Emmanuel Mudiay banks on China experience in NBA foray

In this April 2, 2014, file photo, McDonald’s West All-American Emmanuel Mudiay (0) shoots during the first half of the McDonald’s All-American boy’s basketball game in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

Denver Nugget’s rookie Emmanuel Mudiay believes that what makes him unique is his strength and experience among other players in this year’s rookie class.

“It means a lot to me playing overseas. Playing in China, it’s a big part of me. I learned so much from the physicality of the league there. The determination to win, my team’s work ethic, it’s definitely great,” said Mudiay on Friday via Cisco Telepresence.

Taken seventh by Denver in the 2015 NBA Draft, the Nuggets are bound to acquire a 6-foot-5 playmaker who made his way on the hardcourts of China with the Guangdong Southern Tigers before finally going to the NBA.

Mudiay admits that in his lone season in the CBA, he has learned to adapt to the level of play which isn’t often seen in the collegiate ranks in the United States.

“I have professional experience, the way you carry yourself in practice, come in and work. In college, you don’t have a routine. It’s a job there. If you don’t perform, they can do whatever they want in you so you have to perform every time,” he said. “China is very physical. The rest that you play out there, you can’t be a little boy but a man.”

“Coming back to the States, I see it differently. A handshake is a foul, but there it’s nothing. It’s always a playoff environment out there.”

And those lessons are the stuff he wants to bring and add to Denver’s desire and determination.

“(The Nuggets are) definitely a high motor team,” said Mudiay. “Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried, those two guys play really hard and I know they hate losing. I hate losing, too, and I want to be established in the NBA and win as many championships as I can.” AU