How ‘delusional confidence’ helped Gonzaga’s Andrew Nembhard overcome setbacks en route to NBA career

Some call it blind faith. Andrew Nembhard prefers to think of it as “delusional confidence.”

It’s something the point guard will lean on as he enters the cutthroat business of the NBA as a 22-year-old rookie.

It’s something that helped him navigate uncertain eligibility waters before he was cleared to play at Gonzaga in 2020.

It’s something Nembhard needed at the lowest point of his life, anchored to a hospital bed in Florida five years ago, sobbing as he withstood sharp stomach pains that may have paled in comparison to the heartache of spending six weeks away from a basketball court at a pivotal point in his competitive career.

Someone without Nembhard’s mental fortitude or support system may have lost sight of the broader plan, but the headstrong teenager, with the help of family members and friends, made a full recovery after six months.

It’s now part of a winding story that led Nembhard, the conductor of Gonzaga’s highly potent offense the last two years, to being scooped up by the Indiana Pacers with the 31st overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft.

“At the time I had maybe a little bit of a delusional confidence, thinking that I was going to come back and get to this point,” he said. “It’s not really a surprise to me but just a feeling of I proved myself right.”

Nembhard recalls the discomfort he felt on March 7, 2017, while attending Orlando-area prep basketball powerhouse Montverde Academy. As someone who’d grown up with stomach issues, he chalked it up to “another episode,” but when the pain intensified Nembhard was rushed to the hospital. Still, he figured he’d be out by the following morning.

“When I went into septic shock,” Nembhard said, “that’s when I really realized it was a lot worse than I thought.”

What Nembhard was experiencing was volvulus, a twisting or knotting of the intestines that leads to a bowel obstruction. He experienced most of the gruesome side effects: severe pain, vomiting and constipation. Nembhard underwent a series of procedures and surgeries, turning his overnight hospital stay into a six-week residency.

Patience and vision, decidedly two of Nembhard’s strongest assets as a point guard, were hard to come by during a recovery process that seemed to be dragging along without so much as a blink of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

“I remember almost coming to tears when I was in the hospital after like the fifth or sixth week there and I was just kind of down, didn’t really see a lot of progression,” said Nembhard, who fell back on his family’s confidence and optimism when it was hard to muster any of his own. “But they were always there by my side, kind of giving me tips, keeping me positive, trying to get my mind off it.”

Nembhard had to pass a variety of physical checkpoints before he could return to the court in a full capacity. The first of those? Walking.

“I could barely walk so I had to just build my muscle back, build my strength back and the basketball skills were all still there,” Nembhard said, “so it was kind of a seamless transition when the ball touched my hands again.”

In the five years since, Nembhard’s confidence – now justified – has helped him climb to the top of basketball’s totem pole, from Vaughan Secondary School in his home province of Ontario, Canada, to the more prestigious Montverde Academy, to an SEC contender in Florida, to a burgeoning blue blood in Gonzaga and now to the NBA’s Pacers who recently rewarded him with a four-year, $8.6 millon contract.

The $6.4 million in guaranteed money Nembhard is scheduled to make is reported to be the most in NBA history for a second-round pick.

“My journey, I’ve always been trying to challenge myself,” Nembhard said. “Every time I’ve moved from place to place I’ve always tried to take a step up and keep challenging myself, playing against better players, surround myself with better players on the court with me.”

Nembhard’s time at Gonzaga was shorter than he and Mark Few’s coaching staff would’ve liked, but mutually beneficial for both parties. With the 6-foot-5 point guard in their backcourt, the Bulldogs earned consecutive No. 1 NCAA Tournament seeds, nearly completed an undefeated 2020-21 season and spent 26 of 36 possible weeks ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25.

Nembhard got something out of the partnership, too. As Gonzaga’s floor general, he was able to control the tempo of the game as he saw fit, manipulating opposing defenses and taking advantage of pick-and-roll opportunities – perhaps Nembhard’s greatest quality as a point guard.

Adapting to the level of competition in the NBA may take time, but Indiana’s scheme will put Nembhard in a position to do many of the same things that made him such an effective point guard in college.

“I think my game translates really well with my size and ability to make plays for others as well as score for myself,” Nembhard said, “so I think it’s a pretty seamless transition and I’ve got to give all the credit to the coaching staff and teammates for giving me the confidence and giving me the ability and freedom to do what I do out here.”

Nembhard was more or less given the keys to Indiana’s Summer League team, starting in every game he played and took it upon himself to communicate ideas and strategies through text message to Pacers Summer League coach Ronald Nored in between games in Las Vegas.

“He’s been great, he’s been working,” Indiana first-round pick and fellow Canadian Bennedict Mathurin said of Nembhard after a 109-100 preseason win over New York on Wednesday. “Every time I come back in the gym at night, he’s there working with me. He’s working, but he’s also a leader. I feel like that’s what makes him a great teammate. He’s a great leader, he wants to learn and I’m really glad he’s on the team.”

In his third NBA preseason game, Nembhard saw an uptick in minutes as Indiana sat star point guard Tyrese Haliburton because of back soreness. The former Zag was assertive when it came to hunting his own offense, scoring 15 points and totaling eight points inside the final four minutes. But that didn’t get in the way of facilitating for others and Nembhard also recorded a game-high nine assists. He chipped in four rebounds, two steals, two blocks and two turnovers, finishing plus-14 for the game.

“He’s got an old-school feel for the game,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s unafraid and he’s cool under pressure. The shot-making was as impressive as the floor game if you really think about it. … His passing and his awareness, the transition pass to Isaiah (Jackson) for the dunk, you can’t teach that stuff.”

After starting in 115 of 131 possible games at Florida and Gonzaga, Nembhard will be in unfamiliar waters this season, projected to be the backup to the backup point guard in Indiana. He’ll have to bide his time, swallow DNPs (did not play) and contribute to winning in a way that doesn’t mean generating offense as the lead point guard.

But Nembhard can at least take solace in knowing he’s found the right situation. Why is he able to say that so definitively after only a few months? Everywhere he looks, he sees parallels between Indiana and Gonzaga.

“I did see a good fit and as I came here I’m seeing it more and more. It’s an amazing feel,” Nembhard said. “It’s a young group and I feel like I fit in well. Culture here is a fun environment, similar to Gonzaga. A lot of young guys who want to get better and want to win, so I’m excited about it.”

At Indiana’s annual rookie talent show, the normally-reserved Nembhard found the courage to put on a Buzz Lightyear costume and sing to a crowd of fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Teammates have clearly taken to the second-round pick, nicknaming him “Drew,” which Nembhard admittedly prefers to the “Andy” moniker that somehow stuck at Gonzaga.

“I think it’s the way you feel when you walk into a Gonzaga practice,” he said, “a lot of fun, guys are talking (expletive), going hard at each other, competing. It feels very similar here.”

Nembhard’s hectic schedule in the weeks and months following the NBA Draft left him little time to reflect on his journey, where it’s taken him and all he overcame to get there. Toward the end of his stay at Summer League, Nembhard indicated that moment could come Wednesday when the Pacers open the regular season against the Washington Wizards.

“You’re working out for teams, two days later you get drafted, go to the team,” he said. “It hasn’t really had time to set in. I’m sure that first regular season game will be surreal for sure.”