Monte Morris had to carve his own spot in the league after being drafted with the 51st overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. The Denver Nuggets guard went from playing three games in his first season and spending most of his time in the G League to playing in all 82 this past season, having looked up to LeBron James as an inspiration growing up.
The guard recalled his time developing in the G League, which served him well en route to consistent playing time with the Nuggets.
Via ABS-CBN Sports:
“Really, I think it was just my hunger to show people that I was playing at this level,” Morris said of his rise from a G-Leaguer to a key rotation player on a playoff contender. “I’m not the biggest, I’m not the quickest or the fastest, I just put in the time behind the scenes as much as I could, with film work and working on how I can help the Nuggets all around, staying on the court and making an impact, I think that was the biggest thing for me.”
Morris idolized James as player growing up in the game, drawing a lot of similarities from his situation to the way that James grew up before breaking into the league.
“I would say, growing up, I looked up to LeBron James, for sure,” said Morris, who is in the Philippines for an NBA 3X event alongside legend Muggsy Bogues. “Just the way he grew up with just a single mom and they moved a lot, and he stayed at the top of his game, his mom was his best friend, he didn’t have much of a father figure, like myself in my life, so I took his story and kind of implemented it in my lifestyle and what I stood for, how hard he worked, and I knew that anything was possible.”
James and Morris might not have very much in common now, as the former is an established NBA star that's become the face of The Association, but their common roots helped inspire a young Morris into achieving his NBA dream.
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