The 27-year-old says he is all set for the team’s first regular season game October 31 against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Haddadi has been practicing full time with the Grizzlies. He even declined to join the Iranian national basketball team last month when it played in the FIBA Asia Cup in Japan. Even without him, Iran claimed the title.
“I missed the [FIBA] competition since I wanted to participate in the Grizzlies’ training sessions,” Haddadi told the Iranian Students News Agency. “Pre-season is so important here and I had to take part in the training.”
The Grizzlies lost their first pre-season game 92-88 against the Chicago Bulls. Haddadi saw almost 13 minutes of playing time, double what he has seen in his previous years at Memphis. But this is pre-season and so that doesn’t mean Haddadi will be seeing more playing time this year.
The sparseness of his playing time is the only thing Haddadi has complained about in Memphis.
This will be his fifth season with the Grizzlies. The 7-2 (218 centimeters) center has only averaged 6.1 minutes in the games in which he has played—and he has played in fewer than half of the Grizzlies’ games.
Haddadi had hand surgery during the offseason. But after eight weeks of rehabilitation, he is now playing without restrictions.