Newsletter

A modern fairy tale: Wainright signs with the Raptors – Sport

– Basketball player Ishmail Wainright started his professional career with the Falcons three years ago, and the American will soon appear in the NBA for Toronto. No one in Nuremberg is surprised.


His broad cross was imposing, but the opponents still didn’t have too much to fear. Not yet.

When Ishmail Wainright played his first games for the Nürnberg Falcons in the late summer of 2018, it was hard to hide the fact that he had tried his hand at football just a few months earlier. Last year at college, the 1.96-meter-tall and well over 100-pound muscle pack from Kansas City had switched sport. It almost even worked out with one of the coveted places in the National Football League, but then the idea seemed too crazy to the Buffalo Bills: to sign a long-time basketball player as a tight end.

Almost a professional football player

Coach Ralph Junge was convinced early on that Nuremberg was just the beginning for Wainright.

Coach Ralph Junge was convinced early on that Nuremberg was just the beginning for Wainright.

© Sportfoto Zink / WoZi, NNZ

Ralph Junge, on the other hand, has always had to pursue apparently crazy ideas. Due to the manageable budget, the boss of Nuremberg’s second division basketball players repeatedly obliges players whose biographies also show one or the other turn-off or even a dead end. The prevented football professional Wainright fit into the picture very well.

“His statistics were unremarkable,” says Junge, with a view to the commitment, “but he was considered a glue guy by one of the best college teams.” So as the one who holds everything together.

10 minutes, 4 fouls, 0 points

When Ishmail Wainright arrived in Nuremberg, the home ground of the Falcons in the vocational training center had just been redeveloped, and the future of the club was once again uncertain. And on the floor, Wainright was more of a tight end than a power forward. “10 minutes, 4 fouls, 0 points” – Ralph Junge laughs when he remembers the first appearances.

Often such players are soon back on the plane to the USA. Many careers end before they even really start. This could also be observed again and again in Nuremberg. But not in the case of Ishmail Carzell Wainright.


Two-year contract with the Toronto Raptors

When it became known on Thursday that Wainright had signed a two-year contract with the Toronto Raptors, many people were probably surprised, but nobody in Nuremberg. After a few weeks of getting used to it, Wainright also became a Glue Guy in Nuremberg. “He not only has the body and the intelligence to play, but above all the spirit that it takes,” says Junge.

Junge has worked as a coach for more than two decades and has seen many young men who were convinced that a place in the National Basketball Association should be reserved for them. “With Ish it was more like the other way round,” says Junge. The coach was convinced that his player could make it big if he worked hard. And if Ishmail Wainright can do one thing, it is work hard.


When his dream of a football career was shattered, he was back in the training hall less than 24 hours later. He sweated four times a day in order to lose mass, regain his light-footedness and stabilize his throw. His agent’s phone was initially silent anyway – until the call came from Nuremberg.

A call from Nuremberg

With the Falcons, his stats soon looked like this: 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks.

Thanks to the pastor’s son from Missouri, Nuremberg rushed from victory to victory in the second half of the 2018/19 season. “Nobody wanted to play against him with the opponents. As soon as he came, they passed the ball to the left or right,” recalls Junge of the weeks and months when his Falcons first made it into the playoffs and later even the athletic promotion to the BBL.

A selfie that increased its value on Thursday: A fan took a picture of himself with Wainright after the rise.

A selfie that increased its value on Thursday: A fan took a picture of himself with Wainright after the rise.

© Sportfoto Zink / Daniel Marr, NNZ



It has been said often enough why the club remained second class. The father of two would have liked to stay in the event of promotion, but could not refuse the offer from Bundesliga team Rasta Vechta. Wainright put one floor up and the same numbers in the Basketball Champions League, after which the top French club Strasbourg signed him. Apparently he already had an offer from the Lithuanian Euroleague participant Kaunas for the coming season, but then a number with a Canadian area code lit up on the smartphone displays of his advisors. “I’m happy that he gets this chance,” says Junge, “it’s a wonderful Cinderella story.” A modern fairy tale.

Where he sees himself in the future, Wainright was asked when he carried the Falcons on his broad back in the spring of 2019. “Wherever God wants me,” he replied very modestly while changing his son’s diaper after his team had won in the Event Palace at Nuremberg Airport. He shouldn’t even have dreamed of having a place in the best league in the world reserved for him. From Nuremberg to the NBA – unbelievable.

“Words cannot describe what I’m feeling right now,” wrote Ishmail Wainright on Twitter on Friday, and: “This is just the beginning.”

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending