I just watched the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Golden State Warriors. Marquee match-up? Of course not. It was a close game but I was more amazed at what I witnessed. First-year player, Brandon Jennings, put the Bucks on his back, scoring 55 points (including seven 3-pointers), 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Now I can hear all my basketball buddies yelling, “There Scott go, jumpin’ on the BrandonJennings bandwagon just cause dude scored 55 points.” (Keep in mind, Jennings is a rookie. Scored 21 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists back in his first game of the season. And of those 55 points, 29 came in one quarter, and ho-hum he broke the team record of most points in a game previously held by Lew Alcindor, a.k.a. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.) Truth of the matter is that the performance did not get me to jump on, but rather it kept me on as I read more and more stories that made me appeal to his actions off the court. (I’m also loving the fact that I have him on my fantasy team. He single-handedly locked me in for a win this week.)
Drafted 10th in the 2009 NBA draft, Jennings was chosen by the Milwaukee Bucks. He stands only at about 6’1″, is paper thin, and is a lefty. His road to the NBA was a detour from the norm. Instead of going to college after high school, he opted to play overseas for a year. He struggled there as he says he played against grown men every game. He made headlines when he publicly blasted the New York Knicks for not picking him higher in the draft, showed up late to the draft in a primadonna-esque fashion, and even boasted about how much better he was than his competition. All this negativity sure made me shake my head, but once the hoopla of the draft died down, I started to read about all the positive stories coming from the Jennings camp. Like how he decided to save his rookie salary by not splurging on materialistic items. While most would immediately buy a Bentley, Ferrari, or Hummer, Brandon decided to buy a Ford Edge. Sure he pimped it out, but still. He also bought a place close to work so he could walk there. But what got me was when I read he donated $50,000 to the city of L’Aquila, Italy after it was rocked by that devastating earthquake. What teenager does that? Couple this with his on-court prowess, he’s a player I’d be happy to keep tabs on.
It’s cool that he’s bringing life and excitement to a small market team in Milwaukee much like LeBron James is doing in Cleveland. It’s good for the economy and keeps the field competitive.
Don’t get me wrong, when he faces my Lakers, my man-crush will be buried. But until then, play on player.
