NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets center Day’Ron Sharpe had plenty of matters to address this offseason, including his first time being a free-agent since entering the NBA. Sharpe, similar to forward Ziaire Williams, re-signed with Brooklyn on a two-year, $12.5 million deal, but he was also concerned with preparing for potentially more playing time.
“I was just trying to get better as a pro, get better as a basketball player,” Sharpe said after Monday’s training camp practice. Sharpe had the best season of his career during the 2024-25 campaign, a performance that had many expecting the former North Carolina Tar Heel to get an increased role along with the raise.
“I’m trying to be able to play more minutes and not be gassed out if I’ve got to play more minutes, for consecutive games or whatever,” Sharpe continued. “Just trying to get in the best shape I could be.”
Sharpe, 23, averaged 7.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 52.1% from the field and 75.7% from the free-throw line in 50 games played. Sharpe missed the Nets’ first 21 games after suffering a left hamstring strain in training camp last September, but once he returned, he was able to play in 50 of the following 61 contests.
Sharpe will be entering the 2025-26 season as the backup center to starter Nic Claxton, a role that Sharpe has held for the past two seasons once he proved that he could contribute on a daily basis. Brooklyn will have its first game of the season on Saturday against Hapoel ‘Bank Yahav’ Jerusalem and Sharpe knows what the team has to do to get ready for that matchup.
“I’ll just say us being consistent throughout the whole game,” Sharpe detailed. “Last year, I feel like we had a lot of games where we either had to fight our way back in it by the time the game was over, or we gave the game away at the end. So. just being consistent through the whole game.”