Tehran (IRAN)- Being in a national team pool as stacked as Iran’s, it takes a lot of practice and patience to wait for your turn to break out. After years of idolizing legends like Hamed Haddadi, these coming years might finally be time for Meisam Mirzaei to step up into an even bigger role for the Iran national team.

The 27-year-old made his FIBA Asia Cup debut in 2017, playing in rare minutes during Iran’s silver medal run. In just 19 total minutes throughout the entire tournament, Mirzaei averaged 1.8 points and 2.2 rebounds. He would later enjoy expanded roles in the following with that came a higher volume of output.

In 2018, Mirzaei won the Finals MVP honor for his club at the FIBA Asia Champions Cup and capped off a solid FIBA World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifier campaign. Playing in 10 games, he averaging 8.0 points and 5.8 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per contest as Iran made it through to yet another World Cup..

Tracing back to his humble beginnings, Mirzaei has come a long way to become a proud member of Team Melli.

"I started playing basketball when I was 14 years old," Mirzaei said. "There was only one basketball coach in my city in that time and that coach came to my school and he found me."

Shortly after being introduced to the game, it was stripped away from him before he eventually developed as the passionate player that he is today.

"I was playing basketball for a couple of years and, unfortunately, I got injured. I couldn’t play basketball," Mirzaei explained. "In that time when I was injured, I realized how much I missed playing basketball and with that, I can say was when I fell in love with basketball."

As Mirzaei’s love for the game grew, so did his body. Like most Iranian big men basketball players, his idol on the court was Hamed Haddadi. Mirzaei has had multiple chances to play alongside Haddadi and everytime they stepped on the court together, Mirzaei aims to have at least as much impact as his senior.

"I believe the best big man in history of the Iran basketball is Hamed Haddadi," Mirzaei says. "Hamed is an excellent passer inside and outside of the paint. I’m always trying to be as good as him."

34-year-old Haddadi has been among the top centers of Asia for over a decade and still has plenty of mileage left in his tank. However, it’s inevitable that Iran will have to prepare for the next wave of big men some time in the future. Even though Mirzaei continues to shine bright with potential, he believes there’s still more time before the torch will be passed on to him.

"I believe we have several players from the [previous] generation of the Iran basketball and I believe they can still be useful," said Mirzaei.

"I have never thought to fill the big man’s position [of Hamed Haddadi]," added the 2.08M (6’10”) burly center. "Nobody is able to fill his position in the national team. But I’ll do my best to have the best possible [role] in the National Team, not just to fill anybody’s [role] in the national team."

Meisam has carved out his role and it is an important one with Iran. He is surely going to be a key piece in the future for the national team. Iran will soon have their eyes set on the FIBA Asia Cup in 2021 and aim to avenge a championship game loss in 2017. With his fire and determination, Mirzaei will be a big boost for the team if called upon for duty once again as soon as the Qualifiers tipoff.

"I don’t like to lose and because of that I always want to win. So winning games inspires me to work and try harder."

FIBA