Jameer Nelson: Comeback Kid

By Melanie Curtsinger
May 7, 2010

ORLANDO -- In life, there is a big difference between dwelling on your past misfortunes, or using those past experiences as a motivating factor to make a difference in your future.

Just ask Jameer Nelson. After all, the Orlando Magic point guard knows a thing or two about overcoming hard times.

Take the NBA Draft, for example. Following his senior season at Saint Joseph’s, during which Nelson won just about every national Player of the Year accolade, the Chester, Pa. native was assured by everyone that he would be a Top 10 pick, but it wasn’t until the 20th selection that he heard his name called from NBA Commissioner David Stern. The delay was undoubtedly in part due to Nelson’s size (he’s listed as a generous 6’0”), yet another circumstance he has overcome to find success in the NBA.

Then, just one year ago, Nelson had to deal with the biggest setback he had faced on the hardwood in his 27 years of life. “Mighty Mouse,” as he is often referred to by his teammates, was having the best year of his career, averaging 16.7 points per game and 5.4 assists per contest en route to his first All-Star selection. But before he even made it to the big game, Nelson was hit with a season-ending injury, a torn labrum in his right shoulder. After having surgery, Nelson admittedly had mentally “checked out” of the season, thinking he would use the remainder of the season and summer to get in shape for the 2009-10 campaign and rehab his shoulder.

Think again.

Just four months after suffering the injury, Nelson’s teammates had surged into the NBA Finals – and Nelson had yet again defied the odds and was deemed healthy enough to play in the winner-takes-all series against the Los Angeles Lakers. Yet through those crucial five games, he shot just 35 percent from the field while averaging 2.8 assists and 3.8 points per game.

“I’m not a person that really looks back and dwells on the past,” Nelson said. “I use certain things as motivation – I knew I obviously wasn’t going to be myself, but I had to live with that. I’m happy I came back and played and got that experience.”

That experience has parlayed into the 2009-10 campaign, where Nelson, despite missing 16 games in November/December due to a torn meniscus in his left knee, has recaptured that presence on the court that led him to the Eastern Conference All-Star team just a year ago.

“If you talk to anybody in the league, he’s a big key to their team,” Charlotte Bobcats Head Coach Larry Brown said. “He can break you down. He can make an open shot. He’s unselfish and an underrated defender. They don’t turn the ball over so you can talk about their point guards being disciplined and running their offense. This league’s become a league with unbelievable point guards. And I think if you respect the game, you’ve got to respect what he does.”

Nelson earned that respect from Brown after having two 32-point outings in the Magic’s First Round sweep over the Bobcats. Just one look at Nelson’s stats (23.8 ppg., 4.5 apg., only three turnovers in his last 107 minutes of play) compared to The Finals last year will show you just how far he has come.

“I’m fine with my role on this team,” Nelson said. “This series I may only average 10 points, but as long as we win, I’m fine.”

But, as Brown knows best, in order to get wins in the NBA Playoffs, the best players on the court have to step up when it really counts. “Jameer (has) been phenomenal this whole series,” Brown said following the Bobcats’ First Round defeat. “When you get in the playoffs, your best players have to step up – and he certainly has done that.”

Melanie Curtsinger is a communications coordinator for the Orlando Magic.