Isaiah Wong is a rare breed. Have Charlotte Hornets found potential diamond in rough?
Comfortably resting on a makeshift setup just outside the locker room, Isaiah Wong briefly takes a moment, reflecting on a journey spanning through multiple regions.
The Charlotte Hornets guard hasn’t even been with his new team for a full month and was just navigating the rugged terrain out west in Salt Lake City a few weeks ago, far away from his native metropolitan roots in New Jersey and the warm soil in South Florida where he spent his college days.
No one had Wong pegged for the Carolinas heading into 2025, certainly not as he toiled in the G League with the Utah Jazz’s affiliate. However, he’s rapidly made a name for himself in a short period of time with the Hornets.
“He’s been a great boost for us, providing that spark off the bench,” center Mark Williams said. “For him to come in — I don’t even remember what day it was — but just to be able to turn around and have an impact for us on the court and still learning everything is big time.
“So, definitely kudos to him and he’ll just continue to get better every day.”
Thrust into the rotation because of injuries running through the Hornets’ backcourt over the last two months, sparked by star guard LaMelo Ball missing action and key reserve Tre Mann sitting out with disc irritation, Wong is turning out to be a nice find by the Hornets’ hierarchy. Inked to a two-way contract on Dec. 3 with early expectations he’d shuffle between Greensboro and Charlotte, the 6-foot-3, 185-pounder is far from a simple fill-in.
Wong has seized his opportunity and been rewarded for an insatiable drive to continually learn and improve. Fourth-quarter action has been the norm in most of the seven games Wong has appeared in heading into Thursday night’s matchup in Washington against the Wizards, an indicator of the staff’s faith in the 23-year-old.
“I thought I was going to be in the G League for real, for real,” Wong said. “But they needed help at the time, and I was just trying to help as much as possible, and just try to play my hardest, and show I can compete with all these players and help the team.”
Long road traveled
Getting to this juncture didn’t happen overnight for Wong.
Originally selected by the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the 2023 NBA Draft following an impressive career at the University of Miami, he appeared in only one game with the franchise last season, victimized by a numbers game where others were ahead of him in the rotational pecking order.
Wong landed a deal with the Salt Lake City Stars and produced some eye-popping numbers in the fall. In seven games, he averaged 26.1 points per game, shooting 47.2% from the floor and 42.1% from 3-point range, and posted 4.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals.
A career-high 41-point effort against the Rip City Remix on Nov. 20 fueled Wong earning G League player of the week honors and really put him back on the radar of two people who think alike in the personnel department: Jeff Peterson, the Hornets’ president of basketball operations, and coach Charles Lee.
When an injury led to the release of Jared Rhoden, one of the three players the Hornets had under two-way contracts along with KJ Simpson and Moussa Diabate, Peterson & Co. leaped at the chance to bring Wong on board.
“I first knew about Isaiah Wong watching the NCAA tournament and watching him hoop with Miami,” Lee told The Observer. “So I was very intrigued with the film I saw and what I heard about his growth. And I knew that we could use some help at the time, too. Tre Mann is hurt. So somebody that can score and give us that, and also the grit and competitiveness we had.
“I was very intrigued. And I would say from game one that he got an opportunity, we could see that he’s got a knack for offense but then also diving on the floor for loose balls and is kind of scraping for some offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds, and defensively, climbing up into people trying to guard. It was pretty impressive.”
To Wong, that kind of effort is a huge component of his makeup, something developed during his four years at Miami. That’s where Wong crafted things under the tutelage of Jim Larrañaga, the Hurricanes’ head coach, and rode the coattails of Miami’s run to the Elite Eight in 2021-22 and the university’s first Final Four appearance in 2022-23.
Wong also garnered three All-ACC selections with the Hurricanes and earned ACC Player of the Year honors during his senior campaign in 2022-23, prepping him for his current path.
“The ACC is very competitive,” Wong said. “We always play Duke, North Carolina — all those teams had great NBA players coming in and out of the ACC. And I feel like for Miami, we always played in a lot of close games too, so it was very competitive.”
Even in the offseason.
“At Miami, I was playing in the summer with a lot of NBA players, too, and I feel that helped me with a lot of my confidence coming into this season,” Wong said. “The G League had a lot of NBA vets, too. So, just coming into this situation, I’m still building up my confidence right now.
