- Grizzlies star gets called out after USA Basketball’s FIBA defeat
- Jaren Jackson shrugs off the criticism of his defensive performance
- NBA fans challenge Jackson’s title as Defensive Player of the Year
Memphis Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. may be the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, but he certainly didn’t play like it for Team USA this summer. After getting the invite to play in the FIBA World Cup, fans were expecting the young star to provide a boost on defense and a boost on the boards. Instead, he was practically a no-show with an average of just 2.9 rebounds in the entire tournament.
In the aftermath of Team USA’s elimination, Jackson Jr. was asked about his play, to which he provided a very simple message: “That’s tough, it happened like 12 hours ago. I was a liability, defensive player of the year? That’s tough.”
Here’s Jaren Jackson Jr.’s response to criticism about his rebounding and being called a “defensive liability” by a local sports anchor/journalist. pic.twitter.com/TRLL6QeS2u
— Naveen Ganglani (@naveenganglani) September 9, 2023
With the Grizzlies, Jaren Jackson was stellar last season and his impact was easy to see when he was on the floor. In 63 games last season, he put up 18.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game to secure his first-ever All-Star appearance.
In the early stages of Team USA’s FIBA journey, Jaren Jackson Jr. was actually doing pretty well, and he was even crowned as the team’s best player during training camp.
But despite starting all games for Team USA this summer, he averaged just 9.2 points and made little to no impact defensively. On the surface, it looks like the Grizzlies star was completely caught off guard by the international scene and his mediocre performance left the U.S. extremely vulnerable in the paint.
Team USA Needs To Bring The Stars Back
At 23 years old, Jaren Jackson has very little experience in the NBA and absolutely none at all in the World Cup and Olympics. Sadly, USA Basketball had no choice but to bring him after failing to get commitments from the top-level stars.
As many have already pointed out online, this lack of veteran star power is one of the biggest issues with Team USA right now. In the past, we saw players like LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Stephen Curry compete for the gold, but it’s been years since players of that caliber have signed on.
This year, they had to resort to picking up the “B” team of sorts, which includes a mix of young risers and high-value role players such as Austin Reaves, Josh Hart, and Paolo Banchero among others. But until the USA gets their top guys back on board, there will always be room for an upset on the world stage.
Is Jaren Jackson Jr. Overrated?
Since Jackson was unable to properly fill the role as Team USA’s go-to big man, many fans and experts are finding themselves re-thining where he ranks with the best players in the game.
Last year, he thrived in Memphis and was huge in maintaining one of the NBA’s best defensive units. In the absence of Ja Morant, however, Jackson couldn’t keep the Grizzlies afloat and they would suffer an early exit in the playoffs against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Needless to say, it’s been a rough summer for Jaren Jackson Jr., but he’s still got a chance to prove everyone wrong. Next season, despite major uncertainty surrounding his co-star, Jaren will be looking to finally establish himself as one of the elites.
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