pic credit: Artland Dragons

It was the biggest game of the season for the Artland Dragons as a win in Frankfurt could save their season and remain in the Pro A. Artland came with a lot of talent with guys like exeasyCredit BBL veteran Brandon Thomas or Mr triple double Buzz Anthony or rookie Jake Forrester, but there was also another talented kid coming from the bench with power forward Jordan Ratton (203-F-2001) from Monaco. He was actually playing his second season with Artland and in a way saved his best for last even if he didn´t find that statement as accurate or amusing as he totaled 17 points in 21 minutes off the bench. “I’m not really the type of guy to save anything. I would just say that I’m always ready to grab an opportunity so every time they give me one I’ll do my best. I had one here that I wasn’t going to let slip”, warned Jordan Ratton. The game had highlight after highlight plays and Jordan Ratton wasn´t missing. At the end of 45 minutes he had amassed 3 massive dunks with one prettier than the other. He had a great alley op dunk, but where did his rare thunderous reverse alley op dunk rank for him? “It’s a nice one for sure but I would put it in the top 5 maybe 10, because some of the dunks I had were way harder to do compared to this one”, warned Jordan Ratton. But Jordan Ratton is so much more than just a powerful dunker, but has so much more to offer especially on the defensive end.

Anthony Watkins and Brandon Thomas celebrating after beating Frankfurt and staying in the Pro A

Jordan Ratton who lists NBA player Victor Wembanyama as his most difficult opponent so far in his career was born on December 16th, 2001 in Monaco. He began his basketball career with AS Monaco in 2017. He was a really talented kid that also at the same time received invitations to the U-16 and U-18 Monaco youth national teams. He showed that he was a massive talent playing the European Championships (FIBA EuroBasket) U16 Division C in Andorra averaging 13.7ppg, Reb-3 (15.3rpg), 1.2spg, Blocks-3 (2.8bpg), FGP: 46.9%, FT: 24.0% and at the European Championships (FIBA EuroBasket) U18 Division C in Andorra winning the silver averaging 18.2ppg), Reb-3 (13.8rpg), 1.6apg, 2.0spg, Blocks-1 (2.4bpg), FGP: 52.4%, FT: 71.4%. His 5 seasons with the up and coming AS Monaco were memorable. “I remember when I started, I wasn´t talented and all the people wanted me because I was tall and I worked my butt off to make people want me for who I am and not only my size. I think my best memory will be the European championship u18 that I played for Monaco in 2018 which was one of the first steps that made me realize that I could really achieve my goals”, stressed Jordan Ratton. He had the rare opportunity to play for the legendary Sasa Obradovic and it was no surprise that he remembered one of the coache´s biggest attributes most. “I will remember him as a strict coach that was very intense and passionate. He had patience with the young guys even if he was still strict with us”, said Jordan Ratton. His game was able to grow mainly with the day to day battles with top big men like Mathiais Lessort, Elmeden Kikanovic, Donatas Motiejunas, John Brown and Will Thomas just to name a few. He must of felt in awe a bit as there wasn´t just 1 player that impacted him most. “Too be honest we were not that close between pros and young guys but it was very inspiring to be around big names like this so I don’t have one player in mind but they all were a great motivation to try to catch up and play at the same level one day”, warned Jordan Ratton. Every young player is different while some will know exactly who their teammates are while others may just be so locked in with their game that they can´t even understand with just what kind of names they were teammates with guys like ex NBA champion Norris Cole with the Miami Heat and Lebron James and future alltime Euroleague leading scorer Mike James. “I wasn’t realizing the chance I had at that age to have the chance to play around those guys and be on the court in the same team as those guys. The first times I got on the court with the pros will always be great memories”, added Jordan Ratton who lists Lebron James as his GOAT.

