CHARLOTTE — The father waited one whole month into his newborn son’s life before he started watching basketball highlights with him. This was their bonding time, in the blue light at 4 a.m., as much as it was a way for Jordan Goodwin to get ahead.
G League call-up Jordan Goodwin bringing ‘Goody’ vibes to Wizards
“That’s who I do it for now,” Goodwin said, flashing a photo and grinning. “He definitely changed my life. He changed my life.”
With both his family’s future and his own dreams in mind, Goodwin has taken his biggest leap yet this season toward his ultimate goal of earning a permanent spot in the NBA.
Playing on a two-way contract that splits his time between the Wizards and their G League affiliate, Goodwin, 24, impressed in Washington’s past two games with his energy, defensive ferocity and chockablock stat lines. He had nine points, eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block in a tight loss at the Memphis Grizzlies, frustrating Ja Morant on defense so much that the Grizzlies star slapped the stanchion and walked off the court into the tunnel after one play.
In a game the next night against the Hornets, he had a career-high 17 points (on 7-for-7 shooting), four rebounds, five assists and two blocks to help fuel a second-half spurt that won Washington the game.
“He’s a dog,” guard Corey Kispert said. “He goes out there, he’s a problem on defense, he makes the right play on offense, he didn’t try to play outside of himself. And that’s what the recipe is for making the most of your opportunity.”
Goodwin got his chance with the Wizards organization last year with an Exhibit 10 contract, essentially an on-road to the G League. Ahead of this season, he earned the team’s second and final two-way contract, a deal worth half of the rookie minimum salary (around $502,000) that caps players at 50 regular season games and allows no playoff eligibility.
Yet with the Wizards missing backup point guard Delon Wright (hamstring), Goodwin has crept his way into the rotation these past few games. While Johnny Davis, the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft, was assigned to the G League over the weekend — he traveled with the team to Charlotte on Monday but did not play — Goodwin played 26 minutes in Memphis and nearly 22 minutes in Charlotte. The team felt every one of them.
Coach Wes Unseld Jr. said the Wizards brought Goodwin along for their back-to-back games out of positional need. Both Goodwin and Davis are guards, but Goodwin can fill in at point guard.
“I think [Johnny] was looking forward to getting on the court and playing meaningful minutes,” Unseld said Monday. “I thought he made the most of those with the Go-Go, so keeping Jordan was more of a positional need than anything.”
Need defines a player in Goodwin’s contract situation more than anything. To get a call-up from the G League, Goodwin had to shed the scoring-minded identity he had crafted for himself in college at Saint Louis. His job is to provide something the Wizards are missing.
Under the guidance of Capital City Go-Go Coach Mike Williams, Goodwin spent his first year with the organization shifting his focus to more physical defense, working on his passing and improving his decision-making so he could better organize an offense and manage the flow of a game. He lost 15 pounds over the summer to get quicker — now he can better keep up with smaller guards such as Morant on defense and more easily change his pace on offense.
“He completely bought into playing the way that he needs to play to be in the NBA,” Williams said. “Not for him to be in the G League or feeling good about his numbers or anything like that, but to play in the NBA. … And you see — he was with us all last year. Now I think all season we’ve seen him at breakfast like, twice.”
The Go-Go’s loss is the Wizards’ gain, especially in the locker room. The Illinois native goes by “Goody” and embodies all the positive vibes the nickname evokes. He’s got fans in Kispert, who began his rookie year expecting to spend time in the G League before becoming a staple in the rotation, and Bradley Beal, whom Goodwin has known since he was 12 or 13. Goodwin played on Beal’s St. Louis-based AAU team, Bradley Beal Elite, beginning in middle school.
Starting point guard Monte Morris, who also began his pro career in the G League, took extra care to mentor and encourage Goodwin this year when he arrived in Washington.
“I’m just happy for him, because I see how I started my NBA career and him working out twice a day and all that stuff, it’s paying off,” Morris said. “Just his hunger out there on both ends, it makes me happy to see as a brother.”
Goodwin’s hunger on the court is apparent in the way his brow furrows on defense, the way he springs out of his chair to clap for teammates or pace in front of the bench to expel extra energy. His natural competitiveness was what Williams noticed first when Goodwin got to the G League. With the Wizards, who can sometimes lack focus, that intensity is one of his most valuable assets.
“That’s what I’m here for,” Goodwin said. “I went undrafted. … I’ve been watching, learning. Haven’t played that much, but on the bench, I’m locked in. Practice, locked in. Learning everything, just trying to find the road.”
And making time to study tape all the while, even now that he’s lost his early morning film room buddy. Jordan Jr. has started sleeping through the night.
Source: WP
