It took Portuguese center Nehemias Koeta just three seasons, including one with the Boston Celtics, to win the most coveted title in basketball at the club level, the North American NBA Championship.
The Portugal international, who made his debut in the competition in the 2021-22 season, the first of two seasons with the Sacramento Kings, has achieved in such a short time what some huge figures in the history of the sport have achieved but failed to achieve. life’.
Elgin Ballilor, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing, Steve Nash, Allen Iverson, Dominique Wilkens or Chris Webber are some of the NBA icons who do not have a “ring” at home, despite the fact that all have played 14 or more seasons in the tournament.
Trying, still active, almost at the end of their careers, are other “monsters” such as James Harden, Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook, who also do not have what the first – and so far only – Portuguese player in the NBA has. just achieved it.
Regardless of what his future holds in competition, Nehemias Queta has already made history, and he will always be able to tell his “grandchildren” that he became an NBA champion, just three years after realizing his dream of making it to the world’s premier competition. .
The 2.13m tall Portuguese “giant” already has the most coveted collective prize, but his third season at the competition, after two in Sacramento, has been anything but affirmative, despite breaking almost all of his individual records.
On a team full of great players, even if it wasn’t the 2023/24 champions, Nehemias Queta had little ‘space’ to shine and was rarely featured in Joe Mazzulla’s rotation and his usage in the playoffs was virtually non-existent.
The Portuguese appeared in just three of the Celtics’ 19 games, including one in the finals in which he came on with 5.25 minutes remaining as Boston lost by 45 points to the Mavericks. became the only defeat in the series (84-122).
In the short time he had in the “final”, he scored two points, converting the only “shot” he attempted, and also managed to make a tackle, “winning” by seven while he was on the field.
He previously played in the first two games of the conference semifinals as the Cleveland Cavaliers entered the game, winning 120–95 and losing 94–118, with the games decided. He added two points and three rebounds in eight minutes.
However, after signing a standard contract with the Celtics on April 8, he was one of the Boston team’s “15” selected for the playoffs and was always benched.
Playing in three playoff games, his first ever, Neemias Queta has 31 goals in 2023-24, as well as 28 regular-season games, nearly all of which (24) resulted in Massachusetts triumphs.
In a season in which he was also used, more notably, in the Maine Celtics’ secondary to defeat the G-League finalists to earn a two-way contract, Nehemias had his most successful games late in the regular season. .
Joe Mazulla saved the Stars for the playoffs, and the Portuguese had almost 20 minutes in two games and used them well, scoring 16 points (eight of 10 on field goals) and six rebounds against the opponent. Charlotte Hornets and 19 points (eight of 11), nine rebounds and six tackles against the Washington Wizards.
Previously, Neemias Queta had logged more than 10 minutes of usage in 16 more games, for a total of 18, with a high of 22.55 in the Los Angeles Clippers mainstay on December 23, 2023, in a 145–108 victory in which he had 14 points, 12 rebounds and three gears.
Portugal also topped 20 minutes (20.46) four days earlier in the Golden State Warriors stronghold in a 132-126 loss after overtime, achieving another double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
But for most of the games (54), Nehemias was not even used, as he was in the Maine Celtics lineup due to injury or simply the choice of Mazulla, who always complimented the Portuguese throughout the season.
The biggest problem for the Portuguese international, who averaged 5.5 points and 4.4 rebounds in 11.9 minutes in the regular season, was that he was facing Latvians Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford, who were much more versatile and shooting. experienced Luke. Cornet and, in the second half of the season, Xavier Tillman.
The trend is that Nehemias Queta, who is only 24 years old, could be given more playing time in the 2024-25 season if he remains in the NBA with the Boston Celtics, who have the option to extend his contract with the Portuguese or with another team.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.