Three NBA teams – the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Washington Wizards – recently worked out Thabeet because they wanted to see his transformation up close
Dar es Salaam. Tanzanian centre Hasheem Thabeet is persistent in returning to the NBA League after over two years without being in any professional basketball roster.
Thabeet, who is the only Tanzanian to have played in the American top league, won a ticket to NBA in 2009 when he was selected as the second overall pick by the Memphis Grizzles.
Aside from the Grizzlies, the 7.3-foot centre also suited up for the Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. In between those runs, he saw action in the Development League (D-League) as well. Usually, when a player is coming back to the NBA, the first step is to play in the D-League. However, that is unfavourable for Thabeet.
Speaking to The Undefeated, Thabeet explained about being in the D-League once more: “With the work I’ve put in, I feel like I need to go somewhere [else], not to downplay the D-League. When I play [in the D-League], I feel like some guys weren’t locked in. They weren’t locked in or they don’t take it seriously, like I did.” If Thabeet is aiming for an NBA comeback but does not want to be in the D-League first, the process would be much harder for him. It is likely the 29-year-old wants to get signed directly by a team which is perhaps far-fetched for him following an unremarkable run in the big league.
Thabeet’s best year in his career was his rookie season (2009-10) when he played 68 regular season games as a reserve for Memphis. During this run, he averaged career-bests 3.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, with 1.3 blocks in 13 minutes of action per contest. For the 2015/16 season, Thabeet could have played in the D-League again or signed a lucrative deal overseas.
He could take either of those routes right now as the 2016-17 season gets underway. But in recent months, Thabeet has instead decided to work on his game in private and go all-in on salvaging his NBA career.
“The goal is to make it back to the NBA, so I’ll do whatever it is going to take for me to get accepted by a team,” Thabeet said. “Whatever it takes for me to get back, I’ll do it. The goal is to focus on the NBA right now and I feel I can actually say from my heart that I have worked hard enough this summer to stay over here [rather than go overseas].”
