The inside story on how Ryan Nembhard became a Dallas Maverick
And his rise from going undrafted in June to becoming an NBA starter by Thanksgiving
Ryan Nembhard has started four NBA games. He has committed just five turnovers in those four starts while dishing out 30 assists.
Start No. 5 for the Dallas Mavericks comes tonight in Oklahoma City. It will be the undrafted Nembhard at the point for the visitors against a fellow Canadian — and reigning MVP — named Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
"We love those stories," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Wednesday night, unable to hide his appreciation for a performance that helped inflict Miami's 118-108 defeat in Dallas.
Spoelstra, you see, was a USA Basketball assistant coach alongside Gonzaga coach Mark Few for two straight summers in 2023 and 2024 under head coach Steve Kerr. Spoelstra, as a result, says Few has been relentless in lobbying him about Nembhard and his older brother Andrew Nembhard of the Indiana Pacers "to get one of them on our team."
"I don't want to hear from Mark Few any more about any of the Nembhards," Spoelstra joked. "I've been hearing about Nembhards forever."
In truth, Spoelstra was one of the first people on the American Airlines Center floor after Wednesday's final buzzer to seek out and congratulate Ryan Nembhard on the 15-point, 13-assist gem that established the 22-year-old as the first undrafted rookie in the NBA's modern draft era — which dates to 1967 — to post two such games in a row.
On Monday night in Denver, Nembhard had 28 points, 10 assists and zero turnovers in the Mavericks' thoroughly unexpected 131-121 road takedown of the Nuggets … which prompted The Stein Line to ask him if he is OK, nearly six months later, with going undrafted.
"I don't think about it much anymore," Nembhard told me. "My focus is on today because that's all that matters. But deep down I think I have a natural fire to compete. And it's hotter than maybe it would have been otherwise because no one believed in me."
There have been a slew of strong performances in the early season by players who, like Nembhard, are on two-way contracts. Detroit's Daniss Jenkins, Denver's Spencer Jones and the LA Clippers' Kobe Sanders have been standouts. Others include Golden State's Pat Spencer, Philadelphia's Dominick Barlow, Portland's Caleb Love and Sidy Cissoko, Washington's Tristan Vukčević, New Orleans' Bryce McGowens and the Los Angeles Lakers' Nick Smith Jr.
Yet it's Nembhard, maybe more than any of the undrafted players in that group, who has repeatedly inspired the question: How on Earth could 59 names be called last June ahead of him?
This is the inside story on Nembhard's draft night and everything else that has happened since: