Makai’s tricky shot, like Amaël’s steal of a Capital pass with 9:17 left to play — a bit of thievery he turned into a length-of-the-court, fast break dribble as a Comets’ defender dogged him before he finished the play with a dunk — brought the cheering crowd to its feet and turned his teammates on the bench into a bunch of towel-waving, back-slapping celebrants who were amazed at what they’d just seen.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Later Amaël spoke for himself and Makai when he said: “This was a good night.”
For him there was that added dimension of his family seeing him play live for the first time as a Flyer.
“That was huge,” Amaël said afterwards. “I’m grateful for that experience.
“I was watching them during the game, and they were happy, They were cheering me and telling me to go hard. It was a huge feeling.”
The sentiment was mutual.
“It was really good to see him in person because the other games we watched on ESPN,” said his 26-year-old sister, once a college player herself and now an au pair in New York City. “It’s different being in the arena with all the people cheering. We loved it.”
She translated similar thoughts from her father: “He said he likes everything about college basketball. The people going crazy; the bounce of the cheerleaders ... everything.
“He said Amaël is in the right place. This is where he’s supposed to be this year. It was the best decision for him to make — to play college in the U.S. — and improve his game.”
The end game for him to play professionally and follow in the footsteps of many of his countrymen who have provided the NBA with a so-called French Revolution the past few seasons.
The past two years the top picks in the NBA draft have been from France: 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama by San Antonio in 2023 and 6-foot-9 Zaccharie Risacher by Atlanta this year.
Several other Frenchmen have been drafted in the past few years and in fact, on Sunday, Amaël, his dad and sister were headed to a Cleveland Cavaliers game to see his friend Tidjabe Solomon, the No. 6 pick this year, play for Charlotte.
Amaël’s whole family knows basketball.
His dad taught the game to Amadine and older brother Alexandre, who now plays professionally in France,
Amandine played the 2016-17 season at Frank Phillips, a community college in Borger, Texas, a small town near the Oklahoma border, north of Amarillo.
She said an assistant coach at Frank Phillips was French and offered her a chance to play, though it was a bit of a culture shock she admitted with a laugh:
“Yes, there were cowboys and they had rodeo, I didn’t know that was a college sport.”
Amaël said his first trip to America was when he was about 12 or 13 to see his sister play in Texas.
He would go on to play for the Cholet U-18 national championship team in France in 2023 and last year played fur the club’s U-21 team, even though he was just 18. He averaged 13.8 points and 10 rebounds a game.
Along the way he made a few other trips to America.
He had been named the MVP of a camp put on by Evan Fournier, the 6-foot-6 guard from Saint Maurice, France, who was playing for the Orlando Magic.The prize for his efforts was a trip to Orlando where he saw a pair of NBA games and met several players.
Recently he made two trips to Dallas to train, as he decided either go pro or attend college,
He came to UD because his agent once handled Flyers assistant coach Ricardo Greer when he had a long pro career in France and thought UD would be a good place for him to be developed, as was the case with recent Flyers big men Obi Toppin and DaRon Holmes II, both of whom ended up first-round NBA draft picks.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
This one counts
For Makai Grant, UD basketball comes with the added dimension, not only of playing for his father, but also following in the footsteps of his dad, who was a standout player for the Flyers in the mid-1980s.
“It can be a little bit of a challenge having the same last name and wearing the same number (No. 33) as he did, but it’s never too much to manage,” Makai said. “I try not to worry too much about following what he did as a player.
“I just try to be myself and …I love it.”
Last season he got in just five games. He never scored and took just two shots.
He missed a three-point attempt and actually made a shot similar to the one he made Saturday night, but the shot clock expired before he let go of the ball.
“It didn’t count,” he said with a shrug.
This one sure did and it was beautiful to behold.
Fellow walk on Will Maxwell had the ball out front and Makai made a cut to the basket.
Maxwell delivered a perfect pass and Makai — with Capital guard Eljae Deas defending him — was forced to go up and under to score.
The Arena erupted.
“It wasn’t that difficult,” Makai said. “But it did feel really good hearing the crowd cheer for my first basket.”
After the game, Chris, his mom, was still a bit euphoric: “I’m so proud of him…just him being ready., Anything to build his confidence. It was great to see. He’s having so much fun.”
At his postgame press conference, Anthony Grant, usually one to temper his emotions, did share a little of what was inside. He praised the cut, the pass and the finish:
“It was awesome. As a dad it was great. I’m happy I got to witness that. It was great to see the response of his teammates and the crowd. I enjoyed it.”
In the hallway later, when he passed his son, he grabbed him in a forceful hug and shook his to convey his pride.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Whirlwind trip
Amaël’s dad will be here for Wednesday night’s game against New Mexico State and then go on to Hawaii to watch the Maui Invitational before flying back home to France.
Amadine returns to New York on Monday where she watches over a French family’s four children.
She said her au pair job can be exhausting and one day she hopes to be a college coach.
After Saturday’s game she showed she still had some skills.
No one on the smaller Capital team could do it, but she managed to swat away one of her brother’s efforts.
In a hallway outside the press room, Amaël had been asked about his sister’s game.
“She’s not bad,” he said. “She can shoot. She’s tall.”
So when you were younger — and smaller — she must have gotten the better of you a time or two playing 1-on-1?
To him, the suggestion was like taking a swig of prune juice.
“Pheew, no,” he said with feigned disbelief. “I beat her every time I ever played against her. She’s a good player, but c’mon!”
Out on the court later, Amadine was asked about her brother’s recollection and she started to laugh.
“That’s not true,” she said shaking her head. “Not at all. He lied!”
Sometimes shining in front of family isn’t as easy as you’d think.
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