“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” – Michael Jordan
Minor bumps along the course of life’s road bring people down hard at some point. But for former NBA player Hasheem Thabeet, his audacity to rise up and aim to get back into the world’s grandest basketball stage is unmatched.
Another Friday morning, another Mighty Sports practice session has just ended. After a brief moment of cooling down from yet another strenuous practice, the players, from locals to imports, left the Urdaneta Village Gym one by one.
However, Thabeet remained inside the facility. Not because he wanted to without any reason, but because media outlets had gone all the way to the busy city of Makati to do interviews with the gigantic 7’2″ center out of Tanzania.
After a few moments of resting on one of the benches, Thabeet then proceeded with the interviews. Those two interviews turned out to be lengthy ones, but one can tell that he is enjoying every moment he’s in front of the camera.
“To me, it’s just part of basketball,” Thabeet told Tiebreaker Times, regarding those two long sessions he had — regarding interviews, in general.
“A whole lot of people just know me as a basketball player. They don’t actually hear what else comes from me, so to get a chance doing interviews like this is great.”
Ever since the news had broken out that the former NBAer was about to suit up for Mighty Sports in the 2017 Dubai Invitational Tournament, many fans, especially those who have been following the NBA since 2009, were stoked about his visit.
Once the towering Thabeet set foot in the country, countless interviews, stories, and a handful of TV guest appearances welcomed him. Who wouldn’t buy into such hype?A former NBA player had flown all the way from the USA just to play here.
But, in some way, seeing Thabeet here is weird. Looking back, he was the second overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies. But the Grizzlies were never able to utilize him fully, and so he was used as a trading piece.
From there, the young center suddenly became a journeyman. He has graced the courts of the FedEx Forum, Toyota Center, Moda Center, and the Chesapeake Energy Arena, with a few more stints in the NBA D-League.
Now, for some reason, he’s here in a Southeast Asian territory, practicing and playing for a Philippine contingent to an overseas tournament, in a humid gym right in the heart of a village.
Imagine being at the top of the world once, only to find yourself in a different spot seven years after. Those seven years have been tough, but for Thabeet, it has only helped him learn a lot about everything in life.
“I’ve learned so much.
“One of them is hard work. In everything you want, you gotta work for it. Nothing will be handed to you. I learned that when I got to America, in high school, new to basketball still, there were college coaches who would come to watch my teammates. Then I asked ‘why are these coaches coming over to look at them, not me?’,” Thabeet said.
“Then my high school coach told me ‘you know, they just don’t know about you. You gotta do your dues’. I took that, and in the next three years, I’m going to UConn. So over that period of time, and throughout my whole basketball experience, I learned hard work really pays,” explained the University of Connecticut alumnus.
And all of those things that he realized are what makes him blessed so much in life, according to Thabeet.
“Blessed. Blessed to compete at a high level. I never grew up wanting to be an NBA player or to play basketball. It’s something that I fell in love with after my Dad passed. I grew up with my Dad as my role model. Once he passed, I have no direction. I have no idea what I’m gonna do.
“Basketball is my getaway, there’s no regrets, for this is something I chose to do, and I’m still doing it. And I’m happy with it. Seven years was a great blessing to me,” pointed out the 2009 Big East co-Player of the Year.
Thabeet is still young at 29 years of age. The athleticism he had back in his heydays in UConn and in the NBA is still there. Wth that said, the former All-American remains confident that he can go back to where he truly belongs — the NBA.
“Definitely,” claimed Thabeet.
“I’m 29. I’m 7’2″. I block shots. I control the paint. I run the floor. I’m 29, you know. Why not? It wasn’t like I was there for a year or two and like ‘nah, this guy doesn’t belong here.’ No. I just ran out of my contract.”
“I still got so much work to do, and with that, I’m willing to put in, and I believe the results will be there.”
