Phoenix Suns two-way forward Ish Wainright, who is not under contract with the team next season, is one of very few players to make the transition from the NFL to the NBA.
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Wainright played four seasons of basketball at Baylor before staying one more season to play tight end for the football team, recording 34 yards and two touchdowns in three games.
In 2018, Wainright accepted an invite for the Buffalo Bills rookie minicamp, but ended up being waived at the end of it.
He then accepted an offer to play professional basketball in Germany, where he played for two professional teams until the Toronto Raptors called him offered him a spot on the training camp roster in 2021, but he did not ultimately end up making the team.
Right after, Wainright signed his first two-way deal with the Suns. Since, he signed a standard deal with Phoenix in the 2022-23 season, but was waived before this past season despite the Suns exercising their team option on him last summer and then was picked up by the Portland Trail Blazers. He ultimately re-signed with the Suns in March after being waived by Portland.
Former NBA player and current ESPN personality Austin Rivers stirred up some drama this week in the NFL and NBA communities after these comments this week on the Pat McAfee Show this week:
So where does Wainright, who has technically made the transition from the NFL to the NBA, stand on this debate?
On a post on Instagram, Wainright wrote: “this is gonna be a discussion for years to come. There’s a handful of NBA players that can play a full season in the NFL for sure !! There’s a handful of NFL players that can play in the NBA if they had a summer worth of training. That’s how I feel. Myself, I tried it, much respect to them –s in the NFL. But yall can have all that.”
What are your thoughts on Rivers’ comments?
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Brendan Mau is a senior writer covering the Phoenix Suns and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @Brendan_Mau.
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