Marvin Bagley III Part II: Loving Life
Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2019 9:27 pm
The last time I saw Marvin Bagley, he was in his third season and had recently been benched for journeyman Irvin Benjamin. Bagley had grown apathetic. His short time in the league had not gone according to plan and he was bitter, to say the least. So when I met up with Marvin at Salt and Straw in Portland during the All-star break, I was shocked when he walked up to me with a spring in his step and greeted me with a smile. I asked him how he was doing.
“You know what? I’m genuinely happy for the first time in years.”
When he saw my look of confusion, he laughed. “You look surprised.”
I couldn’t help myself any longer so I asked, “What happened?”’
***********
The 2024 season wasn’t just a disappointment for Marvin, it was a disappointment for the Blazers, who finished one game out of the playoffs.
“For me, that was vindication. I was like, see? You want to replace me with a defense-only overpaid guy nobody wants? Where does that get you? Giving up a lottery pick. A fourth season missing the playoffs. That’s where it got us.”
That feeling of vindication fueled Bagley during the offseason and he got back in shape.
“That offseason I worked out with Joseph Reading. That dude is so huge, so strong. I had to work so hard just to be able to keep up with him. He was backing me up and dunking on me over and over again. We became good friends too. For the first time in my career I saw a fellow big man as a teammate, a friend, an ally instead of a competitor.”
Coach Toni Kukoc noticed a difference in camp the next season. “I’m not going to say he was a new man but he was different. He was a little tougher on both ends of the floor. He didn’t hate everyone. He earned his time on the floor.”
Bagley certainly felt like a new man. “After camp, I knew that I was ready to start a new chapter in my career. I would be starting. I would finally have my chance to go out and show what I could do. When coach told me I’d be coming off the bench, it was the worst feeling in the world. I knew I was better than Irvin. I had earned the starting job. IT WAS MINE. I DESERVED IT.”
“He still wasn’t a team player,” Coach Kukoc recalls. “That much was obvious. With Jaylen starting at small forward, that is a defensive liability. We needed Benjamin to help cover up. We had plenty of offense in the starting lineup, we needed more defense to start and more offense off the bench. It was an obvious move from a team perspective.”
Despite, Marvin’s poor reaction to being benched yet again, the 2025 season was a turning point for the young forward. He outplayed Benjamin by most metrics and earned the lion’s share of the minutes. He averaged 10.8 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game and was third in the sixth man of the year voting. But despite his on court successes, Bagley still wasn’t happy.
“I had a meeting toward the end of the season with Marv,” says GM Kevin U. Coach. “I asked him how he was doing, if he still wanted a trade, if he thought he was performing well. He said he was still unhappy and still wanted a trade but I noticed a difference when he talked about his own performance. Even though he was playing the best basketball of his short career, he wasn’t satisfied. In the past, it was always everyone else’s fault. Ronald didn’t pass it to him enough. Irvin was getting his minutes. Coach wasn’t calling plays for him. This time he talked about how far he had to come as a defender and as shooter.”
The Blazers made the playoffs for the first time in Bagley’s career and played the banged up Kings in the first round. After going up 2-0 in Sacramento, the Blazers dropped game 3 at home. It was after game 3 that things really started turning around for Marvin.
“I had tough game that night,” says teammate and former friend, Frank Jackson. “Only shot the ball seven times, only made two of them. I was sitting in the locker room after the game, hanging my head, being down on myself. Marv comes up to me. First time he’d willingly talked to me in two years. Tells me it was going to be okay. Tells me that I would turn things around and we’d win the series. It might not seem like much, but that meant a lot to me.”
Frank would go on to post 14, 11, and 7 in a game 4 win at home and 29 points in a game 5 close-out win on the road. The Blazers would go on to lose to the Spurs in the second round but from that moment in the locker room after game 3, they had something they could build on.
“It took a lot of humility for me to talk to Frank that night,” admits Bagley. “I had been just jealous and hateful toward Frank for years. He used to be my dude. He hadn’t done nothing wrong. He just went out every night and balled. Most consistent player on the team. He called me up in the offseason and invited me to go Vegas with him after we had signed our contracts. That was him accepting the olive branch I had offered that night in the playoffs.”
Last offseason both Frank and Marvin hit restricted free agency. Marv handled it with surprising maturity.
“Portland offered me a deal above what I thought I deserved that meant a lot to me. I was even more humbled when Sacrament offered me a max contract. Honestly, I started looking at real estate in Sacramento. I thought there was no way the Blazers would match. When Kevin called to say that they were going to match, to my surprise, I was pleased. I felt good about staying in Portland.”
“We felt like Marv had shown enough improvement and potential to merit a max contract,” explains GM Coach. “He was grateful when I told him he’d be staying. He still had a bit of a chip on his shoulder, though.”
Bagley wasn’t the only power forward the Blazers resigned this offseason, they also brought back his longtime nemesis, Irvin Benjamin. This year, however, there was no competition between the two, not just because of Bagley’s newfound maturity, but because of play on the court.
“He honestly surprised us a bit this year,” says his coach. “There is always talk around a guy like Marv. Is this the year he makes the leap? Well, this was his year. That much was obvious from the first day of camp.”
Bagley is averaging 17.5 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game to go along with a block a game to boot. He wasn’t an All-star but the Blazers hope that he will continue to progress and be one before all is said and done. To top it all off, the Blazers traded Irvin Benjamin. Bagley had arrived and his old enemy had departed.
As we finish our ice cream, Marv looks out the window and smiles. “I met with the Kevin recently, told him I wanted to spend the rest of my career in Portland. I expected his jaw to hit the floor. He didn’t miss a beat. He just smirked a bit. Said he was glad and went about his business. Seemed like he was expecting it.”
