Former Alabama star Collin Sexton has been one of the NBA’s most surprising stars over the past couple of weeks.
When the Cleveland Cavaliers took Sexton with the eighth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, obviously management expected him to be good. What they didn’t expect was for him to be is this good this fast. Even the Cavaliers’ controversial uniforms haven’t been able to slow him down.
This past weekend Cleveland improved to 4-2 after a win over the Atlanta Hawks. Sexton scoring 27 points on 10-for-18 shooting from the field, continuing his streak of scoring at least 20 points in all six games he’s played in this year. So far, he is averaging 26.0 points while shooting over 55 percent from the field and 55 percent from beyond the arc.
Last year, Sexton found himself the subject of a bit of criticism as far as his development went. This season, he is proving all those critics wrong.
Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff hopes that the aforementioned critics have learned a valuable lesson about doubting Sexton’s abilities.
“I believe it’s disrespectful, things people say about him,” Bickerstaff said.
“I think people are looking for an excuse and he just happens to be the target. Collin is a great human being. He’s a great teammate and all he cares about is the right thing — winning basketball games and competing. That’s all that matters to him.
“For those who criticize him, it’s a shame to be honest with you. Ninety percent of our league can’t roll out of bed and get you 20 points. He can.
“If you can’t appreciate that and respect that, that’s on you. That’s not on Collin. And is he gonna continue to grow and get better? Yes. That’s our job to help him. But to say anything negative about that kid is more commentary on those people than it is on Collin.”
Paulina Gretzky knows what she’s doing.https://t.co/zfKrfjY8iP
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 3, 2021
Nobody expected Cleveland as a team or Sexton as an individual to look as good as they have thus far, so it will be interesting to see how sustainable the productivity will ultimately be.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
