Marshall Plumlee Rumors

“Every time I got to serve in the National Guard, it was a great feeling. It never felt like work,” Plumlee said. “I kept getting that itch and wanted to serve in a different capacity. It’s really Coach K, I called him and he encouraged me to pursue active duty. His advice was, ‘You don’t always have a great jump shot and you don’t always dribble that well, but you do have a really good heart,’ and he encouraged me to follow my heart. I loved the NBA experience, but my gut told me I think it’d be cooler to continue to be a part of something bigger than myself.

“Every time I got to serve in the National Guard, it was a great feeling. It never felt like work,” Plumlee said. “I kept getting that itch and wanted to serve in a different capacity. It’s really Coach K, I called him and he encouraged me to pursue active duty. His advice was, ‘You don’t always have a great jump shot and you don’t always dribble that well, but you do have a really good heart,’ and he encouraged me to follow my heart. I loved the NBA experience, but my gut told me I think it’d be cooler to continue to be a part of something bigger than myself.

Although Plumlee might’ve never elevated to anything more than a fringe NBA player, he still had opportunities to continue his pro career. Back in October of 2018, he was traded to the Nets’ G-League affiliate in Long Island. But Plumlee never played for the Nets, and doesn’t plan to ever play professional basketball again. “I enjoyed basketball, I loved playing it at the highest level,” Plumlee says. “But there was still an itch I wanted to scratch on the army side of things. I wanted to do it on a larger capacity. I feel like I learned all these great lessons in teamwork and leadership from some of the teams I’ve been a part of in the NBA, and I felt obligated to share that with the army team. The basketball is going to stop bouncing at some point. And for me, I figured I’d get a jump on it. I know I have something outside of basketball that I’m passionate about, something I love, let’s give this a real shot here and see how far I can go.”

Three years ago, Plumlee had just finished up his rookie season with the Knicks. Now he’s on a different team. “It was a really tough decision to leave basketball and I’ll say people often ask me if I miss it on the army side of things, but I tell them what I loved about basketball was the locker room environment,” Plumlee says. “I loved being part of a team, being part of something bigger than yourself. And in that sense, I haven’t left anything. If anything, I’m getting to do that on an even bigger level where the stakes are higher.”