Former North Carolina Tar Heels standout Brady Manek is trying to earn his way back into the NBA. He’s playing for the Atlanta Hawks in the summer league circuit.
On Friday, Manek impressed in his first game by scoring 17 points and going 5-of-10 from the 3-point line in 19 minutes of action. His 17 points led the Hawks. Despite the loss, he was able to catch fire late in the game and help them go on a run.
Manek was doing this in front of his former Oklahoma teammate Trae Young, a former Duke player was also at the game and admitted he had flashbacks of Manek.
A.J. Griffin started at guard for the Hawks. After the game, he was asked about Manek’s performance. He told Lauren Williams that he had flashbacks of Manek doing that to his Duke squad a few years back in the Final Four:
On Brady Manek going 5-of-10, AJ Griffin said, "Yeah, it was a flashbacks for me. It's good. It's cool to see him, you know, just to get out there. As soon as he got hot, you know, Coach was just running plays for him. That's something I look forward to in the next game too."
— Lauren L. Williams (@WilliamsLaurenL) July 8, 2023
Back on March 5, 2022, Manek scored 20 points including going 5-of-10 from the 3-point line as UNC spoiled Coach K’s retirement party in Durham that night.
A month later, Manek scored 14 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line in the Final Four win over Duke. That included a couple of late buckets as UNC ended Coach K’s career.
Griffin was a good sport about it all and is supporting his new teammate after the game in Las Vegas. Let’s hope the two are teammates to open the 2023-24 NBA season.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.