The honors and accolades came easy and early for Gerald Green. He was the 2005 national high school slam-dunk champ. Later that year, the Celtics made him the 18th pick in the NBA Draft. Then reality reared its head. There were trades. Releases. Stops overseas.
“I wouldn’t say I was a jerk when I came up, but I was a little kid,” Green said. “I just didn’t apply myself right. I had to hit rock bottom for me to realize it.”
And rock bottom was being released in December. In China.
“That was probably the lowest point,” Green admitted. “I knew if I got cut from the NBA, everybody gets cut. People get waived. Sometimes it’s the business, not the player. I was like, ‘Whoa!’ China?”
Green vowed if he got another chance, it would be different. He went to the Lakers’ training camp, was cut and landed in the D-League. Then the Nets called around the All-Star break.
For all the rotten breaks the Nets have endured this season, including losing Brook Lopez for all but five games, they finally caught a good one when Green signed a 10-day contract Feb. 27. Eventually, Green was signed for the season.
“His entrance, the way he exited, his hiatus, it’s really been a nice story,” said coach Avery Johnson, whose Nets go for a third straight home win Sunday night against the Cavaliers in Newark.
Productive players — especially ones who become YouTube staples for dizzying arrays of dunks and blocks and athletic moves — always make for nice stories. Green, 26, and starter Gerald Wallace have given the Nets small forward depth they haven’t enjoyed in years. Green has averaged 11.9 points and shot 49.5 percent in 22 games.
“He’s been great, he really has,” general manager Billy King said of the 6-foot-8 2007 NBA Slam Dunk champ who also was the D-League All-Star Game MVP in February. “To see a guy who was that high — winning the dunk contest and all — and then be in Russia and China, to bring him up and for him to be appreciated and fit in, it’s great.”
Green’s story has been just as improbable as that of a certain former Harvard point guard with the Knicks. Green was dealt by the Celtics, traded to and released by the Rockets, signed and waived by the Mavericks. Then came his world tour of Russia and China and rock bottom.
And yet, Green said if he had to do it all over, he would do the same — with an asterisk.
“Exactly the same, I would just be a better professional,” said Green, who said it always was “little things” that contributed to his downfall, something he repeatedly heard from Doc Rivers in Boston.
“Doc used to say that to me all the time: ‘Gerald, it’s not about making the home-run play, the home-run pass. It’s about taking a charge or swinging the ball or helping the helper.’”
Green recalled with a smile that his “alarm clock didn’t go off” excuse wore real thin, real quick. But he learned.
“He’s been very respectful. He hasn’t been on time for practices and shootarounds and busses — he’s been early,” said Johnson, who praises the impressive advancement Green has made defensively. “We thought he could be a capable defender on the ball, but off the ball, he’s excelled in both areas. Behind Deron [Williams] and Gerald Wallace, he’s our next top-tier defender.”
Green credits Johnson for his unending pointers and tips, but also mentioned the help he gets from assistant Mario Elie, who was a stud defender as a pro. Green worked with Elie during his time in Dallas and now gets daily defensive quizzes from Elie.
Green doesn’t know what will transpire contractually. But he knows where he would like to be.
“This is my home,” Green said of the Nets. “It feels like home. Everybody treats me like it’s my home.”