CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When the Nets began training camp at Duke University in October, expectations were low for Mason Plumlee, the team’s lone rookie.
With a starting frontline of All-Star Brook Lopez and future Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, and with veteran reserves Andray Blatche and Reggie Evans backing them up, Plumlee seemed destined to spend most of his first season in the NBA watching and learning from the sidelines.
But Plumlee has grown into one of the Nets’ biggest surprises in a season full of them, going from a player with very few expectations placed upon him to one who started his 14th straight game for the Nets when they faced the Bobcats Wednesday night.
“It’s been a privilege,” said Plumlee of his extended run in the starting five. “I didn’t think I would get an opportunity to start 10, 12 games, however many it’s been.
“I think it’s helped me. I feel so much more comfortable now. If we get in the playoffs and they need me to play extended minutes, or in any situations, Coach has kept me in for late-game situations, he’s kept me in. I’ve just gotten a lot of experience I couldn’t have gotten otherwise.”
Plumlee has performed whenever he has been given an opportunity. The 22nd pick in the 2013 draft, the 7-footer is averaging 6.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in 17 minutes per game — numbers that jump to 7.8 points and 6.1 rebounds in 21 minutes per game in March, when he has started all 14 games because of Garnett’s extended absence due to back spasms.
On a team full of veterans, including several with 10 years or more of NBA experience, the rookie has earned the respect of the team’s older players for his ability to step in.
“Mason, I think, is growing,” Garnett said last week. “These are minutes, countless minutes that he couldn’t get in practice or any other type of situation, so I’m happy and proud of how the guys are playing together [without me], but more importantly for Mason and for his progression. “
Wednesday’s game was a homecoming for Plumlee, who went to high school in Asheville, N.C., about two hours west of Charlotte, before playing four years under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke.
His time with the Blue Devils meant Nets general manager, and fellow Duke alumnus, Billy King, saw plenty of Plumlee as a collegiate player. King, who said at the start of the year Plumlee was likely headed to the D-League at some point this season to gain experience, said the biggest reason Plumlee has been able to have such success as a rookie is because of his willingness to learn from his many veteran teammates.
“The one thing I give him credit for, and it started in summer league, was he had the right attitude,” King said in a recent radio interview. “With his work ethic, and being willing to listen and learn, I’m not surprised.
“In this league, if you’re willing to listen and you put work in, you’ll be good, and that’s what he’s done. His teammates have recognized he’s willing to work and listen, and that’s been able to help him. There’s a lot of young guys who come into the league and don’t want to listen and don’t want to learn, and are surprised when they don’t have success.”
Plumlee has had plenty of success, becoming one of nine rookies to participate in the Rising Stars Challenge at All-Star weekend and appears likely to be a first-team All-Rookie selection at season’s end. In the process, he also has earned the trust of Nets coach Jason Kidd, who not only has been starting Plumlee, but playing him in crucial situations, including overtime of Monday’s loss to the Pelicans.
Kidd said that even once Garnett returns, Plumlee isn’t going to be relegated to the bench.
“Everybody is going to play … when we’re healthy and fully loaded, everybody is going to have an opportunity to play,” Kidd said. “It gives us depth, the ability to go harder, maybe for a shorter amount of time and have the rotation down.
“So, yeah, when [Garnett] comes back, that doesn’t mean Mason disappears or doesn’t play.”