FARGO — The roster of the Long Island Nets lists forward Grant Nelson as being 7-feet tall. This is a change from his college days at North Dakota State and later Alabama, when he was listed as 6-10 and then 6-11.
What gives, big man? Are the Nets legitimately listing you as a 7-footer or is that a stretch?
ADVERTISEMENT
“I didn’t know that,” Nelson said Tuesday on a phone call from the New York City borough. “That’s probably stretching it. Maybe with the right shoes.”
Nelson, the Devils Lake native who spent three years in Fargo playing for coach Dave Richman before transferring to Alabama and experiencing the highest level of college basketball for two more, is in his first year of professional basketball with the G-League’s Nets, the developmental team of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets.
The goal is to move the 50 miles from the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
“My goal is not finished, but I’m definitely grateful for a lot of things that are happening,” Nelson said. “My dream was to play basketball for a living and I’m experiencing that every day, but there’s more to do. I’m not finished with what I want to accomplish.”
He’s definitely closer today than where he was even a few months ago.
Nelson missed the first seven weeks of the Nets’ season with a sore patella tendon, a condition he says plagued him for years.
“It was something that I dealt with on and off even in college back at NDSU, but it was never too bad. It was sort of lingering. This was different and so we figured it was probably something we should take care of,” Nelson said, referring to rest and rehabilitation work. “It was definitely tough coming back from injury and having to watch the team and not be out there. I put a lot of trust in the staff here and worked with them.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Grant Nelson 2.jpg
Former North Dakota State and Alabama basketball player Grant Nelson, who is originally from Devils Lake, North Dakota, is currently playing for the Long Island Nets of the NBA's G-League. Long Island is the G-League affiliate of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets.
Contributed / Long Island Nets
His first game was Jan. 9 against the Wisconsin Herd, when Nelson started and played 15 minutes. He scored two points on 1 of 4 shooting.
That would be the quietest of the nine games Nelson has played since being declared healthy.
The next night against Wisconsin, he again started and played 15 minutes but this time scored 21 points on 9 of 12 shooting while getting seven rebounds. On Jan. 23 against the Toronto Raptors 905 — one of the better teams in the G League — Nelson scored 20 points (7 of 8 from the field, 4 of 4 from the free throw line) while grabbing six rebounds in just 18 minutes.
On Jan. 21 at Sioux Falls he had 14 points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes.
G League games are four 12-minute quarters for a total of 48 minutes. Nelson has played 20 minutes only twice, in a game last week and again Monday night. So while he’s started all nine games in which he’s played, he doesn’t yet have starter minutes.
That’s by design. He’s on limited minutes coming back from the injury.
“I’m gradually playing more as the games go on. I think I’m up to 20 minutes in the last couple of games,” Nelson said. “My teammates are having trust in me and I’m going out there trying to make the most of my minutes. The scoring is going to come naturally, but I’ve got to get rebounds and guard one through five (all positions) on defense.
ADVERTISEMENT
“This is my first year and I’m still getting the feel of professional ball and this competition level. It’s different because this is a developmental league and so you have new teammates and new guys who come to play and so it’s sometimes a different roster from one game to the next. That’s different than college. The style of play depends on who’s there and who’s not. When the two-way or assignment guys come down, you’re trying to get them a lot of shots or cater to their play. That’s what the G League is for, we’re the developmental team for the NBA club.”
He's averaging about 12 points and 6 rebounds in 17 minutes per game. The math is easy enough. That's 24 points and 12 rebounds in 34 minutes. With his high production in limited minutes, Nelson has been mentioned as a potential prospect for a two-way contract with Brooklyn.
The NBA allows each team to have three players on two-way contracts, which allow promising young players to split time between the G League affiliate and the big club. Players get the chance to practice and play with NBA teams, but can return to the G League team any time for more game experience.
“That’s the goal, but I don’t really think about it too much,” Nelson said. “If I play well and do the things I need to do, those things will take care of themselves. That’s the way I look at it.”
By the way, what’s it like going from Devils Lake to New York City? Is the small-town guy getting along OK?
“We’re out on Long Island, which is like a suburb more than a big city. It’s a lot like Fargo, actually,” Nelson said. “I’ve had a chance to get to Manhattan three or four times and I spent the whole summer in Brooklyn, living in a hotel while we were going through workouts and stuff. It’s good. It’s fun.”
Yo, Brooklyn. You’re 13-35 and one of the worst teams in the NBA. You’re going nowhere. Give the North Dakota kid a shot. There’s a good track with North Dakota guys in the Big Apple. Phil Jackson from Williston did OK at Madison Square Garden all those years ago.
ADVERTISEMENT
Mike McFeely
By Mike McFeely
Mike McFeely is a columnist for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. He began working for The Forum in the 1980s while he was a student studying journalism at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He's been with The Forum full time since 1990, minus a six-year hiatus when he hosted a local radio talk-show.
Twitter Facebook