Canadians in the NBA Roundup: Don't take Andrew Nembhard for granted

In many ways, Andrew Nembhard fell through the cracks.

The 23-year-old Aurora, Ont. native was just a four star high school recruit out of Montverde Academy. He played four years of college ball with Florida and then Gonzaga before declaring for the NBA Draft, where he was selected 31st overall in 2022 by the Indiana Pacers, with several teams in need of a guard help passing over the 6-foot-5, 193-pound combo guard.

Even on draft night, Nembhard was an afterthought in Canadian basketball circles considering that Montreal’s Bennedict Mathurin and London’s Shaedon Sharpe became the first two Canadians to get selected within the first seven picks of the NBA Draft when they went back-to-back at picks 6 and 7. 

But Nembhard has had more success than anyone could have imagined in his rookie season, averaging 9.3 points and 4.4 assists to just 1.6 turnovers per game on 44/35/78 shooting splits. Nembhard plays with a maturity beyond his years and has a knack for making the right play every time down the floor without getting sped up. Meanwhile, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has empowered him to guard the opponent’s best perimeter player every game, saying “I wasn’t aware of his potential as a defensive player. What got him on the floor initially for us was how tough and physical he was defensively… There’s a tough-mindedness that comes with having that sort of ability.”

It’s what earned Nembhard a place on the 2023 NBA Rising Stars Game, a spot in the Pacers starting lineup beside All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton by the tenth game of the season, and an average of 27.5 minutes per game, 7th most among rookies. 

“I've just been willing to learn through experience all year and not be afraid to make mistakes on the court," Nembhard told Sportsnet.ca. “And I think that confidence has just allowed me to play well down the stretch,” where Nembhard is averaging 15.4 points and 6.6 assists on 50/43/63 shooting splits over his last ten games instead of hitting the typical rookie wall. 

The start of his career is eerily similar to that of Cory Joseph, one of Nembhard’s favourite point guards, who was drafted 29th overall in 2011 after fellow Canadian Tristan Thompson was drafted 4th, the highest a Canadian had ever been selected at that time. Only back then, there were so few Canadians in the league that there was no way a guy like Joseph was going to go under the radar. Instead, he went on to have a successful 12-year career and counting as one of the league’s most productive backup point guards and the captain of the Canadian men’s senior national team.

Nembhard hopes to do all that and more. And watching him dissect defences as a rookie, it becomes clear that he has the potential to. In fact, Nembhard was born with the instincts of a pure point guard, playing with his brain on cruise control as he nonchalantly dissects the opposing defence through a series of ball-screens that he maneuvers around with his tight handle and slight frame, balancing scoring and playmaking responsibilities with the experience of a 10-year vet.

“I’ve been super impressed with him,” Team Canada head coach Nick Nurse said about Nembhard, who played for him during the 2019 FIBA World Cup. “I just think overall floor game, I thought he always kind of had that, he’s got kind of a good point guard sense and feel for the game.”

“He just had a maturity beyond his years. His skill level and feel was exceptional,” Carlisle said about the first time he saw Nembhard during the pre-draft process. 

But what makes Nembhard special as a rookie is his ability to already play off the ball in addition to on it — something he has to do in order to play beside Haliburton — calling himself a “combo guard that can play on and off the ball, score, pass, shoot. It’s where the league’s going: just kind of versatile.” It helps that he is already a top-tier off-ball defender who can see plays shaping up before they happen, ranking among the top of the league in drawn charges. And that he has a good sense of spacing and is shooting the ball well from three.

Nembhard says he learned a lot about the game from competing against his younger brother, Ryan, who recently brought the Creighton Bluejays to the Elite Eight. 

“I think me and my brother, we are just super competitive. We just drive each other,” Nembhard said. “And then I think we also see the game really well. So I like to hear things that he sees in my game from the outside view, and I definitely give him pointers on what I see when he's playing. I think we just bounce ideas off each other and we're super competitive. So those competitions when we were younger just drove us to get better.”

“He's playing really well. But it's not really a surprise to me, honestly,” Ryan says about his older brother. “I see the work he puts in on a consistent basis and I knew something like this was gonna happen. Maybe not this quick, but he's a very talented guy, super smart, knows how to play the game, and I feel like he can fit into any system anywhere and impact winning. So he's doing a hell of a job and I'm super happy for him.”

Nembhard has had to overcome his fair share of obstacles just to get to the NBA. While attending Montverde Academy in 2017, Nembhard was diagnosed with volvulus, a rare condition that causes the intestines to twist. After not being able to hold down any food following an afternoon workout, Nembhard was rushed to hospital and had surgery, with a portion of his intestines removed as he went into septic shock. He was then air-lifted to SickKids Hospital in Toronto, where he spent the next three weeks recovering, losing 21 pounds and watching Montverde fall short of its goal of winning a national title. 

The next year, his senior season, Nembhard led Montverde to a national championship, dishing out 13 assists with no turnovers in the title game. It’s one of the many stories that demonstrate his resilience and toughness in the face of adversity. 

Another is his NBA pre-draft process last summer, which saw Nembhard work out six days a week and travel to 14 cities to workout for NBA teams. It was a gruelling test of physical and mental fortitude, but everywhere Nembhard went, he impressed teams with his cerebral play and mature mindset, boosting his draft stock along the way. 

“We had Andrew Nembhard in here for a workout and he was spectacular,” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said after the draft, where Nembhard went two picks ahead of Toronto’s selection. “Doesn’t surprise me he moved up if he was working out like that for other people. He was almost flawless here in his workout.” 

Still, Nembhard should have never gone as low as 31st. He has easily been one of the ten best rookies in the league this season and, while he is on the older side at 23, Nembhard still has a ton of room to grow as he learns the intricacies of pick-and-roll coverages and becomes a more prolific shooter and defender.

“Every year. We see it every year,” undrafted All-Star Fred VanVleet said about players like Nembhard being passed over for unproven teenagers. “Potential is… I’m not gonna comment on it. But yes, I think people get caught up in what you think someone should be or what you want them to be instead of using your eyes and going with someone who has done it their whole lives.

“You watch the kid do what he’s been doing: He’s been the same player everywhere he goes. It wasn’t going to be any different in the league. Just need a little bit of opportunity. He’s having a great year.”

There are a lot of teams that allowed Nembhard to fall through the cracks. But it’s imperative that we as a basketball community don’t make the same mistake. Sure, there are more Canadians in the NBA than ever before. And yes, the odds are against him that Nembhard will ever go on to become a superstar. But being this good at this young of an age is nothing to scoff at, whether you're Canadian or otherwise.

Don’t take Andrew Nembhard for granted.