{"id":640261,"date":"2026-03-05T04:49:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T04:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/640261\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T04:49:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T04:49:15","slug":"grant-nelson-has-a-strong-nba-debut-in-brooklyn-the-crimson-white","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/640261\/","title":{"rendered":"Grant Nelson has a strong NBA debut in Brooklyn \u2013 The Crimson White"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Alabama<\/a> <\/p>\n

Alabama forward Grant Nelson high-fives fans after beating Auburn at Neville Arena in Auburn, AL, on March 8, 2025.<\/p>\n

The Brooklyn Nets signed former Alabama star Grant Nelson to a 10-day contract last Friday.<\/p>\n

In two years with the Crimson Tide, Nelson averaged 11.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. He was known for his blue-collar play style and was an integral piece in the 2024 Final Four run.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for the North Dakota native to make his mark, logging 3 points, four assists, one rebound and two blocks in just 10 minutes against the Celtics.<\/p>\n

His first points came, to no surprise for Alabama fans, by way of a poster<\/a> dunk over NBA veteran Luka Garza.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a dream come true,\u201d Nelson said<\/a>. \u201cI know the work\u2019s not done. I still got a lot to work for.\u201d<\/p>\n

To open March, he was given more responsibility, playing 20 minutes in the Nets\u2019 106-102 loss to the Cavaliers.<\/p>\n

Nelson hit 4 of 7 from the field, finishing with a new career high of 11 points. He also did his usual stat sheet-stuffing, finishing with four rebounds, four blocks and a steal.<\/p>\n

The rookie forward became the first player in Nets history with 10-plus points, five-plus assists, and five-plus blocks across his first two career games. He\u2019s also the first player in NBA history to accomplish this feat in less than 59 minutes, playing just 29:52.<\/p>\n

In his third game, Nelson saw a decreased role, playing only three minutes. He did manage to get to the free-throw line twice, hitting 3 of 4 to finish the night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Grant\u2019s a very versatile player,\u201d said<\/a> Brooklyn star Michael Porter Jr. \u201cHe got out in transition, he can push the ball, so I think he\u2019s a good young player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through his first three career games, Nelson averaged 5.6 points, two rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.6 blocks in just 11 minutes per game.<\/p>\n

It is unknown if Nelson will get signed through the remainder of the season, but he\u2019s done his part by earning minutes and playing well in them.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a very good player, high IQ, he\u2019s got a great feel for the game, and plays extremely hard,\u201d said<\/a> Nets head coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez. \u201cSo, you put all those things together, and he\u2019s played very well in the two chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nelson and the Nets will be back in action Thursday against the Miami Heat. Tip is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on FanDuel Sports Network.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alabama forward Grant Nelson high-fives fans after beating Auburn at Neville Arena in Auburn, AL, on March 8,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3767],"tags":[7,670,247,3803,6,671],"class_list":{"0":"post-640261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn-nets","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-brooklyn-nets","11":"tag-brooklynnets","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-nets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116174767972968525","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}