BOSTON — North Dakota native and former North Dakota State star Grant Nelson made his NBA debut at TD Garden on Friday, Feb. 27, scoring his first basket on a dunk for the Brooklyn Nets.
Nelson entered the game with 9:50 left in the fourth quarter.
Nelson, a Devils Lake (N.D.) High School graduate who played for the Bison from 2020 to 2023 before transferring to Alabama for his final two college seasons.
He finished with 3 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks in 10 minutes Friday.
His two-handed dunk on a pass from Ochai Agbaji with 6:36 remaining in the game was Nelson’s first NBA points.
Brooklyn (15-44) lost 148-111 to the Celtics, in second place in the Eastern Conference at 39-20.
“It’s really just a dream come true,” Nelson said on a YES Network interview before the game when asked what it’s like to be on an NBA roster. “I’m just going to do what I can, continue to keep working and hopefully do whatever I can to help this team win some games.”
Nelson signed a 10-day contract with the Nets, a move announced earlier
Friday. He’d spent the season with Brooklyn’s G-League affiliate in Long Island before the call-up.
He is the first former Bison to play in an NBA regular season game and was the first former NDSU player to claim a spot on an active NBA roster in-season.
The Nets, one of the NBA’s worst teams, were within 6 points midway through the third quarter at 82-76, but the Celtics outscored Brooklyn 66-35 the rest of the way.
“Everybody since the summer, these guys have been great,” Nelson told YES. “They took me in before the summer league and after that a little bit so I’m just excited to play with all of them and just get on an NBA court.”
Brooklyn’s next game is Sunday at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Boston Celtics forward Dalano Banton (45) shoots the ball over Brooklyn Nets guard Grant Nelson (16) during the second half Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, at TD Garden in Boston. Nelson, a former North Dakota State standout from Devils Lake, N.D., made his NBA debut against the Celtics.
Bob DeChiara / IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Mike McFeely is a columnist for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. He began working for The Forum in the 1980s while he was a student studying journalism at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He’s been with The Forum full time since 1990, minus a six-year hiatus when he hosted a local radio talk-show.