Lay low in Korea and go back to basketball. What we know about Jonathan Motley

Lay low in Korea and go back to basketball. What we know about Jonathan Motley

A 26-year-old Loko rookie Jonathan Motley broke into the VTB United League vividly, becoming one of the key players at the start of the season and leading the Top-10 plays of the week. NCAA and G-League star is spending his first season in European basketball, adaptation is in the process, so there is no doubt that this is just the beginning of his show. His history, with its ups and downs, is in the VTB United League exclusive interview.

Jonathan was born in Houston, Texas, where he started playing basketball. He played for the North Shore School, with which he won two US championships. Gifted with physical abilities, Motley trained a lot from early childhood and honed his talent, which brought not only team results, but also personal awards – two MVP titles and three first state teams as part of the school team.

“As a kid, I really liked Kevin Garnett game. The emotions he played with, the way he fought for every ball. I’ve always wanted to dominate the court in the same way, destroy opponents with dunks and make them afraid of me.”

But there might not have been a professional career. In high school, Motley was diagnosed with peritonitis – he spent 18 days at the Texas Children’s Hospital. Jonathan had two difficult surgeries, and the doctors said that “his recovery is a kind of blessing.”

Before entering college, Jonathan was ranked 83rd in the USA Top-100 high school players. Choosing a university was the most important moment in the career, and Jonathan did not lose by choosing Baylor, which was located in Waco, just 300 km from Houston.

Motley had three great seasons in the NCAA and became one of the most memorable players in the university history.

His roommate in the first two years at the university was Kenny Chery, who lights up in Avtodor right now – 20.5 points and 5.5 assists average per game.

Jonathan spent his freshman season at Baylor and hadn’t has a lot of playing minutes, but maximum involvement in the training process. In various resources, you can even find some inconsistencies about whether Motley played at all in the 2013/14 season. Real GM source showed 1 game, and most other reputable publications agree that Jonathan’s career at Baylor began in the 2014/15 season.

This does not negate the fact that he became the player who brought the university to the new level. Baylor managed to win the national championship without Motley in 2021, but it was with Jonathan as the leader that the team rose to first place in the national ranking for the first time in history, which is compiled by the Associated Press and 25 best NCAA teams coaches. This happened in January 2017.

It is also interesting that, although Jonathan was not in the Top 5 of all-time Baylor in stats (1229 points – the 17th place, 122 blocks – the 8th place), but he remains the only player in the history of the university who was able to score 1000 points and make 600 rebounds, 100 assists and 100 blocks. Versatility is Motley’s hallmark, he is good both on offense and defense.

Jonathan’s energy and unstoppable power led to the the prestigious Karl Malone Award in the 2016/17 season, which is given at the end of the season to the best point forward in the NCAA. 17.3 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 blocks average per game – really impressive!

Karl Malone Award has been since the 2014/15 season. In the first year the prize went to Montrezl Harrell. Subsequently, Georges Niang, Deandre Ayton, Zion Williamson, Obi Toppin and Drew Timme won the award last year. More than a decent company.

Although then hardly anyone expected that it was Jonathan who would reach such a level and be stable throughout the season. The famous Baylor coach Scott Drew, who has been leading the team since 2003, did not hide that even for him it was a little unexpected: “We always hope for the best, but we could hardly imagine that Jonathan would get Karl Malone Award and the NCAA best point forward . He deserves a lot of credit for his hard work ethic, but let’s not forget his teammates who helped him achieve such success.”

Baylor reached the Sweet 16 National Championship that year, where they lost to South Carolina. At this point, Motley’s college career came to an end and after such a hurricane season, the NBA teams seemed to be lined up in a row behind him, but…

SHOCK: MOTLEY WAS NOT DRAFTED

Amazing! All season he was predicted to be a first-round pick, Motley had the 5th wingspan (7’4 feet) on his draft combine – and then such a drop. How? Why?!

It’s all about the knee injury he sustained in that game against South Carolina in the NCAA. Many experts believed that this injury would affect the NCAA best power forward in the near future. In addition, at the 2017 NBA Draft, Jonathan did not have an agent. He appeared only after the draft combine.

A young guy with a character has repeatedly proved people wrong by underestimating him, so other experts confidently predicted that Motley would find a team in the NBA no matter what. Jonathan performed well in the Summer League and signed an agreement with Dallas Mavericks, becoming the first player with a two-way contract in the franchise history. He played 11 games with the Mavs, averaging 8.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He spent more time in the G-League as part of the farm team. Before the start of the 2018/19 season, he moved to the Clippers, where he had played for 2 years.

