Remember when I pointed out midseason that Mustafa Shakur had developed pretty drastically in the D-League from the player I had remembered?

Well, turns out Shakur also believed that playing for the Tulsa 66ers in the NBA Development League helped his career because he said exactly that in a recent interview with Dime Magazine.

Dime: You played overseas and came back to play in the D-League. Is the D-League the best situation for a player trying to take that next step?

MS: It was the best decision that I've made in a while. Because you're running all the NBA sets. You're doing the same exact things that mirror your NBA affiliate team. Our Tulsa team was owned by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Overseas, you can play well but sometimes it gets overlooked because NBA scouts aren't at every game.

After displaying the skills that made Shakur one of the top point guards in D-League last season, he's now earned a contract with the New Orleans Hornets for the upcoming season backing up Chris Paul - the top point guard in the NBA.

Take heed, NBA hopefuls.  The D-League is where it's at - especially when playing for a team closely watched by its NBA affiliate.