“If I make some little mistake, all I know is it’s just the nerves right now. So, just coming in, just building up the confidence and feeling the shots I’m getting. And I’m getting it, game by game by game.”
The goal is to be more akin to the comfort level he enjoyed with Larrañaga. Their partnership aided in propelling Wong to these heights, and the trust the 75-year-old had in his guard instilled an incredible amount of responsibility.
“I don’t know how many coaches do this,” Larrañaga told The Observer. “When the game was on the line … let’s say there’s three minutes left, it’s a tie game, we have to get a bucket. I call a timeout, tell them what play to run. And then I just say to Isaiah, ‘When you get the ball, just score. Just score. Forget what the play is, just score.’
“So, we would run ‘horns’ and for him — because he was not the point guard, he was not the guy we ran ‘horns’ for — but I’d say ‘Isaiah.’ And everybody would know, ‘Coach is giving Isaiah the green light to take over the game.’ And he would do it.
“He would do it humbly, he would do it efficiently. He would either score or hit an open man. He would do whatever needed to be done to win the game.”
Larrañaga laughed when recalling his initial encounter with Wong.
Adam Fisher, Larrañaga’s then-assistant who’s now the head coach at Temple University, came back from a recruiting trip in the Philadelphia/New Jersey area and suggested Larrañaga take a close look at Wong. Larrañaga obliged and went to visit the Piscataway, New Jersey, native.
That’s when they hit it off, beginning a dialogue that created a lasting bond. Larrañaga said he initially didn’t have any insight into the real reason Wong chose to play for the Hurricanes.
It led to an inquiry one day during their latter tenure together.
“I asked him, ‘Hey Isaiah, why did you end up picking Miami?’” Larrañaga said. “And he said, ‘Because of you, Coach.’ I said, ‘What, what did I do?’ He said, ‘When you came to see me play, you didn’t sit in the stands like all the other coaches. You got a chair and sat underneath the basket right where I was warming up.
“And I knew then that I must be a very important recruit for you to do that, for me to take so much notice of you being there to see me.’ And I laughed. He didn’t know that, but I do that at every game. It’s just where I sit.”
‘He is the same way every single day’
Despite whatever vantage point Larrañaga viewed Wong from, he noticed the characteristics were identical. And he enjoyed the sight, marveling at the perspective.
“The most accurate way you can describe Isaiah is he is the same way every single day,” Larrañaga said. “He’s not too high up, he’s not down. He works his tail off, never says a negative word. He’s a great teammate, he’s a great friend, he’s very coachable.
“He’s a joy to be around; he will never complain about anything. You can play him 48 minutes, he’s happy. You don’t play him, but he’s on the team and on that bench, he’s happy. He’s going to do whatever he’s being asked to do no matter how big or how small.”
Outworking Wong apparently isn’t easy, either. Larrañaga shared a story about Wong approaching Miami associate head coach Bill Courtney during his senior season, asking Courtney to put him through rigorous drills and training at 7 a.m. daily.
Three-pointers. Skill moves. Conditioning. Wong did it all and Larrañaga makes sure the current crop of Hurricanes is fully aware.
“I tell Isaiah Wong stories all the time to my players,” Larrañaga said. “The team has heard me say it over and over again. When Isaiah had a big night in the G League (in November) and made Instagram, I immediately sent that Instagram post to all my players. And I said, ‘This is how good you can get when you work really hard like Isaiah did.”
And he’s still steadily improving.
Wong netted a career-high 11 points in Philadelphia on Dec. 20, and matched his personal best with four assists. Overall, he’s putting up seven points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists, seeing the court in all but the first two games that came within days of joining the Hornets this month.
He fits in rather nicely and the Hornets may have stumbled upon a gem that needs a little polishing and some nurturing to get Wong to shine brightly.
“Just coming into the team, I was trying to just find a role on the team and just try to execute as best as possible,” Wong said. “I’m still working hard to this day, finding my role and just try to be the best at it.
“I hope I’m in the future plans and all that, and the organization can see me grow day by day. Just coming in here with that mindset and trying to help the team as much as possible. I’m just here just to keep on working.”
He’d have it no other way.
“Just coming into the NBA, I’m just grateful for this opportunity,” Wong said. “I take every day like a serious day, so coming in I feel like I’m interviewing for a job every day. So, just coming in and being grateful and taking it as serious as possible.”
