James Wiseman was lauded as one of the best prospects going into the 2020 NBA Draft. He averaged 11.5 PPG and 5.8 RPG during his first season with the Golden State Warriors. Those stats came in only 21.4 MPG, and he showed great flashes of his athleticism and shooting ability.
Klay Thompson has recently lauded James Wiseman when speaking to the media and claimed that he is the future of the Warriors franchise. Thompson also added that he “can’t wait” to play with the young center. The Golden State Warriors have lacked a dominant center during their dynasty, and if Wiseman develops as intended, he could fill that void. Alex Espinoza of 95.7 The Game relayed Thompson’s words.
On Tuesday, Thompson pulled Wiseman aside and gave him a book titled ‘Young, Black, Rich, and Famous,’ by Dr. Todd Boyd, which explores the cultural shifts surrounding basketball and hip hop since the 1970s. Wiseman, of course, moonlights as a SoundCloud rapper and dropped a new track titled “Whatchu Know About It” Tuesday.
“It’s such an empowering read and James is such a great listener,” Thompson said. “I just want to help him further his education. The guys are so talented they just get to skip university now and you gotta realize that you still gotta grow as a person. I think exercising your mind is just as important as your body. I try to tell him that. He’s a great listener and the future’s so bright for James. I can’t wait to play with him. We haven’t had a center like him in a long time who can run the floor and stretch the spacing vertically.”
“He is the future of our franchise along with JK and Moses,” Thompson said. “One day we’ll hand them the keys. Enjoy being a Warriors because we play in a great place in San Francisco and having the fan base we do with fans in Oakland, South Bay to the North. It’s special and it wasn’t always like this. I just try to remind him he’s going to carry the torch one day.”
It remains to be seen if James Wiseman can become the player that the Warriors want him to be, but he certainly has the talent and the potential to be great. The Warriors have hired some developmental coaches such as Dejan Milojevic over the summer, so that will aid Wiseman in transforming into the player he wants to become. Wiseman has previously stated that he wants to be an All-Star and an MVP one day, so he definitely has high goals for himself.
The Golden State Warriors are a league-best 15-2, and they have looked like the best team in the league thus far. Hopefully, they are able to keep up their winning ways, and they should be an even better team with James Wiseman at the center position.
