LAS VEGAS – Now five years into his career, Robert Franks has been compensated to play professional basketball in four countries and on three different continents, but the 27-year-old is still in pursuit of a job promotion that would bring him closer to his home state of Washington and fulfill his dream of landing a permanent roster spot in the NBA.
The former Washington State standout is still chipping away at those goals after spending the 2023-24 season with the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins of Japan’s B.League and returning to the United States for his fourth go-round at NBA Summer League, spending three weeks last month with the Phoenix Suns.
In one sense, as an older player on the Summer League scene, it could be easier to feel like NBA dreams are slipping further out of reach considering the youth movement that’s swept through the league the last 10-15 years.
On the other hand, Franks feels like a more refined and matured version of the player that came out of WSU to make his Summer League debut in 2019 – “the 21-year-old kid coming out nervous and jitters and not knowing what the future holds for me.”
From that standpoint, Franks feels he might have an advantage on the growing wave of younger players who are competing for the same coveted NBA roster spots and two-way contracts that he is.
“So I think this is more a settling feeling, but still hungry,” Franks said. “Still trying to chase something and still have that fuel and desire.”
Franks has been on four Summer League rosters, suiting up for the Charlotte Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics and Phoenix Suns. He’s worn three G-League uniforms and had one brief stint in the NBA, playing seven games for the Orlando Magic during the 2020-21 season before he was waived during the middle of a second 10-day contract.
Since then, most of the opportunities have dried up stateside, and Franks has bounced from one international club to the next, beginning with two stints in Australia’s NBL, where he played for the Brisbane Bullets and Adelaide 36ers, a stop in the Israeli Premier Basketball League with Hapoel Gilboa Galil and last season’s opportunity with the Nagoya Diamond Dolphins.
“Being away from home, it makes you mature faster and using all those tools to come out here, be more wise, be more mature and I’ve kind of just been through the ropes,” Franks said. “Just knowing what to expect.”
Franks left with high reviews of his playing experience in Japan, which opened with a two-game swing against former Washington State teammate Josh Hawkinson and Sun Rockers Shibuya. The two posed for a photo with an Ol’ Crimson flag after one of the games and continued to stay in touch through the remainder of the B.League season.
Franks wished Hawkinson well before the former WSU forward traveled to represent Japan in the Olympics as the country’s lone naturalized player.
“He’s been over there for five years, he solidified himself as a good player over there and in the (Olympic) qualifiers he’s played well,” Franks said. “Josh is big time. He was big time at Wazzu.”
By the end of Japan’s professional season, Franks, who averaged 18.4 points per game, and Hawkinson, who averaged 17.0, were two of only 14 players averaging at least 17 points in the B.League.
It didn’t take long for Franks to adapt to the basketball in Japan and the language barrier wasn’t difficult to navigate either, considering he had a translator “by my hip 24/7.” Franks also embraced Japan’s cultural values and traditions, which required him to get comfortable eating a popular grain product as part of almost every meal.
“Having rice available for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and snacks, was kind of unusual for me but that’s their culture, they love it and it’s good food,” he said.
By the time the B.League season ended in February, Franks was already setting up his summer.
The Phoenix Suns came through with an early invitation to NBA Summer League, finding value in Franks not only as an offensive weapon who’s able to spread the floor with elite 3-point shooting, but also as a veteran who’d be able to provide mentorship and advice to the team’s young draft picks and two-way players.
“He knows he’s a good shooter spacing the floor, giving us space and just his humbleness of being a guy who’s a little bit older, has played overseas,” Suns Summer League coach Vince Legarza said. “To come in and accept his role and be a star in it, spacing – his just feel for spacing and shooting the ball is really unique.”
Franks was realistic about what the opportunity would look like and made the most of his playing shifts, whether they lasted eight minutes at the start of the game or for just two or three minutes in the middle of the second or third quarter.
“He’s super professional and then on the court he can really shoot it,” said forward David Roddy, a former first-round draft pick who had stints with the Memphis Grizzlies and Suns before recently signing with the Atlanta Hawks . “He’s a dynamic big, stretch four type of guy. So again, he’s really good and that veteranship is needed on this young team.”
Franks averaged just over 17 minutes per game, registering 7.2 points on 44% shooting from the field and 41% from the 3-point line. He also averaged 4.0 rebounds.
The Suns found ways to use the 6-foot-7, 225-pound as a traditional “4” in some lineups, but also experimented with him as a small-ball “5.”
“I’m not really out here to work on my game or improve on anything,” Franks said. “I’m just hoping to show them what I’m capable of and what my asset can be at the NBA level.”
Franks is residing back home in Washington for the moment, waiting to learn where on the globe he’ll have to travel for his next professional basketball opportunity.
He recently participated in “Zeke-End,” a Seattle-based tournament run by Isaiah Thomas, competing alongside two other former WSU standouts – ex-teammate Malachi Flynn and four-time All-Star Klay Thompson – and other current/former NBA players with Northwest ties such as Paolo Banchero, Payton Pritchard, Nate Robinson and Jamal Crawford.
Although the international time difference made it difficult at times, Franks was glued to the television following WSU’s historic 2023-24 basketball season, culminating in the school’s first NCAA Tournament trip since 2008. Once the B.League season ended, Franks’ schedule cleared up and he was able to watch the final six games of WSU’s season.
“It was very nice to see them get rolling, especially toward the end of the season once they hit Pac-12 play,” Franks said. “… They were well-coached. Kyle Smith is a great coach and he’s going to do great things at Stanford. They’re well-coached and had great players, so kudos to them and just hopefully they’re going to be able to stay there and that can be the standard from there on out.”
