Where I Come From

From New York to Seattle: Hameir Wright’s journey // By Mason Kelley

By Washington Huskies

January 16^th, 2019

The street signs that mark the intersection of N. Swan St. and Clinton Ave. in Albany, N.Y. stick out from a wooden utility pole in front of a red brick building. Follow the green sign for N. Swan up the street and there’s a basketball court. A chain-link fence surrounds the painted asphalt playing surface, with grass and weeds sprouting up around the fence posts and cracks in the pavement.

It was on this court, in this neighborhood – almost 3,000 miles away from Seattle – that Hameir Wright began his basketball journey.

His childhood home is so important to him, he decided earlier this year he needed to honor that streets that helped mold him as both a player and person.

So he got a tattoo. And, let’s just say it’s easy to spot, visible each time he elevates to block a shot or throw down a dunk with his right hand.

The ink runs from his elbow to his wrist. There are those two street signs in a vibrant green attached to that utility pole that runs through a year (1999) “written in blood red,” outlined with black.

When Wright showed up for a photoshoot early this summer, the tattoo was new, still peeling around the edges.

“This is the street I grew up on,” he said, pointing to the street signs. “I’ve seen friends pass away on those streets, yet, some of the happiest moments of my life were on those streets.”

He purposely put the tattoo on his right arm, since it’s the dominant one. Every aspect of the image, from its location to the symbols has meaning.

“I just thought it was important to not forget where you came from,” he said.

Wright learned to play basketball on that court near his home. He hit his first three-pointer there.

“There’s still a little scuff mark about that big on the three-point arc where I hit it,” he said, holding up two fingers to show the size.

He was about 7 or 8 at the time, playing a pick-up game with his friends.

“That was big for me,” he said.

That moment helped cement his love of the game.

“Throughout my childhood, all I did was play basketball, that’s all I did with my free time,” he said.

His mother always knew when he was on his way, because she could hear the ball bouncing down the street as he jogged home.

For Wright, basketball has always been there.

“That’s just what we did,” he said. “My friends would come knock on my door, window, whatever, they’d come inside while I got ready and we’d leave around 12 o’clock in the afternoon and wouldn’t come back until like 11 from the basketball court.”

Each day he would head over to that court he was developing a skill set that would lead him to Washington. Back then, though, he was just a kid having fun.

“As a kid, you don’t know what you want to do with the rest of your life, you just know what you’re doing at that time,” he said.

Focusing on the game in front of him has always served Wright well. In fact, in many ways, it helps explain the two-year odyssey that landed him on Montlake.

As a junior in high school he won a state championship at Albany Academy. After the bus ride back, he slept for a few hours and was off to AAU tryouts with City Rocks, which kept him busy until the next school season, which produced another state championship before another AAU campaign.

“Every weekend I was working out,” he said.

As he navigated the recruiting process, he started to plan on prep school.

Then everything changed.

After attending a camp in Los Angeles, he flew home to New York. He was there for a day before flying to Washington for a visit. The Huskies were a relative newcomer in his recruitment. Former Syracuse assistant Mike Hopkins was the new head man in Seattle, creating an intriguing option for the high-school senior.

It didn’t take long for Wright to make a decision.

“I realized I wanted to go to Washington,” he said. “I love coach Hop. I wanted to play here.”

His good friend and AAU teammate Nahziah Carter was already signed to play with the Huskies, helping to solidify his decision.

Wright canceled all of his other visits. He scrapped his plan to spend a year in prep school. He flew home, packed his things and got on another plane back to Seattle. He landed at 5 p.m. on a Sunday. His college career began with weights the next morning.

“I just went straight for two years,” he said.

Wright dove straight into college life: School, weights, practice.

“I was definitely worn out, more mentally than anything,” he said, looking back on his journey to college. “I could always play basketball, but mentally, looking back on it, I’m like, ‘How did I get through that?’”

But, while it wasn’t an easy first year, he believes the lessons learned are making all the difference this season.

“It was definitely tough,” he said. “More tough at different times, but it was also the most fun I’ve had all at once. It was a lot to take in for a first year. I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Wright’s first year was such a whirlwind he didn’t get much time to explore the city. If you would have asked him about living in Seattle last year, he wouldn’t have been able to give much of a description, because his focus was on finding his way both on the court and in the classroom.

But, the longer he lives here, well, “the more it exceeds my expectations,” he said. “When you first get here, you’re lost – like any new city – you don’t know what to do, you don’t know the sights.

“I love the fact that it’s on the water. I love water. I love boats. I love all that stuff – the sights you can see from almost any point in the city.”

Now that he has been in Seattle for a while, he often gets asked to compare the basketball culture of his current home against the one he grew up around in New York.

“We’ve kind of got a rivalry, but it’s like a love-hate thing with Seattle,” Wright said. “We’re from New York. They know the New York basketball reputation. We play outside all the time. We do this and that, so when we got here, it was straight pickup for anyone who wanted it.”

Being at Washington, there are always former Huskies on campus during the summer with NBA standouts often in the gym for pickup games that current Washington players use as a way to test their skills against those who have reached the goals this younger group is working toward.

“It’s cool being around other ballplayers, who just love being around basketball for fun,” he said. “Outside of practice and weights, we still hoop on a daily basis, because we love it.”

Now the New York transplant is a part of that culture, growing his game, while working in some time to get a little rest.

And, if he ever gets homesick, all he has to do is look down at his right arm, at the street signs inked just below his elbow and, just like that, he is back in his memories, back on the court with that scuff mark on the three-point line that, while he didn’t know it at the time, set him on a journey that would lead him across the country.