A former NBA center is looking to return to the league after a stellar performance overseas.
“Hasheem Thabeet is looking to make an NBA comeback, his agent Jerry Dianis told me on Saturday,” wrote Ben Stinar of Sports Illustrated. “The 7’3″ big-man just won MVP honors while playing in Taiwan for the Hsinchu JKO Lioneers.”
Thabeet was taken with the second overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies.
He never really panned out relative to his draft position, averaging just 2.2 points and 2.7 rebounds a game in five NBA seasons.
After a couple of short stints in the NBA G League, Thabeet has played for the past several months in the Taiwanese P. League+.
“Bottom line Hasheem Thabeet was given a opportunity, and he killed it,” Dianis told Stinar. “MVP performance with career highs in points, rebounds, minutes played, assists and steals.”
Even though the NBA has become more and more of a perimeter-oriented game, there will always be a need for tall centers, if nothing else than to be a presence defensively and on the boards.
This is especially true with the ascension of the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid and the Los Angeles Lakers’ new twin towers of Anthony Davis and Andre Drummond.
Thabeet is now 34 years of age. However, he is reportedly in great shape as he hopes to catch on with an NBA team.