Not to say that Motley did it in the NBA – for 3 seasons he played a total of 46 games with an average of 4.9 points, 2.4 rebounds per game. But in the G-League, Motley was very good: 85 of 87 games in the starting 5, 23.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1 block per game. Jonathan entered the second all G-League team 3 times.

SHOCK №2: MOVING TO SOUTH KOREA

In December 2020, he trained with Phoenix, but after a couple of months he moved to South Korea. The solution, frankly speaking, is not the most predictable. Phrases about downed pilots and a terminal station immediately come to mind. And this is at the age of 25. There were many similar examples.

However, if you follow Motley logic, then everything becomes not so confusing. Especially if we take into account all the pandemic difficulties with the issuance of visas, documents and the almost complete lack of the ability to transport the family with you.

“It was my first experience of playing overseas, and I don’t regret anything. I was looking for a team where I could spend the last 2-3 months of the season in the game, and considered a number of offers. My daughter was just born and I found an option in which the family could go with me. The conditions that Elephants offered me were as suitable as possible. Moreover, I wanted to see the World and visit Asia. I can say that I liked everything there – from everyday life to the team in which I played. South Korea is a wonderful country!”

Of course, Motley was a superstar in the team. In 24 games for Elephants, he scored 20.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 block per game.

As usual in such situations, the talented player fate was difficult to predict. The possibility that the trip to Korea was just a reboot was just as likely as the possibility that Motley could stay there for a long time.

RETURN TO THE BASKETBALL

Nevertheless, Jonathan decided to return to the big game and signed a contract with Lokomotiv-Kuban. VTB United League and the EuroCup after South Korea – sounds solid. Moreover, he is not the one who consider the VTB League solely as a springboard for returning to the NBA.

“I just play basketball, I don’t have any far-reaching goals, I focus on the present, not the future. I know that European basketball is appreciated in the World and if you show yourself here, then good offers will not keep you waiting. But right now I’m only thinking about how to be useful to my team, how to show my best basketball.”

Motley played three games with Loko at the start of the VTB League season, and he is progressing with each game. In the opening game against UNICS, he scored 16 points and got 8 rebounds, in the home game against Tsmoki-Minsk, the red-green forward already had 19 points and 9 rebounds. In the last Loko game in Saratov against Avtodor, he scored 26 points!

A decent start in the VTB League after South Korea.

“I like everything in Krasnodar – the organization itself, my teammates, the coaching staff, the conditions. I can say that I have almost adapted to European basketball, it remains only to slightly improve my refereeing decisions understanding and some game moments. In Saratov, for example, there was my first game for Loko in which I was not hooked on fouls. If I pay more attention to this moment, I will definitely be able to play even better.”

What will happen next if he is just warming up, and already churns out such highlights?!

“Everything turned out quite spontaneously! When I got the ball, I was not in the best position to throw and planned to pass to a free partner. I saw Darius Thompson open, but when I almost gave a pass, they still closed him, there was very little time left to make a decision. I looked at the rim, gave self-pass off the backboard and that’s how it happened. This is not the first such dunk in my career. It seems that I did something similar in Korea.”

Jonathan noted that he was looking for Darius Thompson at that moment, which is not surprising at all, because both guys were born on May 4, 1995, so their connection should be on a subconscious level.

There is a long season ahead, during which Motley will surely be noted in the team of the week and in the Top-10 plays. This guy is used to leave everything on the floor and does not hide that he would like to become the VTB League newcomer of the year!

“The most important thing for me is the team’s wins. I think we can win the EuroCup this year, and in general we try to win every game, no matter how it may sound. If we talk about my personal goals, then I would like to become the VTB League newcomer of the year, I think this is quite realistic. It takes hard work, but I’m doing everything to get better, and it’s not for nothing that I chose Loko. I am sure that we will succeed”

I wonder how the roles on the court will be redistributed when Alan Williams returns from Loko – another unstoppable bigman.

If it seem you that Motley is the perfect player, then this is not so at all. Jonathan does not have a stable 3-pointer, so sometimes he is quite predictable in his decisions. In the VTB League first 3 games, he has only one 3-point shot attempt, and even that was inaccurate. In South Korea, three-point % was not the worst – 34.7 (26 out of 75), but all this in the championship, where they play almost without defence. The entire Loko future depends on whether the forward can upgrade his shooting ablilties, among other things.