Andray Blatche doesn’t want to talk about his roller-coaster past with the Wizards, but he isn’t forgetting it either.
The Nets reserve forward, in fact, is using it as motivation.
The 6-foot-11 Syracuse product chose to wear No. 0 after signing with Brooklyn, a reminder of the amount of support he felt he had after the Wizards used the amnesty clause to rid themselves of the remainder of his three-year, $23 million contact.
“Everybody thought I was going to be out of the league,” Blatche said. “Zero reminds me I didn’t have any support system outside of my immediate family, nobody who thought I was going to bounce back and get on another team.”
Blatche’s seven years with the Wizards were tumultuous, a mix of unrealized potential and questions surrounding his maturity. He averaged 16.8 points and 8.2 rebounds during the 2010-11 season, but struggled last season and was benched for conditioning issues.
Blatche has been impressive for the Nets since inking a partially guaranteed one-year, $1.1 million deal. He came into camp in tip-top shape and had 12 points and five rebounds in the team’s preseason opener Saturday night, hitting the game-winning shot as the Nets edged the 76ers 108-105 in overtime.
Blatche credits the time he spent over the summer with noted guru John Lucas. Blatche’s aunt introduced him to the former NBA player and coach, and Blatche spent two months in Houston, working out three times a day three days a week and twice a day three other days to get into better condition.
“That’s what I needed to do,” Blatche said. “That was important for me this summer.”
He added: “It paid off.”
At the start of camp, coach Avery Johnson raved about Blatche’s versatility and scoring ability, saying he “could be one of the steals of free agency.”
Blatche is thrilled to be in Brooklyn, on a team he feels comfortable with. He said his new teammates are like his “brothers” already — he lifts weights each day with Reggie Evans and works on post moves with Jerry Stackhouse — and repeatedly used the word “fun” to describe his time with his new organization.
“It’s great to be a part of a team that will help one another out,” he said. “I have a new beginning, not as much stuff hanging over my head. I can go out and play, I don’t have to think. It’s just fun.”
Blatche will see his old teammates for the first time tonight when the Nets open the Barclays Center for basketball with a preseason game against Washington. The game doesn’t hold any extra significance to him.
Blatche does remember those who doubted him — though he didn’t name names — after he was let go from Washington, the reason he chose to wear No. 0. He also picked it in honor of former Wizards teammate Gilbert Arenas, whom he said he learned a great deal from at the start of his career.
“I kind of like his motto: ‘From zero to hero,’ ” Blatche said. “Hopefully I can come from being nothing to something.”
—Additional reporting by Tim Bontemps