MANCHESTER, NH – Lucky No. 13 will soon be playing on a court much closer to home than he has in a long time.
Wenyen Gabriel, who first held a basketball in his hands on a recreational league court here in Manchester, signed Tuesday with the Boston Celtics.
Most recently playing with the LA Lakers, Gabriel has played in 145 career games (eight starts) over four NBA seasons (2019-23) with the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, and Sacramento Kings.
Last season, Gabriel made 68 appearances with the Lakers and averaged 5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per game while shooting a career-high 59.6 percent from the field, according to the announcement posted at around noon by the Celtics.
Gabriel grew up in Manchester and played for Coach Sudi Lett as part of the Bishop Elite recreational team. Lett, who is head coach for Central High School’s varsity boys basketball, has continued to be a mentor and friend and said he sees the move to Boston as a great opportunity – not just for Gabriel, but for fans who haven’t had the opportunity to see him play in real-time on an NBA court.
“It’s an awesome opportunity for him. The Celtics recently traded one of their big guys so they may need the energy he brings,” Lett says. “Overall I’m happy for him and his family and it’s really cool for the city of Manchester. There have only been 5,000 players to ever play in the NBA and Manchester is home to one of them.”
Lett said the outpouring online once the news broke Tuesday has been nice to see.
“He signed to a training camp deal, so he still has some work to do, but so far we’re all super happy and rooting for him, big time,” says Lett. “Personally, I will do my best to keep as much distance as I can – because I know as great as it is for people to want to go see him play, it can also be a distraction because everyone’s pulling at you. Not that I don’t want to be there, but I will intentionally give him some space. After all, he’s at work; it’s a job for him and I want to respect that,” says Lett, in full coach-mode.
Watching Gabriel play with the Lakers has been exhilarating and most certainly has boosted his confidence, says Lett.
“Anytime you play a whole season with Lebron you have no choice but to pick up some things and improve. The thing Wenyen always believed was that he was an NBA player, and last season with the Lakers affirmed that,” says Lett, noting that not only did he play with arguably the best player in the game, ever, but also he got to play with future hall-of-farmers.
But what Lett feels most proud of in this moment is not the wearin’ of the green for Gabriel.
“It’s what he was able to do with the FIBA (International Basketball League) South Sudanese team – they were able to qualify for the Olympics for the first time, ever. And Wenyen was a big reason behind that,” says Lett.
Gabriel averaged 9.2 points and 6.8 rebounds for South Sudan.
“The thing he does is he brings confidence to the rest of his group and his numbers have been pretty much the same, and that speaks to his consistency and his play, that’s one of the things as a coach I’m proud of that he was able to do something not many people can say they’ve done, being able to qualify for the Olympics on his first try,” Lett says.
Last summer Gabriel came home to Manchester for a summer clinic at Pulaski Park. He had just returned from a group a trip to his home country of South Sudan where he organized a basketball camp. It was the first time he had been able to return to his birthplace since his family fled the country’s civil war when he was just a baby.
His commitment to nurturing future basketball standouts in South Sudan coupled with the message of unity through basketball he’s able to spread as an Olympian, in a country that was for so long bitterly divided by war, is a double blessing.
“This time next year he’ll be an Olympian and that’s something as a coach I’ve never even thought of; that’s huge. These are the best athletes in the world and due to Wenyen’s support, leadership and play, South Sudan is the best team in the Afro League and ranked 31 in the world, and they’ll be vying for an Olympic medal next year,” says Lett. “I’m not going to say that wouldn’t have happened without Wenyen – but that wouldn’t have happened without Wenyen.”