“It has been a wild ride in a short time,” Bagley says as he crunches up the last of his waffle cone. “And yet, I feel like I’m finally back to where I was when I was drafted, with a vision of greatness. I can see my number hanging in the rafters in Portland, with a couple of championship banners.”
“You know what? I’m genuinely happy for the first time in years.”
When he saw my look of confusion, he laughed. “You look surprised.”
I couldn’t help myself any longer so I asked, “What happened?”’
***********
The 2024 season wasn’t just a disappointment for Marvin, it was a disappointment for the Blazers, who finished one game out of the playoffs.
“For me, that was vindication. I was like, see? You want to replace me with a defense-only overpaid guy nobody wants? Where does that get you? Giving up a lottery pick. A fourth season missing the playoffs. That’s where it got us.”
That feeling of vindication fueled Bagley during the offseason and he got back in shape.
“That offseason I worked out with Joseph Reading. That dude is so huge, so strong. I had to work so hard just to be able to keep up with him. He was backing me up and dunking on me over and over again. We became good friends too. For the first time in my career I saw a fellow big man as a teammate, a friend, an ally instead of a competitor.”
Coach Toni Kukoc noticed a difference in camp the next season. “I’m not going to say he was a new man but he was different. He was a little tougher on both ends of the floor. He didn’t hate everyone. He earned his time on the floor.”
Bagley certainly felt like a new man. “After camp, I knew that I was ready to start a new chapter in my career. I would be starting. I would finally have my chance to go out and show what I could do. When coach told me I’d be coming off the bench, it was the worst feeling in the world. I knew I was better than Irvin. I had earned the starting job. IT WAS MINE. I DESERVED IT.”
“He still wasn’t a team player,” Coach Kukoc recalls. “That much was obvious. With Jaylen starting at small forward, that is a defensive liability. We needed Benjamin to help cover up. We had plenty of offense in the starting lineup, we needed more defense to start and more offense off the bench. It was an obvious move from a team perspective.”
Despite, Marvin’s poor reaction to being benched yet again, the 2025 season was a turning point for the young forward. He outplayed Benjamin by most metrics and earned the lion’s share of the minutes. He averaged 10.8 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game and was third in the sixth man of the year voting. But despite his on court successes, Bagley still wasn’t happy.
“I had a meeting toward the end of the season with Marv,” says GM Kevin U. Coach. “I asked him how he was doing, if he still wanted a trade, if he thought he was performing well. He said he was still unhappy and still wanted a trade but I noticed a difference when he talked about his own performance. Even though he was playing the best basketball of his short career, he wasn’t satisfied. In the past, it was always everyone else’s fault. Ronald didn’t pass it to him enough. Irvin was getting his minutes. Coach wasn’t calling plays for him. This time he talked about how far he had to come as a defender and as shooter.”
The Blazers made the playoffs for the first time in Bagley’s career and played the banged up Kings in the first round. After going up 2-0 in Sacramento, the Blazers dropped game 3 at home. It was after game 3 that things really started turning around for Marvin.
“I had tough game that night,” says teammate and former friend, Frank Jackson. “Only shot the ball seven times, only made two of them. I was sitting in the locker room after the game, hanging my head, being down on myself. Marv comes up to me. First time he’d willingly talked to me in two years. Tells me it was going to be okay. Tells me that I would turn things around and we’d win the series. It might not seem like much, but that meant a lot to me.”
Frank would go on to post 14, 11, and 7 in a game 4 win at home and 29 points in a game 5 close-out win on the road. The Blazers would go on to lose to the Spurs in the second round but from that moment in the locker room after game 3, they had something they could build on.
“It took a lot of humility for me to talk to Frank that night,” admits Bagley. “I had been just jealous and hateful toward Frank for years. He used to be my dude. He hadn’t done nothing wrong. He just went out every night and balled. Most consistent player on the team. He called me up in the offseason and invited me to go Vegas with him after we had signed our contracts. That was him accepting the olive branch I had offered that night in the playoffs.”
Last offseason both Frank and Marvin hit restricted free agency. Marv handled it with surprising maturity.
“Portland offered me a deal above what I thought I deserved that meant a lot to me. I was even more humbled when Sacrament offered me a max contract. Honestly, I started looking at real estate in Sacramento. I thought there was no way the Blazers would match. When Kevin called to say that they were going to match, to my surprise, I was pleased. I felt good about staying in Portland.”
“We felt like Marv had shown enough improvement and potential to merit a max contract,” explains GM Coach. “He was grateful when I told him he’d be staying. He still had a bit of a chip on his shoulder, though.”
Bagley wasn’t the only power forward the Blazers resigned this offseason, they also brought back his longtime nemesis, Irvin Benjamin. This year, however, there was no competition between the two, not just because of Bagley’s newfound maturity, but because of play on the court.
“He honestly surprised us a bit this year,” says his coach. “There is always talk around a guy like Marv. Is this the year he makes the leap? Well, this was his year. That much was obvious from the first day of camp.”
Bagley is averaging 17.5 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game to go along with a block a game to boot. He wasn’t an All-star but the Blazers hope that he will continue to progress and be one before all is said and done. To top it all off, the Blazers traded Irvin Benjamin. Bagley had arrived and his old enemy had departed.
As we finish our ice cream, Marv looks out the window and smiles. “I met with the Kevin recently, told him I wanted to spend the rest of my career in Portland. I expected his jaw to hit the floor. He didn’t miss a beat. He just smirked a bit. Said he was glad and went about his business. Seemed like he was expecting it.”
“It has been a wild ride in a short time,” Bagley says as he crunches up the last of his waffle cone. “And yet, I feel like I’m finally back to where I was when I was drafted, with a vision of greatness. I can see my number hanging in the rafters in Portland, with a couple of championship banners.”