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Brandan Wright: ‘Memphis Grizzlies can be a top-10 team’

By Mike Parrott

Feb 21, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard Terrence Ross (31) drives to the basket between Memphis Grizzlies forwards Brandan Wright (34) and Zach Randolph (50) in the second half of the Raptors 98-85 win at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 21, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard Terrence Ross (31) drives to the basket between Memphis Grizzlies forwards Brandan Wright (34) and Zach Randolph (50) in the second half of the Raptors 98-85 win at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /
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Grizzlies’ power forward Brandan Wright opened up to the Fastbreak Breakfast podcast about lining up against Marc Gasol in high school, hometown discounts, recruiting Chandler Parsons and taking handball gold in 2020.

Talking on the Fastbreak Breakfast basketball podcast, Brandan Wright discussed in-depth his basketball roots, being the only NBA player in history to come from Nashville and also realizing when he had the potential to be an NBA player.

Nashville and high school

Being the only player in NBA history from Nashville, Tennessee, it either says a lot about Wright’s unprecedented leap to basketball or how unpopular basketball is there. Wright told Fastbreak Breakfast that he realized he had NBA potential during his freshman year in high school, when he lined up against a group of all-conference college players and held his own.

“They had a little strength on me, but we were the same size as far as height and skill level was pretty close and I was really successful,” Wright said on the podcast.

Wright also recalled the time he lined up against current teammate Marc Gasol in the state championship game in 2003 and could see that Gasol looked like a future all-star.

"“(I’m) not surprised he became an all star, (his) skill level was the best I ever played against in high school, (his) up and unders and footwork was tremendous.”"

Wright continued his development, playing for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was drafted eight overall by Charlotte in 2007.

Offseason

Wright opened up to Fastbreak Breakfast in regards to the current offseason and the star acquisition of Chandler Parsons and how he helped convince the former Maverick to ditch Texas for Tennessee.

“Oh yeah, I reached out to him (Parsons) a couple of days before free agency and just said, ‘Give us a shot.’” 

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Wright went on to say this was due to their friendship and chemistry that they built in Dallas, when Wright was part of the Dallas team that had one of the best offenses in the league in 2014. He then expressed that Parsons would be the perfect fit because he’s the perfect “plug-in and play guy”.

Wright also felt that the current Grizzlies team can now be a top-10 team after the free agency signings. He believes that the team were hampered badly by injuries last season (as seen by 28 players contributing minutes over the season, as well as his own health issues), but if they stay injury-free, they can make some “real damage” in the Western Conference this year due to their renewed athleticism, a new sight in Memphis.

2020 and Handball

He also leaked his plans for Tokyo 2020 after Fastbreak Breakfast told him about his potential in playing handball.

“If you can get (Fastbreak) a team, we can do some real damage in 2020 (in handball).”

Can we expect to see Brandan Wright line up for Team USA but for Handball? We all hope so.

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