Nerlens Noel may have failed to live up to expectations after being drafted 6th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2013 NBA Draft, but he has turned into a solid starting caliber player. He had a renaissance of sorts with the New York Knicks in the 2020-21 season, which earned him a 3-year, $32 million deal, but injuries meant he missed a significant portion of last season.
Noel only played 25 games as the Knicks endured a disappointing campaign, and in the off-season, they traded him to the Detroit Pistons. He is joining a young team that is looking for some big improvements this year, having also traded for another veteran in Bojan Bogdanovic.
NBA Fans Roast Nerlens Noel For Saying He Wants To Be Back In The Race For Defensive Player Of The Year
Noel and Bogdanovic are solid veterans who can mentor that young team, and while he is looking forward to mentoring those youngsters, Noel also has some lofty aspirations. During media day, he surprisingly stated that he wants to be back in the race for Defensive Player of the Year.
“I want to be back in defensive player of the year race.”
– Nerlens Noel
(Via @DetroitKoolAid ) pic.twitter.com/0wbehMGDgz
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 26, 2022
Unsurprisingly, NBA fans roasted him for saying that as they wanted him to try and get into the rotation first.
“Who does bro think he is “
“Back in it? When was he ever in it?”
“worry about being back in the rotation”
“You would be lucky to be back in the rotation”
“dude is hardly gonna get mins off the bench “
“Only race bro going to be part of is to the tank. You playing for Pistons “
“And I want to be dating Madison Beer”
“back in??? bro you were never in the race “
“Lmaooo need to learn how to catch the ball first, man was overrated as a defender too. Weak inside and no rebounds just a shot blocker. Once a Knick always a knick tho”
“Alright buddy you gotta relax now”
“Drug test him”
“this isn’t 2k”
“Forgot he was still in the league”
“Well that’s not happening Nerlens”
“Keep dreaming my guy”
“You might not even start for the Pistons “
“Every time I see this kid I think about how he turned down $58mil”
“His defense was horrendous last year”
Noel was getting some buzz for DPOY in New York during that 2020-21 season but he didn’t even finish in the top 10 for voting. Still, there is no harm in setting high expectations, but fans were always going to get on him for saying something like this.
It remains to be seen what role he gets with the Pistons, as it doesn’t look like he will be a starter. They just acquired talented big man Jalen Duren on NBA draft night, which means Noel is probably not going to get too many minutes as the season goes on, so his aspirations of being in the DPOY race might not be fulfilled.
