NFL
By: Greg Rector
NBA media and fans “fanatics” are doing a massive disservice to so many young players entering the association, and I am really getting tired of it. Is this what you live for? Attacking these young guys makes you all feel good? How many of you are actually close to being able to play NBA basketball? Oh, what’s that? None of you, that’s what I thought—shame on the former NBA players who jump on this bandwagon as well.
Background
Take the player above as a prime example: James Wiseman, the former Golden State Warrior and now a member of the Detroit Pistons. Wiseman played a grand sum of three games at the University of Memphis. Based on a stellar high school career and those three games, the Warriors’ brain trust decided that Wiseman was worthy of a first-round selection (2nd overall no less) in the 2020 NBA draft. That was disservice number one. I get it, he was a 7-foot-tall player with an upside. His body alone though was not mature enough for the rigors of an NBA season. This was evidenced in the Memphis Tigers 2019 pre-season, first with a shoulder injury and then an ankle injury followed.
We all know the reason why he had to leave Memphis as then Tigers coach Penny Hardaway had violated the rules helping the Wiseman family move. Another disservice to this young man. Even staying at home to play in high school rather than going the prep school route was another disservice, although I understand not wanting to leave your family completely. The “coaching” if you want to call it that (I don’t) may have been a bit better than what he had staying home.
NBA Career
Didn’t come as a surprise to me at all that as a rookie to see James Wiseman get injured yet again. Thanks to surgery on a torn meniscus and then a setback in his rehabilitation Wiseman’s NBA tenure with the Warriors was a grand total of 27 games, barely one-third of a season, under his belt. That led to his recent trade to the Pistons for whom he played today against the Toronto Raptors. Now if you are on Twitter and have seen James Wiseman’s name trend, you can bet that the NEGATIVE tweets have outnumbered anything positive to say about Wiseman by a massive amount. “This Has To Stop” the entire “culture” of building up these young players to be the next (insert comparable player name here) and heaven forbid they aren’t even close to being ready for that level of play is outright mean and disgusting.
I say the same things when talking about the NFL draft as many of you know. The unrealistic expectations so many thrust upon these players by the media and fans alike are at such a horrifying level, it almost makes me want to throw up at times. Especially when so much of the criticism is unwarranted given the history of the player so many just love to attack. This doesn’t apply only to Wiseman but all over the league this pattern is repeated night after night on Twitter, and even on the various NBA shows, podcasts, and YouTube creators. I for one just don’t understand the need to tear down people so quickly.
Some might say I am being hypocritical, especially with one Zion Williamson. I fully admit I am no fan of Duke basketball players, never have been, and never will be. My criticism of Williamson was very simple, I said his entire time at Duke that he was an injury waiting to happen. My critique of his game was simply because he was so one-side dominant, and didn’t show me much as a great defender either. Did I miss anything? Don’t think so, all of the above has been the case for Williamson’s carer so far. When healthy I give him his due as a player that can make things happen. When I saw an improvement in his ability to use both hands I said so. That’s being fair, unlike so many of the attacks we see out there now.
I can’t be alone in seeing how the current state of coaching at the AAU, prep school basketball, and the usual one and one college careers are not doing a good job of preparing players for the ultimate level known as the NBA. I can just see the level of attacks coming to Bronny James very soon. It’s already happening to him and will only get worse as he goes for his one year of college and then makes his NBA debut. Count me out on being so ready to take him or any of these young players down. For those who enjoy doing so, grow up. Especially all of you who will never, ever have the ability to get anywhere near that level.
As always you can find me on Twitter @GregsCowboys
