Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie has played different roles as a guard throughout his nine-year career. In his first two seasons as a member of the Detroit Pistons, after the team drafted him with the 38th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft out of Colorado, Dinwiddie was used as a guard off the bench that could do a combination of scoring and facilitating.
After arriving in Brooklyn the first time as a free agent in December of 2016, Dinwiddie began being used in that lead guard role by then-head coach Kenny Atkinson and the Los Angeles native began thriving in that role thanks to his unique combination of size (6’5″, 215 LBs) and speed to get to the rim time and again.
Fast forward to this past February when Dinwiddie was traded back to Brooklyn in the Kyrie Irving deal. That trade allowed Dinwiddie to go from being a supporting ball-handler to the ball-dominant Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic to being the lead guard again for the team that was the first to cast him in that position. Dinwiddie played well in that role even though his shooting efficiency plummeted across the board as he had to do more for a Brooklyn team lacking players who can create shots for themselves and others.
Before the Nets were swept by the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs, Dinwiddie appeared on FanDuel TV’s Run It Back show to talk, among other things, about what it was like going back to his lead guard role when he went back to the Nets. Here’s what he had to say:
“Emotionally, I’ll say it was probably a little bit easier just because I was coming back to a familiar place. So, you know, thank God for Brooklyn. I’ve always said like, Dallas and Brooklyn have been the two spots that I’ve had a ton of fun in my career. As far as adjusting my game, I think that’s kind of been a hallmark of my career. You know, wherever I’ve gone, I’ve tried to do whatever was asked of me to help the team win, you know? I mean, right now, I think I’m passing the ball at a pretty high clip, which is what this team (Brooklyn) needs. You know, I’ve been sixth-man gunner. I’ve been, you know, lead a bad team to the playoffs. You know, post co-star, or not costar, but, be second under a superstar and catch-and-shoot threes. To me, it’s always been about winning and trying to understand just what the team needs at that point in time. So, you know, that’s the reason for the adjustment.”
