[h1]Peterson: It's the right place and time for Golden State Warriors' Dorell Wright[/h1]
By Gary Peterson
Oakland Tribune columnist
Posted: 02/27/2011 08:56:45 PM PST
Updated: 02/28/2011 08:18:10 AM PST
Dorell Wright had mixed feelings about the NBA trade deadline during his six seasons with the Miami Heat. Which is to say, some years it was more anxiety-provoking than others.
"Every year," he said last week, when asked if he was ever concerned he would be moved. "One year I kept hearing I was going to get traded to Memphis (while the Heat was) in Memphis. I couldn't sleep. I remember Dwyane Wade telling me to chill out."
He tried, but coach Pat Riley didn't make things any easier. "Before the game he came over to me and said, 'You good? Everything all right?' He was messing with me."
There was no messing with Wright as the deadline approached this season, his first since coming to the Warriors as a free agent. He was unfazed even when a friend reported seeing a bottom-of-the-TV-screen crawl that indicated the Warriors had traded some fellow named Wright to New Jersey.
"I said, 'That's B. Wright, not D. Wright. We have two Wrights,' " Dorell said. "He said, 'You sure?' I said, 'I'm positive.' "
Sure enough, Brandan Wright was sent packing. Dorell Wright remains, an integral part of what the Warriors hope will grow into a franchise renaissance. With their next win, they'll top last season's total. Wright already has started more games with Golden State than he did in six years in South Beach.
From a team standpoint, progress has been maddeningly measured. The Warriors just completed a 44-day stretch in which they
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played 17 of 20 games at home. Though they went 11-9, they lost a half-game in the playoff chase.
For Wright, however, it's all good. He's averaging career highs nearly across the board. He entered Sunday's game at Minnesota leading the NBA in 3-point attempts and baskets. His proficiency earned him a spot in the 3-point shootout during All-Star weekend in his native Los Angeles.
"I had a great time," he said. "I was in front of my hometown, my family. I couldn't walk two steps without knowing someone. It was a great atmosphere. It makes you hungry. I want to go back next year."
Would any of this have happened in Miami? Wright never got a chance to find out. The arrival of LeBron James and Chris Bosh forced him out the door. Still, he has nothing bad to say about his experience there, including the growing pains he endured as a member of the penultimate class of high school seniors to jump to the NBA. He smiles when reminded that Wade initially perceived him as "a whiner."
"I used to complain about everything," he said. "I was one of the best high school players in the nation. I got (to Miami) and it was like a reality check."
He'll have you believe he arrived in Miami a boy, and left it a man. (Though shortly before he left, he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, and year-old private photos of him appeared on the Internet. He quickly apologized after both incidents.) Becoming a father, he says, has changed him. He sure talks like a dad, especially the part about coming home from a hard night's work to 3-year-old son Devon, who loves him win or lose.
"I'll come home and he'll say, 'Great game, Dad,' " Wright said. "I'll be like, 'Uh, thanks. If you really knew, Daddy couldn't make a shot tonight.' "
To hear Dorell tell it, Devon does a killer Michael Jackson impression. But his real love is basketball, and his idol is Clippers rookie Blake Griffin. Perhaps Dorell's biggest All-Star highlight was introducing the two.
It's another sign of maturity that he feels wanted by the Warriors not only for his on-court contributions, but his leadership as well. To that end he's trying to recreate the team vibe here that he enjoyed in Miami, in part by organizing group outings. Example: Warriors players ("and our ladies," Wright said) attended a Prince concert together last week.
"Monta (Ellis) told me, 'It hasn't been like this on other teams I've been on.' " Wright said. "With Miami, we were always like that. We'd be on the phone with each other -- 'When are we meeting in the lobby?' We'd play the credit card game, where the last card in pays."
To hear Wright tell it, camaraderie does more than fill up lonely hours on the road.
"When you know someone off the court," he said, "you know how to talk to him on the court."
A trick of the trade, so to speak.
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