Finally healthy, former Zag Brandon Clarke has put in the work to help the Grizzlies re-emerge as a contender
DALLAS – Three hundred , 87 days.
That’s how long Brandon Clarke went between NBA games after sustaining a torn Achilles tendon in a March 3, 2023, game in Denver.
When he returned more than a year later, Clark – the former Gonzaga standout – played six games to close out the season and showed flashes of the athleticism and toughness that have been his trademark since he entered the league in 2019 as the No. 19 pick.
Now he’s ready to do it for an entire season.
“Yeah, I feel great. Glad to be back here playing basketball with my teammates, definitely missed it,” Clarke said at the start of preseason. “It was hard last year having to watch most of this. I’ve put in a lot of work to be able to play again, so really grateful for it.”
One silver lining from being off the floor for over a year was that he got to watch plenty of his fellow Zags play, including much of Chet Holmgren’s impressive rookie campaign with the Oklahoma City Thunder. “Yeah, watching Chet was always fun. He was always a very, very fun guy to watch in college,” Clarke said. “That whole team was so fun to watch. Watching Chet and Jalen (Suggs) blossom in the NBA has been fun.”
As happy as Clarke is to be back on the floor, his coach, Taylor Jenkins, may be even more ecstatic. Clarke – the affable Canadian known as BC to teammates – brings a grittiness to the Grizzlies, a team that suffered to a 27-55 record a year ago as it dealt with a rash of injuries and a long suspension to franchise player Ja Morant.
“It’s just that pop and that bounce in his step (that we’ve really missed). You see it in his game for sure, but he’s got this way to connect the other four guys (on the floor) with his unselfish play,” Jenkins said. “Having him back fully healthy after a great summer and a great end to last season, which I think was a big momentum builder for him, I think that’s going to propel him to hopefully a really good start for this season.”
The 6-foot-8 Clarke, 28, made a big impact in his one season at Gonzaga, earning West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors and being named All-WCC first-team. His numbers as a Zag were solid: 14.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, a WCC-leading 3.2 blocks, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He also led NCAA Division I with a .687 field goal percentage.
His lone season in Spokane still brings a smile to his face.
“I look back at it in a very, very positive way. I’m just so, so grateful for that team and that school,” Clarke said of his time at GU. “There’s really no words I can put into it. It was so fun, just all the games that we played, everything was just so fun playing with them. I think that (Coach Few) just gave me confidence to turn me into who I am today, turn me into a player that I could be in the NBA, gave me the confidence really to go out there and have a really good college year. He just put me in a really good position to be able to be here.”
Now, Clarke is healthy and back in the mix with the Grizzlies, where he figures to either be a starter or one of the first bigs off the bench.
“He’s one of our most dynamic ball-screen players. He’s a guy that generates a lot of possessions for us too on the offensive side,” Jenkins said. “He’s just one those ultimate team guys. He’s a spark off the bench, constant energy in all kinds of situations. I think even defensively, he’s taken steps to get better.
“We’re going to challenge him more to be an even better rim protector, a rotation player on the perimeter guarding one-on-one. That’s something that we want him to take a huge step in.”
Thriving as a “connector” on both ends is one way Clarke helps make those around him better, and he credits Jenkins for putting him in the best position to be successful.
“Yeah, I think that’s been a part of what I do on the team, just being somebody that can help raise us offensively, defensively,” Clarke said. “That’s just what my job is. He (Jenkins) is a coach you just want to play hard for, who you would run through a wall for. He’s just a guy that brings the energy, brings the fight, makes the long season not feel so long because every day he’s coming in with that positive energy. He just makes it easier to come out here and play hard for him every day.”
Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.