Murray Wood: Of Easter bunny bells and Juicy Fruit gum
For Murray Wood, Easter brings to mind grandma's practical advice about repurposing, and some of life's little lessons.
The 2023 CEBL season hasn’t started the way the Saskatchewan Rattlers wanted, but for one of the team’s newest additions, it’s gone better than expected.
Point guard Justin Wright-Foreman has shot the lights out in his first five games in the CEBL.
He’s currently leading the league with 29.8 points per game, and is shooting 47.8 per cent from three-point land. He’s also just a single three-point shot away from leading the league, and has the CEBL’s third-highest field-goal percentage.
Wright-Foreman says while it might seem like what he’s doing is easy, the reality is the opposite.
“The league is tough. I feel like every given night is going to be a dogfight,” he said after practice at Merlis Belsher Place on Wednesday.
“As easy as I make it look, it’s not that easy. I’d say I give all the credit to my teammates,” he added.
“From Day 1 they’ve made me feel accustomed to what’s going on here, and Coach made me feel comfortable as far as knowing when the ball is going to be in my hands. My teammates make it easy for me to be who I am, and they know I’ll get them the ball as well.”
Wright-Foreman said his success is largely due to a high basketball IQ, which makes sense given his wealth of professional basketball experience.
Before joining the Rattlers this season, Wright-Foreman was invited to a free-agent camp with the NBA’s New York Knicks. He is known to the Knicks organization, as he played for their G-League team last season in Westchester.
The last four years have seen him bounce around a bit, playing for teams in the United States, Germany, China and now Canada. Before that, he was selected in the second round of the 2019 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz.
Wright-Foreman said he’s hopeful his strong performance in the CEBL can propel him to another job south of the border.
“I’m using this as a summer league until I figure out what else is going on. Of course, the dream is to be in the NBA still,” he stated. “I got my foot in the door, and I’d like to have both feet now.”
He says he’s noticed the competitiveness of the CEBL.
“Just being in this league, you can tell how advanced it’s gotten, especially with the new additions coming out here,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of G-League guys coming out here to play basketball and have fun. I would say this is a rapid-growing league, and we’ve just got to get things in order.”
Wright-Foreman said he feels the league is really starting to gain a larger audience, especially over the last five years.
