From Iran to Utah to Memphis to North Dakota

Standing 7-foot-2, Hamed Haddadi turned more than a few heads while playing this past July for the Iranian National Team in the Jazz-hosted Rocky Mountain Revue at Salt Lake Community College.
In two summer-league games, one against Dallas and one against the Jazz, Haddadi averaged 14 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 25.5 minutes per.
He also played for Iran at the 2008 Summer Olympics in China, and led all players there in rebounding with an average of 11.2 boards per game and in blocks with an average of 2.6 swats per game while also averaging 16.6 points over five games.
While in Utah, one of the heads he turned was that belonging to former Jazz assistant coach Gordie Chiesa ‘ who worked last season an assistant coach in Memphis, and now is the director of pro scouting for the Grizzlies.
After negotiating through some bureaucratic red tape, Memphis signed Haddadi ‘ who could soon become the first Iranian to play in the NBA.
So far, however, he has yet to log his first official NBA regular-season minutes.
The 23-year-old center has either been inactive or did not play (coach’s decision) over the past month, and on Tuesday the Grizzlies ‘ who visit the Jazz tonight ‘ assigned the 280-pounder to their NBA Development League affiliate, the Bismarck, N.D.-based Dakota Wizards.
With that Haddadi was denied an opportunity to come full circle and return to Utah as a full-fledged NBA player, less than five months after he first stepped foot here.
For those hoping for a second first-hand look at the large Iranian center, however, there is still hope: Dakota is scheduled to visit the Jazz’s D-League affiliate Utah Flash on Dec. 12 in Orem.
And that would really be full circle, because before he played in the Revue Haddadi and the rest of the Iranian team practiced and scrimmaged while being hosted by the Flash in Utah County.

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