Dewayne Dedmon reacts to making Sixers debut in win over Wizards
PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers signed veteran big man Dewayne Dedmon off the buyout market back on Feb. 13 after they traded Matisse Thybulle to free up some cap space. They were looking to bring in a veteran big man with size in order to give them a boost in that area.
However, Dedmon was hampered by a hip injury and it took him a little bit to finally make his debut with the Sixers. He did so in Sunday’s 112-93 win over the Washington Wizards as the big man got some garbage time late.
In 4:48 of playing time, Dedmon had four points, a rebound, and an assist and he had some really nice moves out on the floor. He had a sweeping hook shot in the lane and then he found an open spot on the floor to get an easy dunk as well.
“It just felt good to be back out there, man,” Dedmon said after the win. “Just play basketball and have fun.”
Before the game, coach Doc Rivers mentioned that the Sixers just wanted to get Dedmon healthy before really throwing him out there.
“First of all, we just want to get him healthy,” Rivers said before the game on Sunday. “We think he’s pretty healthy right now, but we’re in a big stretch. We definitely are gonna play him at some point because we want him on the floor and see what he can do for us.”
Afterward, Dedmon confirmed that he is, in fact, healthy and ready to go.
“I feel good,” he smiled. “I feel fine. Did it look like I was hurting? I feel fine.”
Dedmon’s hook shot clearly got his teammates excited as they were happy to see him get out on the floor.
“He was great,” Georges Niang added. “Dewayne Abdul-Jabbar, right? That was awesome. Great for him to get his feet up under him, hit that running hook, I think he got another layup, and just get his feet up under him. I think that was huge.”
We were all here to witness DeWayne Dedmon’s first bucket as a Sixer pic.twitter.com/u49ACjVXBm
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) March 13, 2023
Being the elder statesman on the team at 33 years old, Dedmon also got some praise from De’Anthony Melton for the hook shot.
“That running hook, I haven’t seen that since the 80s,” Melton laughed. “It was slow, too. You can tell you he an old man. That’s my OG. That’s my Triple OG.”
