It’s not unusual for an up-and-coming, former highly touted young baller to make some bold prediction about his future status on the highest level.
We’ve seen it in the past as future greats like Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant once challenged and occasionally got the best of all time superstar Michael Jordan, like most memorably when A.I. crossed over the G.O.A.T. during his rookie season.
Over the past few seasons, we have seen younger players like Lebron James and Kevin Durant surpass even future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant as arguably the game’s best players.
When it comes to the shooting guard position, long time All Stars Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant have had little competition when it comes to the Association’s top 2 guard over the past few seasons, but that may be changing with the development of James Harden, Klay Thompson, and….Dion Waiters?
Yes, amid speculation on draft day, the Cleveland Cavaliers made an obvious commitment to the 2nd year shooting guard for the long term by selecting forward Anthony Bennett with the top overall selection, rather than the consensus top rated pick SG Ben McLemore of Kansas.
The former Big East 6th Man of the Year at Syracuse overcame some nagging knee and ankle injuries, forcing him to miss more than 20 games in his rookie campaign, but finished ranked 2nd among all rookies in scoring, averaging 14.7 ppg to go with 3 assists and 1 steal, as the heir apparent alongside franchise player Kyrie Irving in the Cavs backcourt of the future.
In a recent interview, Waiters made some bold predictions, mainly focusing on the fact that he thinks he will be the NBA’s best shooting guard in short order….
“I just feel as though I’m next up as far as shooting guards. If you look around, you know, Kobe [Bryant] and [Dwyane] Wade and those guys, they paved the way for a player like me and they’re almost done. I’m coming. I just want everybody to know that. “Without a doubt, I really believe that [I’ll eventually be the best shooting guard in the NBA]. This year, I’m going to show a lot of people who doubted me and still doubt me. I’m going to show them.”
Waiters has been working hard this offseason to get in better shape and hone his skills, working out sometimes 3 times per day at Impact Academy in Las Vegas and has played sparingly in some of the LA based Summer Leagues.
The 21 year old Philadelphia native undoubtedly has the skills and desire to be a great player someday, but I’d argue that James Harden will be, if not already is the NBA’s best SG, and will be for years to come, but confidence and determination goes a long way towards becoming great.
Dion Waiters Rookie Season Mixtape:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
