Former NBA champion, Festus Ezeli, has advised newly drafted players of Nigerian descent to model their game after successful past and present NBA players so as to have longevity in their careers.
A record eight players of Nigerian descent – Isaac Okoro, Onyeka Okongwu, Precious Achiuwa, Zeke Nnaji, Udoka Azubuike, Desmond Bane, Daniel Oturu and Jordan Nwora were selected in the 2020 draft.
Ezeli who was a first-round 30th overall pick by the Golden State Warriors in the 2012 NBA draft played five years in the franchise – four seasons with the Golden State Warriors and a season with the Portland Trail Blazers before suffering a knee injury which has ruled him out of action since 2017.
Speaking about the newly drafted players, the 2015 NBA champions has advised the players not to get carried away by the achievement of being drafted.
“You have to have a model and luckily for me, I had great models and teammates that showed me how to work.
When you get into the NBA, you can fall into this trap where you feel you’ve already made it but you don’t understand that there is another level to get to because everybody is good in the Franchise,”
He said at a virtual Power Forward Huddle event monitored by our correspondent on Thursday.
