Chriss is hoping to kick malcontent label to curb
Toward the end of Marquese Chriss’ twoyear stint with the Suns, Chriss’ mother, Shawntae Wright, stopped reading online comments about her son.
“Some of the stuff was just mean — not from the organization itself, but just the things that were written,” Wright said. “It’s hard to see people being overly critical when they don’t have all the facts.”
Chriss’ reputation as a malcontent was a major reason why, after splitting last season between the Rockets and Cavaliers, he received no guaranteedcontract offers in free agency. Now poised to secure a 15man roster spot with the Warriors, he has drawn praise in preseason for his basketball IQ, maturity and work ethic.
Such a turnaround is rooted in Chriss’ personal growth, but it also speaks to the power of a narrative in the NBA. Those close to him believe that he became a scapegoat for the Suns’ wellchronicled chaos. Though Chriss is quick to concede that he faced a big learning curve — on the court and off — as an 18yearold lottery pick, he said he sometimes wonders if his career
might have gone differently had he been drafted to different organization.
All that matters to Chriss now, however, is that he has another chance to capitalize on his immense athleticism and find a home. Thrust into the starting lineup when injuries decimated Golden State’s center rotation early in preseason, he has flashed the strength, versatility and passing ability that head coach Steve Kerr wants from his big men.
At 22, Chriss offers the cashstrapped Warriors a budget project who could be groomed into a franchise building block. Golden State is widely expected to place Chriss on its 15man roster before the league’s Monday afternoon deadline, a move that would require the franchise to waive forward Alfonzo McKinnie — on a nonguaranteed deal until January — or trade someone.
“I don’t ever regret anything I’ve been through because it made me who I am,” Chriss said. “I might regret the way I’ve handled some situations, but I don’t regret any situation because you have to go through things to get where you want to be. I’d rather go through those things early than go through them later on.”
Chriss, a Sacramento native, was a bit of a mystery when he entered the 2016 NBA draft after just one season at Washington. He didn’t start organized basketball until a broken collarbone at age 14 ended his football career. Playing on a young Huskies team that missed the 2016 NCAA Tournament limited Chriss’ visibility.
But during the predraft process, he wowed scouts with his agility, 7foot wingspan, 38½inch vertical leap and shooting stroke. Initially considered a midfirstround pick, Chriss went No. 8 overall. The Suns saw him as a potential sidekick for guard Devin Booker.
A month removed from his 19th birthday, Chriss moved to Phoenix with two childhood friends. Wright, who stayed in Sacramento to raise her 8yearold son and keep her socialwork job, visited every four to six weeks to ease his transition.
As part of a 24win team in 201617, Chriss played through mistakes, started 75 games and earned second team AllRookie honors. The following season, after suffering a hip injury that sidelined him much of January, Chriss sank into a deep sadness.
Indifferent play compelled Suns interim head coach Jay Triano to cut Chriss’ minutes. Feeling lost and confused, he questioned his love for basketball.
Then, in early February 2018, Chriss sat out a game against Charlotte for his role in what the team described as a “verbal altercation” with the strength coach over a postgame routine. Chriss is adamant that no such altercation occurred.
“There was a narrative,” Chriss said. “They created the narrative that it was a coach. I was completely calm through the whole situation. It kind of got blown out of proportion. Things that didn’t need to happen happened.”
Added Wright: “It was kind of like the game ‘Telephone,’ where you say one thing, then it goes in a circle, and by the time the last person speaks, it’s not at all how it started.”
That purported incident fueled the perception that Chriss wasn’t mature enough to become a franchise cornerstone. When his sadness started to overwhelm him, he opened up to his mother, who told him that only he could make himself happy.
Chriss leaned on his Christian faith. Before games, he attended team chapel. On long flights, Chriss read Scriptures and meditation books, highlighting excerpts that resonated.
He entered the offseason in 2018 optimistic he could salvage his tenure with the Suns. In August 2018, Chriss was working out at the team facility when he saw on Twitter that he’d been traded to the Rockets.
“When he was (with Phoenix), the organization was terrible,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “Everything was going wrong, but he gets blamed like he’s the problem.”
After getting buried on Houston’s depth chart last season, Chriss asked the front office for a trade and was dealt at the deadline to Cleveland, where he struggled to shed his reputation as a locker room issue. Little more than a month after joining the Cavaliers, he was suspended a game for an oncourt fight with Raptors center Serge Ibaka.
During free agency last summer, Chriss’ safest offers were twoway contracts. The Warriors, who didn’t have enough room under the hard cap to add another minimum deal, invited him to training camp and promised to give him a fair shot at the 15man roster. Liking his fit in Golden State’s motion offense, Chriss gambled on himself.
“When I was in Phoenix and those other places, I didn’t know any better,” Chriss said. “I’m in a situation now where I’m happy. Being here, it brings joy back to playing basketball.”
Injuries to Warriors centers Willie CauleyStein and Kevon Looney cleared his path to meaningful minutes. Last weekend, after watching Chriss post a plus18 in 25 minutes of a win over Minnesota, Kerr called him “the surprise of camp.”
The next morning, Kerr began video study with a clip from the latest episode of HBO’s “Last Week Tonight,” in which host John Oliver railed against Rockets general manager Daryl Morey — the target of much backlash from China for a sincedeleted tweet supporting prodemocracy protesters in Hong Kong — for trading Chriss to Cleveland.
“What I’m saying, Daryl, is your tweet about Hong Kong was totally fine — nothing to apologize for there,” Oliver said. “But when it comes to Marquese Chriss, you f—ed up, Daryl!”
After enduring criticism the past few years, Chriss appreciated that this viral moment was positive. And so did Wright. Not only has she lifted her selfimposed ban on reading online comments about her son; she now seeks them out.
“The fan support out there has been beautiful,” Wright said. “To have the city embrace Marquese like that, that feels incredible. It really does. I enjoy reading those comments.”
“I don’t ever regret anything I’ve been through because it made me who I am.”
Marquese Chriss