RaiQuan Gray, signed by the Nets to a two-way contract on Saturday morning, made his NBA debut in Sunday’s regular-season finale.
The young forward made the most of his opportunity with 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
“It was great. It felt comfortable with this group of guys. I’ve been here in the summertime, so I’m familiar with some of the faces. But it was good to get out and experience that. It’s like a dream come true. But I felt comfortable, confident,” said Gray, the 59th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft who has been with G-League Long Island.
Gray — who flew to New York on Saturday — got tickets for his mother, sister and brother.
Gray’s father was also on hand.
Playing well in his debut will buoy the 23-year-old’s confidence.
“You always want to compete against the best and the NBA is the best league in the world. So now that I’m here and I’ve got a taste, I definitely want to sharpen my game up,” Gray said. “I know what I need to work on in order to stay here and be successful at this level, so … I’m grateful for opportunity and experience and I’m going to take it and run with it.”
Want to catch a game? The Nets schedule with links to buy tickets can be found here.
Starters Nic Claxton, Cam Johnson, Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith were out, along with backups Joe Harris, Royce O’Neale, Seth Curry, Edmond Sumner and Ben Simmons.
Mikal Bridges logged just four seconds, creating an opportunity for Gray, who remade his body in two years with Long Island.
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“He was heading towards a triple-double at halftime. So, impressive in the fact that we’d talked to him about being thankful for the opportunity. You don’t know when it’s going to present itself. He was ready, he showed up,” coach Jacque Vaughn said. “We talked about it as a group that this is a guy that fits in, he’s been around our guys, has a relationship with guys, and is easy to cheer for. Glad he played well.”
Bridges became the first NBA player to appear in 83 games since 2015.
And it took a season to put in the work, but just seconds to put in the book.
“[I told him] that you’re basically going to go into the game and you’re going to foul,” Vaughn said. “And then I’m going to get your tail out of the game.”
It wasn’t hyperbole, and Bridges followed orders, fouling just four seconds in and being subbed off for David Duke Jr.
But the appearance made him only the 42nd player in league history to play in 83 or more games in a season, just the third in the past decade.
Bridges is the first to do so since Josh Smith (Detroit/Houston) in 2014-15.
Bridges has played 392 straight games to start his NBA career.
Russell Westbrook played 394, Ray Allen logged 400, and Michael Finley played 490.
