LOS ANGELES – Antoine Wright is starting to get it.
The Net rookie, like most rookies, figured he would come to the NBA, get it all down in a couple of hours, then set the world on fire. Doesn’t work that way.
“It’s interesting to watch him get a chance to play a little,” Vince Carter of Wright before the Nets faced the Clippers last night.
“From the day I first met him, when I got to New Jersey to work out, the growth he had early was minimal. The big thing for rookies is to have an understanding of, what you have to do to work yourself into the lineup. At first it was hard for him.”
So Carter and Wright went to dinner one night and the All-Star tried explaining to the rookie what it takes. It’s more than talent. A lot more.
And Carter – who insists Wright eventually will be a legit NBA player – told him to be himself.
“He listens,” Carter said. “You could tell at first it was, ‘Yeah, yeah, whatever.’ But now the stuff he’s told sinks in. He’s matured.
“He just has to find out how to become a pro, incorporate his game, and learn the way he should play night after night. He’ll get there. I really believe that.”
Wright was nowhere early. In the first 32 games, he played two garbage-time minutes. But entering last night, he had dressed for seven straight games, playing in six as opportunity came through injury. There is still a long way to go, but he’s getting there.
“What I have to do is not put pressure on myself, and understand that by me being able to learn and have this experience, to take advantage of it,” said Wright, the No. 15 pick last June. “I did [put pressure] at first. But Vince told me to relax and try and learn as much as possible.”
And on the subject of learning, the Nets’ debate has been whether to keep Wright around and let him learn through practice and minimal game experience, or send him to the NBDL for playing time.
“If it happens, it happens,” Wright said. “You just have to understand you’re here to get better and work on your game. That is the developmental league, so if it happens to me, I’ll be a little disappointed. But you just have to handle it like a professional. I wouldn’t say it’s not as competitive. It’s just different. Guys are a lot better here.”
The Nets had discussed shipping Wright down, but then knee injuries hit Jeff McInnis and Lamond Murray.
“He is coming along,” said team president Rod Thorn. “He has worked hard, gotten bigger, stronger, more athletic. He has come a long way. In the last month and a half, he has gotten better. And he works at it.”
Wright, out of Texas A&M by way of West Covina, Calif., expected some old high-school buddies here last night – and at least he’d be in uniform, unlike the Nets’ L.A. trip in November. His next trip to L.A. really will be special because on hand will be his brother, Wayne, who is finishing a six-year prison term for burglary. So through his brother, Wright knows how fortunate he is, and whether it’s in the NBA or NBDL, he is committed to working, improving and getting it right.
