![]() With averages of 17.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists in his first seven games, he’s definitely there. The court is bigger, the lights are shining. It was fun, me playing on the big stage now. “The night before our first game, I was just, like, I couldn’t sleep, my stomach was like…like, you could feel the nerves, but as soon as you step on the court, it all goes away. “I was so nervous,” Green tells SLAM with a hint of relief in his chill Cali cadence. The weight of the opportunity isn’t lost on him. We all trying to chase the dream and get to where we want to go and accomplish our goals.” I know we made a change that hasn’t happened for some years because I know Amir was the last high schooler to get drafted, but I don’t even really look at it like that. “I just look at it like, we just hooping, playing basketball, just because we ain’t played in so long,” Green says about Ignite’s eventual legacy. No matter what happens next, Green and his teammates are making history here. The other names on the team include Jonathan Kuminga, Isaiah Todd and Daishen Nix. He’s been proactive in learning as much as he possibly can from Shaw, Amir Johnson, Jarrett Jack and Bobby Brown. But Green is the first one to say how much work he still needs in the pick-and-roll, on defensive rotations and as a communicator. His scoring ability, his leaping ability and his competitiveness all prove that. Coached by 15-year pro and three-time NBA champ Brian Shaw, Green is on the fast track.īecause all of the above is true. He and five other prospects have linked up with a handful of vets to get a head start on playing pro ball by matching up against other G League squads and international teams. He’s the main draw on a first-of-its-kind squad that is giving NBA hopefuls another route to the League. Green’s latest stop is the G League Ignite Select Team. He had three FIBA Gold medals by the time he was 17.Ĭut to right now. He likes to run it up the scoreboard, that is. He likes to spring up into his jumpers, either standard or step-back, creating so much space between himself and the defender that defense doesn’t matter at all. He likes to drive the lane, take contact, finish with either hand and smirk on his way back down the floor. He likes to turn the corner slowly, then hit the gas quickly and rise up faster than most defenders are prepared for. He likes to dunk on anyone who tries him. And that’s just a single example of Jalen being Jalen. Stanley won the contest but Green won the crowd. Still not sure if that was an evaluation or a promise, but it was definitely a valid reaction. Rod Hampton, father of Denver Nuggets guard RJ Hampton, typed out $50,000 on his phone. Green came down from his between-the-legs dunk and was swarmed by the rest of the ballplayers in the gym. Here is a 16-year-old kid existing somewhere in the middle of all that calm and excitement. It’s a crazy juxtaposition, isn’t it? The game’s ultimate athletic feat always brings so much intensity and excitement. It’s when Green is throwing the ball between his legs, with multiple feet separating him from the suddenly-quiet hardwood. Those two seconds are when the stampede stops. Those two seconds are why we’re still bringing it up nearly three years later. In between those seconds, though, is where the moment gets its life. ![]() Everyone goes from anticipation to appreciation in that short span. That control only lasts two seconds at a time. He commands it and with it comes command of the room. For just a brief moment, it belongs to Green. They watch and freeze, waiting to be given the air back. That pre-dunk hype is giving way to an in-the-moment silence. Back and forth they go, the crowd getting more and more hype. Jackson and Ramsey don’t make it to the finals, so it’s left to JG and Stanley. Every time Andre Jackson, Jahmi’us Ramsey, Cassius Stanley and Green lift off the ground, the crowd does, too. ![]() They’ve been jumping with the dunkers, feeding off the energy that their flights bring. There’s a bunch of people watching a dunk contest between the nation’s best high school ballplayers. The hardwood floor at Life Time Fitness on the West Side of Manhattan has been feeling a stampede. Order your copy of SLAM 231 featuring Jalen Green now.Ĭut back to the middle of August 2018.
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