Isaiah Whitehead dreamed his whole life of playing in the NBA. It was the motivation behind all the hours spent on the courts of Coney Island and the gyms of Abraham Lincoln High School and Seton Hall. Some people only get to dream about it, but not Whitehead, who made it a reality on Wednesday night with his NBA debut.
“It meant everything,” Whitehead said on Thursday at HSS Training Center. “That’s basically what you’ve dreamed of, growing up you want to make the NBA and play on an NBA floor. It was a great experience.”
Not only did Whitehead make his NBA debut, but he made an impact in his first game. He seemingly came into Wednesday’s game for play-out-the-string minutes with the Nets down 118-99, but instead became part of an 11-0 run, helping get Brooklyn as close as 120-117 with under a minute to play. He hasn’t taken his first shot yet, but played a key role defensively, tipping passes, hustling and dishing out an assist to Bojan Bogdanovic.
“Isaiah getting in there, getting four or five deflections, causing some chaos, that was good,” coach Kenny Atkinson said, adding that type of play will get the rookie noticed and earn him more playing time.
“I’m a big believer in that and that’s our message to them,” the coach said. “Even if you get two minutes, make an impression; and they made an impression on the coaching staff. That makes it easier for us in the next game or the next situation to say ‘Hey, throw Isaiah in there, throw Chris in there.’ So even though that’s a short stint that they had, I think it definitely leaves an impression.”
It also left an impression on Jeremy Lin, who told reporters he was inspired by Whitehead’s effort at the end of the game.
That praise bodes well for Whitehead as he hopes to make his home debut on Friday night. Whitehead made history on Wednesday becoming the first Brooklyn-born player to suit up for the Brooklyn Nets and he’ll have his family in the stands and the support of an entire borough behind him on Friday.
“I really don’t know what to expect, I expect there should be a good amount of people there for me, but I’m just looking forward it,” Whitehead said. “It’ll be big to see the fans out there and my friends and family in the crowd. Hopefully we win. That’s the major goal.”