Grant Nelson
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Grant Nelson starred at Alabama and NDSU in college.
When Grant Nelson made his debut for the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, he made history for where his basketball career took off.
Nelson became the first former North Dakota State player to ever play an NBA regular season game and the first to land a roster spot during a season. He inked a 10-day contract with the Nets on Friday, and Grant posted three points, two rebounds, four assists, and two blocks against the Boston Celtics in a 148-111 loss.
“It’s really just a dream come true,” Nelson told the YES Network before the game. “I’m just going to do what I can, continue to keep working and hopefully do whatever I can to help this team win some games.”
Nelson helped with momentum for the Nets on his first career basket with a dunk against Boston’s Luka Garza. That came in the fourth quarter amid his 10 minutes of playing time.
Nelson previously had been with the Nets’ G-League team, the Long Island Nets, before the call-up. The 7-foot-0 Devils Lake, North Dakota, native went undrafted in 2025, but joined the Nets organization as a free agent.
“Everybody, since the summer, these guys have been great,” Nelson said. “They took me in before the summer league, and after that, a little bit, so I’m just excited to play with all of them and just get on an NBA court.”
Grant Nelson’s Road to the NBA
Nelson grew up in a state that has produced a few notable NBA players, and he made a name for himself as a prep star at Devils Lake, followed by his first Division I stop with NDSU.
In three seasons between 2020 and 2023, Nelson averaged 12.1 points per game and tallied 520 rebounds and 113 blocks in 86 career games. A mid-major with four NCAA tournament appearances since 2009, NDSU mostly had down years during Nelson’s time in Fargo, but his success led to transferring to Alabama in 2023.
With the Crimson Tide, Nelson averaged 11.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.4 blocks per game. Nelson also helped the Tide reach a Final Four in 2024 and an Elite Eight in 2025.
Grant Nelson is Not the First Nets Player From North Dakota
Nelson, coming from North Dakota ,isn’t as rare as Dallas Mavericks rookie star Cooper Flagg coming from Maine, the first player from the New England state.
North Dakota has more than 10 players from the state all time. That most notably includes University of North Dakota star and Williston, North Dakota, native Phil Jackson. He played for the Nets between 1978 and 1980 after his tenure with the New York Knicks from 1967 to 1978.
He went on to coach in the NBA with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in the 1990s and the Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal-led Los Angeles Lakers in the early 2000s. Jackson was last in the league as an executive with the Knicks before a mutual parting of ways in 2017.
Other past players included Tyler Johnson, Mark Landsberger, Duane Klueh, Dalton Knecht, and Glenn Hansen. Nelson isn’t the only current NBA player from North Dakota. Sacramento Kings forward Doug McDermott is a Grand Forks native and a former Red River High and Creighton star.