{"id":700562,"date":"2026-04-06T01:05:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T01:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/700562\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T01:05:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T01:05:59","slug":"ex-marquette-standout-o-max-prosper-has-learned-how-to-stick-in-nba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/700562\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Marquette standout O-Max Prosper has learned how to stick in NBA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Olivier-Maxence Prosper<\/a> made sure to bring along his Marquette hoodie to wear after his only appearance at Fiserv Forum this season with the Memphis Grizzlies on April 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce a year, got to rep it at least,\u201d Prosper said after scoring 13 points and in 14 minutes of the Grizzlies\u2019 131-115 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Being back in the building always stirs memories.<\/p>\n

\u201cBig East regular-season championship we won in the last game of the regular season,\u201d Prosper said of beating St. John’s on March 4, 2023 and cutting down the nets<\/a>. \u201cJust with the whole group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, there was also Prosper\u2019s game-winning tip-in to beat Xavier in that title-winning season.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThat place was rocking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Prosper can\u2019t live in the past, however, while still making his way in the NBA. The 6-foot-8 forward has already seen the ups and downs of trying to stick in the league. He was a first-round pick of the Dallas Mavericks in 2023<\/a>, but was waived in August 2025.<\/p>\n

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Prosper landed with the Grizzlies on a two-way contract, and he quickly went to work trying impress his new team.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery humble kid,\u201d Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo said. \u201cVery intelligent. Hard worker.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first time we spoke on the phone was before he signed his two-way and his first questions were just \u2026 he was really looking for the right place to be in for his development. I think we saw eye-to-eye from the first time we discussed. And then him just backing up those words with his actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cShowing up early in the preseason for the open gyms to try to work on his game and understand some of those things that we wanted to do and staying ready for his opportunity. And then during the season when his opportunity came and his number was called, he was ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Former Marquette prospect O-Max Prosper has earned a guaranteed contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.<\/p>\n

Grizzlies give O-Max Prosper a chance with guaranteed contract<\/p>\n

That work paid off when Prosper inked a guaranteed contract in March<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt felt great,\u201d Prosper said. \u201cObviously, everything that happened in Dallas led me to here.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely good seeing the work being rewarded. It started with my belief in myself. I knew I was worthy of that. Even though I was on a two-way, it didn\u2019t change my approach or anything. I knew it eventually was going to work out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since getting that contract, Prosper put up career highs with 31 points against Houston on March 27 and four steals against Atlanta on March 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always provides a ton of energy,\u201d Iisalo said. \u201cOne of the greatest motors that I\u2019ve ever seen, definitely in the NBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust never takes any plays off. Using every day and every opportunity to get better. That\u2019s really the type of guys you want to coach.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Prosper knows being a versatile role player is how he\u2019s going to stick in the NBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a gritty, long season, you got to be willing to stay true to your routine,\u201d Prosper said. \u201cAnd be consistent in every little detail, on and off the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s going to be some games that are up and down, but you got to stay steady in terms of mental. You can\u2019t get too up or too down. You got to stay steady and you got to find what your niche is. You got to find what skill you\u2019re elite at and really focus on that and be great at that.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it was focusing on my ability to guard multiple positions and be versatile on both sides of the ball. Offensively, you can put me as a three, four, five. And defensively, I can guard one through five. So that\u2019s been my calling card.<\/p>\n

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“Now you can add to your game after that. Add to your shooting, add to your bag, but first you have to do what your calling card and do that and be consistent and stay poised the whole way through the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

1 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks forward Taurean Prince (12) fouls Memphis Grizzlies Ratyan Rupert (32) during the first half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

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1 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks forward Taurean Prince (12) fouls Memphis Grizzlies Ratyan Rupert (32) during the first half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

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2 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Memphis Grizzlies forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper (18) guards Milwaukee Bucks guard Ryan Rollins (13) during the first half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

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3 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Memphis Grizzlies forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper (18) fouls Milwaukee Bucks forward Ousmane Dieng (21) during the second half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115.<\/p>\n

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The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo walks off the court with his brother, forward Alex Antetokounmpo (29) after their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115.<\/p>\n

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5 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo (43) dunks the ball during the second half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115.<\/p>\n

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6 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma (18) passes the ball during the second half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115.<\/p>\n

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7 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Memphis Grzzilies forward Rayan Rupert (32) sats the ball away from Milwaukee Bucks center Myles Turner (3) during the second half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115.<\/p>\n

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8 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Memphis Grizzlies forward Taylor Hendricks (22) fouls Milwaukee Bucks center Jericho Sims (00) during the second half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115.<\/p>\n

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9 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks center Myles Turner (3) is fouled by Memphis Grizzlies forward Dariq Whitehead (00) during the second half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115.<\/p>\n

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10 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks forward Ousmane Dieng (21) is fouled by Memphis Grizzlies forward Tyler Burton (5) during the second half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115.<\/p>\n

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11 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks guard AJ Green (20) misses a three-point shot during the second half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115.<\/p>\n

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12 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Memphis Grizzlies Ratyan Rupert (32) forward drives on Milwaukee Bucks guard AJ Green (20) during the first half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

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13 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks guard Cormac Ryan (30) reacts after hitting a three-point basket during the first half of their game against the Memphis Grizzlies Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

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14 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Memphis Grizzlies Dariq Whitehead (00) guards Milwaukee Bucks guard AJ Green (20) during the first half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

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15 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks forward Taurean Prince (12) fouls Memphis Grizzlies Rayan Rupert (32) as forward Pete Nance (35) assists during the first half of their game Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

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16 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers, left, and assistant coach David Joerger after shown during the first half of their game against the Memphis Grizzlies Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

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17 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers is shown during the first half of their game against the Memphis Grizzlies Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

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18 \/ 18<\/p>\n

The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-115<\/p>\n

Memphis Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo talks with forward Tyler Burton (5) and guard Adama Bal (72) during the first half of their game against the Milwaukee Bucks Sunday, April 5, 2026 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ex-Marquette standout O-Max Prosper has learned how to stick in NBA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Olivier-Maxence Prosper made sure to bring along his Marquette hoodie to wear after his only appearance at Fiserv…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3795],"tags":[676,7,149,294,292,293,177,4070,121,6,10824,181],"class_list":{"0":"post-700562","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-memphis-grizzlies","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-dallas-mavericks","11":"tag-grizzlies","12":"tag-houston","13":"tag-memphis","14":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","15":"tag-memphisgrizzlies","16":"tag-milwaukee-bucks","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-olivier-maxence-prosper","19":"tag-the-grizzlies"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116355085959308648","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700562","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=700562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}