It’s often said the NBA is a completely different atmosphere compared to life as a collegiate basketball player.
Many rookies typically experience a “Welcome to the NBA” moment when they get a direct feel about what the league is really like, usually from a physicality perspective.
That was true for guard Desmond Bane, who was a first-round draft pick in 2020.
The Boston Celtics possessed the 30th overall pick, but the Memphis Grizzlies traded for it in order to select Bane, who made a mark as one of the best 3-point shooters in college.
At 6’5″ and 216 pounds, Bane is significantly bigger than most NBA guards. However, he got his “Welcome to the NBA” moment from none other than Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
Bane explained what the moment entailed, via Quenton Albertie of SLAM:
“Bron! For sure! Bron!
I mean the first time that we played the Lakers. We played the Lakers about, I would say, five games, six games into the season, so it was still early on, I’m getting a feel for things. And we had played I think maybe one playoff team—one or two playoff teams—and, you know, they were coming off a championship and being hungry for another one.
I think that that was my real “Welcome to the NBA” moment.
There was stretches when I guarding LeBron and I was like man, “this dude is so damn big.”
Bane ended the season on the All-Rookie NBA Team after averaging 9.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists on 46.9 percent shooting overall and 43.2 percent from 3-point range.
He became a fixture in Memphis’ rotation and proved he could handle the physicality of the league at an early stage. Matchups against James will surely speed up the acclimation process.
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