Hasheem Thabeet aims to get back in the game
NBA News – About an hour after his Golden State Warriors beat his old team by 26 points on Nov. 3, Kevin Durant met with his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Hasheem Thabeet, who is still looking for work. Both are former No. 2 picks in the NBA draft in 2007 and 2009, respectively. While Durant rose quickly to become an NBA superstar, Thabeet never lived up to the hype — out of the University of Connecticut, playing on four NBA teams and three D-League teams before becoming a still untouched free agent in 2015.
Durant is still hopeful that some NBA team will give his 7-foot-3 shot-blocking teammate and good friend a chance.
“Hasheem knows that no one feels sorry for him, so he’s not feeling sorry for himself,” Durant told The Undefeated. “He’s one of the hardest workers and by far one of the best people that I know. He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever had.
“He’ll get a shot again. He’s being patient. Rim protectors always come back around. He’ll get a shot.”
After becoming mentally “broken” due to his lack of NBA success, Thabeet, 29, believes that his mind, body and game have been transformed to become ripe for success in the league after coming to San Francisco to work with trainer Frank Matrisciano and former NBA general manager Milt Newton in late April. Thabeet talked with The Undefeated about learning the game of basketball at 15 years old in his home country of Tanzania, to the uncontrollably fast road to the No. 2 draft pick and the challenging aftermath of it all after failing in the NBA.
Category: Basketball
