Nets' Day'Ron Sharpe explains mindset getting ready for starting role

NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets center Day'Ron Sharpe has been the starting center for the Nets over the past two games with Nic Claxton being out of the lineup due to personal reasons. Sharpe, who has been excellent for Brooklyn over the past two seasons on a per-minute basis, not only maintained that production, but he is also meeting the moment of being asked to do more at this time.

"I've been in the league five years now so just every summer, just every game really, when I'm not playing a lot of minutes, [just] running, lifting," Sharpe said after Sunday's 127-115 win over the Denver Nuggets. Sunday represented Sharpe's second straight game as the starting center and he finished the contest with 17 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals, and one block in 32 minutes.

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"When I know I'm the only big, just picking and choosing my battles," Sharpe continued. "When to go for a hard contest I know I can't get or when to go for the steal when I know I can't get in foul trouble. It just came with maturity and learning as I've been in the league longer."

Sharpe, 24, is averaging 7.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 60.5% from the field and 64.6% from the free-throw line, but his numbers in his starts are impressive. In Sharpe's two starts this season, he is averaging 15.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game while shooting 57.1% from the floor and 63.6% from the foul line.

Ultimately, Sharpe is proving once again that his place in the league in somewhere between a backup and a starter based on how he has performed in both roles. It was surprising to see Sharpe re-sign with the Nets this past offseason, not because of him choosing to come back to the only team that he has ever known in the NBA, but because it was only a two-year, $12.5 million deal. That fact hasn't changed his view on his standing in the league.

"I know the stats say one thing, but to me, I feel like I can compete with the best of them," Sharpe said. "I feel like I played against every big there is so I just thought, I compete with the best of them. That's how I feel." If Sharpe is on the team next season will depend on what the Nets decide next summer in terms of his club option, but as it stands right now, Brooklyn could do worse than keeping Sharpe on the roster, no matter what his role is.

This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets' Day'Ron Sharpe explains mindset getting ready for starting role