Little brother thought he was out of time. Big brother already had completed 11 NBA seasons and now was off to China.
And then the Miami Heat summoned Dorell Wright for their playoff roster. And then Delon Wright began looking at the playoff bracket for his Toronto Raptors.
And now here they are, head to head, in this Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series.
Sage older brother vs. rookie first-round pick brother. When it comes to playing rotations, each effectively is an afterthought.
But this is not about playing time; this is about family.
The irony being that even now, in opposite colors, Delon still considers himself somewhat part of Heat Nation.
“When he went over there, I was like, ‘That might be our chance to ever play,’ ” Delon said Tuesday, before the teams’ Game 1 at Air Canada Centre, “not knowing if he would come back this year or not.”
And then Dorell did, reunited with the team he spent the first six years of his NBA career with, as a first-round pick directly out of high school in 2004.
“That was one of the things when I left I was mad about,” Dorell said of his decision to go for a secure paycheck in China. “My brother’s first year and I don’t get a chance to play against him at all? So I was pretty upset about that, just because his whole time, I’ve been telling him what to look for, what to expect, things like that, mentoring him, and I missed out on the opportunity.”
And then he was back. And then Delon began to study the potential playoff bracket.
“It was real exciting,” Delon said. “I still didn’t think it was a chance because they were all tied at three, four and five [in the standings, with Atlanta, Boston and Charlotte]. I looked at the bracket and they were the third seed. So I went, ‘There might be a chance if we both win.’ ”
And they both did, in Sunday Game 7s, the Heat against the Charlotte Hornets, the Raptors against the Indiana Pacers.
Now the series has become a family affair, for the second consecutive season bothers competing in an NBA playoff series, just as New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday and Golden State Warriors guard Justin Holiday did last season.
“He’s helped me a lot,” Delon said of his transition from being selected in the first round of last year’s NBA draft of Utah with the No. 20 selection. “Ever since I was 12 years old, he was in the NBA. So ever since then, I’ve been looking up to him and he’s helped me on my way to college, the pros.”
Monday night, that meant time together, as there will be in coming days.
“Got in a little fraternizing,” Dorell said. “I said, ‘Lil Bro, I got to make sure you’re good.’ ”
Through it all, Delon said affection for the Heat remains, particularly with the way Dwyane Wade also has helped shape his career.
“Except for this series, I’m still a fan,” Delon said. “Because I love D-Wade. That’s my favorite player. He’s also like helped me out, too, just like when my brother was on the phone with him, he’d put him on the phone, even when I was young, so that really did a lot for me. So I’ve still been a fan of him.”
Perhaps even a bigger fan than of his brother.
“I’ve told that story before,” Dorell related after Tuesday’s shootaround, “that I thought I was going to get my number three [when drafted], and he was like, ‘No you’re not, because Dwyane Wade wears it.’ I’m like, ‘Who is Dwyane Wade.’ He had been a fan since Marquette.”
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