The athletic forward who lists Vincent Vermillac (we went through a lot of things growing up together), Roman Tomatis ( He will always be a brother and was an amazing teammate), Anthony Watkins (I know I will be able to count on him at any time as much as he can count on me too), Nicolas Vanel (a young guy who’s still in Monaco working on his game with his career that is going to start) and Jeremy Ngandu (another young guy that was really funny too and motivated)as his 5 best teammates of all-time is one of those rare players that doesn´t jump right away at naming the NBA players that he compares his game to. “I hate comparing myself to other players because I think depending of which aspect of my game you’re watching, you could see different players I try to take the best of a little bit of everybody to be the best version of myself”, warned Jordan Ratton. He is a very athletic player that can score and rebound, but also has other attributes. “My main strength is my mentality. I think this year has been a great proof of it. In terms of basketball skills I would say my defense and my energy”, commented Jordan Ratton. He is also a very talented young defender that wants to be able to make an impact just as much there as on the offensive end. “I think I’m a defender that my teammates can trust. I’m really looking to help them and try to be solid and active. I try my best to be able to play defense at every position because I want to become a defender you can trust no matter who I’m defending or which type of defense were using so that I can really be helpful for my team”, expressed Jordan Ratton. This summer just as everyone else, he will be locked in the lab improving on the areas where he hopes will help him continue to move up the basketball ladder. “I’m working on my ball handling and my shot but also trying to improve my mobility”, expressed Jordan Ratton. He averaged 6,1ppg and 2,4rpg in his second season with the Artland Dragons.

The ex Monaco youth national player who lists Lebron James, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on his NBA Mount Rushmore and Vasilis Spanoúlis, Guershon Yabusele, Miloš Teodosic, and Mike James on his Euro Mount Rushmore left AS Monaco in 2022 and played with the Merelbeke Hawks (Belgium-Top Division I) averaging 17.3ppg, 8.3rpg, 1.3spg, and in Jan.’23 moved to the Artland Dragons (Germany-ProA) averaging 6.2ppg, 3.5rpg, FGP: 54.4%, FT: 71.1%. He stayed with the Artland Dragons and suffered a tough second season. The team began with a tough 10 game losing streak and from then on had to play catch up basketball. The club came together in the last 2 months to construct an amazing comeback in order to force a do or die game in Frankfurt on the last game day. “The main key was to believe. We repeated that word a lot these last months, the only way to make it happen was to believe that it was possible and we did it because even at the end of the last game when we were losing by 3, we believed and went in overtime in the last seconds to win it at the end. We definitely believed”, warned Jordan Ratton. It was one of his top 3 biggest games in his career so far. The game could have ended with a Frankfurt win had sniper Bruno Vrcic hit the last open shot, but he missed. “I think at the end the last rebounds and the last opportunities to stay in the game and take the lead all of those opportunities happened because we made the extra effort, the extra sprint, the extra box out etc. We knew that we needed to give whatever it takes to win this game. We wanted it and we did the job until the last second. It was not perfect, but the energy and the hustle was there until the end”, said Jordan Ratton. Two teammates that will forever be in his mind were Jake Forrester and Brandon Thomas who impacted him from day 1 until the win in Frankfurt. “It was fun with Jake. We were both trying to take our game to another level so we were pulling each other up. Being one of BT’s teammates was great, he’s a great leader but also a great person always there to help but also always trying to get better even after the great career he had. He keeps working on his game and since day one his work ethic and he’s mindset were so inspiring. I’m glad to have been able to witness it. I learned a lot around him there and is no doubt that it will help me in my career and my life in general”, stressed Jordan Ratton. Another player he also won´t forget was teammate Anthony Watkins who landed on his best teammate list of all-time. A very special bond developed between them. “If I exclude myself I would say Anthony Watkins without a doubt was the most improved player this season. The time he spent in the gym people can’t see that but he is definitely the one who, like me, worked the most to prove that everyone should trust him and that’s why I trusted him the whole year at 100% and he knows he will always have all my respect”, added Jordan Ratton. When I ask a player who the toughest player was that they faced that season, I get an answer 99% of the time, but sometimes I don´t as Jordan Ratton had a fascinating answer. “I really have no names coming to my mind, I never felt that I should really be scared of anyone. I kept focusing on myself and worked as much as I could to be ready to give my best each game”, warned Jordan Ratton. It will be interesting to see where Jordan Ratton´s journey continues to. He has no fear of anyone or trying to get better, because he will continue to grind to become the best version of himself.