Detroit Pistons center Ugonna Onyenso will begin his NBA career later today with a Summer League game against the Philadelphia 76ers
With the Detroit Pistons set to begin their Summer League slate later today against the Philadelphia 76ers in Las Vegas, the basketball world will have their first look at second-round pick Ugonna Onyenso out of Virginia. Earlier this week, the shot-blocking phenom who averaged nearly three swats per game last year as a Cavalier held his first media availability as a pro, and the 7-foot center spoke to the press about how his initial practice with the Pistons went.
Harkening back to his college days, Onyenso was humble in saying that it is not necessarily atypical for him to go through an entire practice without recording at least one block, but his statement about its novelty spoke about how frequently he compiled rejections at Virginia whether he was too humble to admit so or not.
”I had my first practice today,” Onyenso said. “I didn’t get a blocked shot today, you feel me? But it's like okay, what [are] the mistakes that I made? Where to correct those mistakes and everything. So, it’s all about the mindset for me. We’ve got practice tomorrow. We are going to see what we are going to do again, learn from today and come in tomorrow with the same mindset.”
That type of response is precisely what separates Onyenso from other rookies as it speaks to a level of maturity that the big man is bringing to the Motor City. However, perhaps it should not come as a surprise considering the journey that Onyenso has taken to finally reach the NBA after beginning his life in Nigeria before moving to Senegal to take part in the NBA Academy as a teenager.
”The NBA Academy really helped me, especially leaving home when I was 15 for the first time,” Onyenso said. “That was my first time leaving my family. The first couple months was really hard for me, but staying away from home, being in an environment like that helped me mentally. What people said, goes. It’s a difference when you set a goal and not being able to chase that goal, but with the NBA Academy, I set a goal for myself. The NBA Academy was a path for me to test how mentally tough I am as an individual, so with the NBA Academy, it’s more about mental for me than basketball because I feel like basketball is going to come.”
At first, Onyenso began his life by playing football in Nigeria before he picked up the sport of basketball, but it did not take him long to adapt. Of course, Onyenso’s massive wingspan (currently measured at 7-5) did not hurt his progression, but the newest Piston indicated that off-the-court facets of the game were equally important to what happened on the court during his development. And considering that Nigeria is over 1,500 miles away from the NBA Academy in Senegal, there were a lot of off-the-court adjustments for the NBA hopeful to make.
“At the end of the day, it’s about how you mentally take everything in, especially when you’re not playing much,” Onyenso said. “How you handle stuff like that, so I feel like the NBA Academy really helped me develop that side of me. Coming into college, it was a little easier for me because I’ve been away from home, going into situations where it’s just me, so when it comes to the mental side of it, the NBA Academy really helped me with that.”
Based on those responses, the 21-year old already sounds like a seasoned vet with a polished perspective and the defensive talent to back it up. But now that he’s a member of the Pistons, Onyenso will have one of the NBA’s elite on-ball defenders in Ausar Thompson working alongside him to feed off of as he picks up the nuances of professional hoops.
“Playing alongside someone that is heavily defensive-minded, it helps me in a way because if someone like him, if I’m playing with someone like that, it also pushes me on defense because I’ve also got someone who’s doing it down there with me,” Onyenso said. “So, being able to have someone like that on defense is really amazing. He can be scrappy down, and I can be able to block shots up. Getting steals, blocking shots, we can find a way to make it fun. So, it’s all about enjoying everything and making everything fun as much as you can.”
The Pistons have fostered a defensively-minded culture in Motown over the past couple seasons with head coach J.B. Bickerstaff at the helm, and Onyenso’s specialty could come in handy for Detroit now that they’ve dealt Isaiah Stewart to the Memphis Grizzlies. Without Beef Stew lurking in the paint to protect the rim, Onyenso could feasibly carve out a role for himself as another imposing big man in the Motor City, but the first step in doing so will come later today when he laces up his shoes for his first Summer League game against the Sixers, which is slated for 5:30 pm on Amazon Prime.
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