Kevin Durant still believes in his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Hasheem Thabeet.
In a recent interview with Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, Durant said that he thinks Thabeet, who has been out of the league since 2014, will get another chance to play in the NBA.
“Hasheem knows that no one feels sorry for him, so he’s not feeling sorry for himself,” said Durant. “He’s one of the hardest workers and by far one of the best people that I know. He’s one of the best teammates I’ve ever had.
“He’ll get a shot again,” the former MVP continued. “He’s being patient. Rim protectors always come back around. He’ll get a shot.”
The 29-year-old Thabeet, a former No. 2 overall pick like Durant but one who busted instead of boomed like KD did, has been attracting some interest with his recent comeback bid. He owns career averages of 2.2 points and 2.7 rebounds per game through his five NBA seasons.
While it’s very possible for seven-footers to be late bloomers (such as Tyson Chandler or, in a more extreme case, Hassan Whiteside), today’s NBA doesn’t look too kindly on one-trick pony rim protectors (with Roy Hibbert being the most notable example).
Unless Thabeet has suddenly experienced an offensive awakening during his time away from the league, Durant’s optimism in his old teammate, though commendable, is probably somewhat misguided.
H/T theScore
