Former Nets player and 1st-round pick claims he’d ‘sleep in gym’ for NBA return
A former Brooklyn Nets player wants another shot in the league. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is asking for a second chance to play for an NBA team, per Basket News. Hollis-Jefferson hasn’t played an NBA game in more than three years, after being selected in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft.
“I’m not asking for anything other than a chance,” Hollis-Jefferson said, per Basket News. “I’ll sleep in the gym.”
The forward left the league following the 2021 season, when he played for the Portland Trail Blazers. Hollis-Jefferson also played for the Toronto Raptors in his NBA career, after leaving the Nets in 2019. For the last three years, the forward has been balling out for teams overseas. Since 2021, he has played in South Korea, Puerto Rico, Turkey and the Philippines.
What Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is doing out of the country
© Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Hollis-Jefferson has turned heads while playing overseas, looking like an NBA All-Star. He averaged more than 23 points a game while playing in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. He also grabbed nearly 8 rebounds a game, and dished out more than 4 assists. He was compared to the legendary Kobe Bryant with some of the moves he was displaying in that tournament.
In the NBA, Hollis-Jefferson struggled to find the floor consistently. He averaged 9 points a game, playing an average of 22 minutes a contest. He saw his minutes diminish the longer he played in the league. During his lone season in Portland, he only played in 11 games. He averaged a career-low 2.5 points per game.
The forward has found his stride again playing out of the country. The former Nets star has played with a lot of passion on foreign teams, and his performance in the FIBA World Cup was extraordinary. There are certainly a good deal of NBA teams that could use someone with Hollis-Jefferson’s size and finesse on their 2024 rosters.
The forward had his best season in the NBA with the Nets in 2018. He averaged nearly 14 points a game, while playing in 68 contests. He shot 47 percent from the field during that campaign. One of the weaknesses in his game was his three-point shooting percentage. He struggled to shoot from the perimeter, making only 21 percent of his threes during his NBA career.
Hollis-Jefferson played his college basketball at Arizona. He left the school after two seasons, to get picked 23rd overall by the Trail Blazers in the 2015 NBA Draft. At Arizona, he was First-Team All-Pac-12 in 2015. He made the conference all freshmen team in 2014, and was also on the conference all-defensive team in his final collegiate season. He was known for being a top shot blocker and rebounder during his time with the Wildcats.
Hollis-Jefferson still has yet to turn 30, so he has plenty of gas left in the tank. If he’s able to stay healthy, he could play several more years of professional basketball. Time will tell if that is going to be on an NBA roster. He certainly has the hunger to grab a spot in the league, but he also needs an opportunity.
The post Former Nets player and 1st-round pick claims he’d ‘sleep in gym’ for NBA return appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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