But he did most of his playing with the Skyhawks as he averaged 17.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 0.9 steals in 34 games.

Cooper played 39 minutes in 13 games with Atlanta during the 2021-22 NBA season. He totaled seven points, five rebounds and five assists.

The Hawks released Cooper, and he spent the 2022-23 season with the Cleveland Charge, the Cavaliers’ NBA G League affiliate, after making only 7-of-37 shots for the 2022 Summer League team.

But in the season, Cooper had no trouble getting the ball in the basket. In 43 games with the Charge, he averaged 22.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.0 steals and made the All-G League second team.

But that got him only back in the Summer League.

“I try not to think like that,” Cooper said when asked if he ever wonders what it’s going to take to get him on a regular NBA roster. “I’m blessed to have this opportunity. Not too many people get to say they can come to a summer league and have a training camp in the NBA. I try not to lose the thought that I’m extremely blessed to be where I am, and, hopefully, I just take care of what I have to take care of and let everything else take care of itself.”

On Friday night, Cooper took care of the Nets for Cleveland down the stretch. He scored eight consecutive points for the Cavaliers from 2:14 to 32 seconds to play, then assisted on Cleveland’s remaining basket. He also made a steal and blocked a shot during that span.

The Cavaliers return to the floor at 2:30 p.m. CDT Sunday, when they play the Toronto Raptors at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas.

Cooper turned 22 years old on June 11, but he’s older than four of his Summer League teammates and has more pro experience than all but two.

“It’s kind of different now actually,” Cooper said about his NBA Summer League experience. “Coming into my third year, now I’m trying to tell rookies what to do. It feels weird. But I’ve got a little bit of experience in my last two years, so it’s like a whole different vibe. It’s like a whole different mental level when you’re coming into camp and you’ve done it before.”

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.