Family Motivation Comes First for Brantley

Family comes first for New Zealand star Jarrell Brantley, whether that’s on or off the court.

Brantley and his brother Jamaal created their own slice of NBL history earlier this season when they became the first pair of import brothers to suit up together in the competition. While Jarrell has starred for the Breakers all season, Jamaal was brought in as an injury replacement player for Barry Brown Jr in the early rounds.

Brantley’s relationship with family and basketball extends past his brother though. It was his mother who helped foster his love for the game from an early age.

“She was my first trainer … my mum is my number one fan and she was probably my biggest critic at one point,” Brantley told One-On-One. “When we were training when I was a kid and you shot an air-ball you had to run it down and back, so that got it in my head early ‘focus on how you shoot’.

“When we’re playing I can hear her voice out of everybody in the stands and she’s the one who texts me before and after every game – good game or bad. It’s ‘good job, love you’.”

“My brother being here has been tremendous. I grew up playing basketball because of him, and when I think about my work ethic he was the first one to show me how not to cut curves and how to maximise that.”

Before finding his way to the NBL Brantley plied his trade all around the world, but most notably with the Utah Jazz from 2019-2021.

Selected with the 50^th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Brantley linked up with the likes of Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and Joe Ingles on a team that was pushing hard for playoff success.

Jarrell and Jamaal Brantley became the first import brothers to play together in the NBL.

While the team now looks drastically different to his time there, he says he learned a lot from everyone involved in the organisation.

“I learned a lot from a lot of different players, from the first guy on the roster to the last,” Brantley said.

“Just being a star in your role. People say it and it’s so cliché but that’s really what it is about. Everybody has a perfect piece as to why they’re a part of the puzzle and being able to craft that and find out yours is important.

“I learn from everybody I can, even the dudes who don’t play or the people in the background – like how they’ve succeeded as the equipment manager for 15 years.”