MCW ruled in his NBA debut
(PHOTO CREDIT: Howard Smith/USA Today Sports.)
We all get so lost in the moment. That definitely is true when it comes to sports. And, yes, it is true in the NBA.
We tend to overreact to a performance. To be fair, a lot of players over time have proven to be consistent when it comes to having great games. Still, a first impression goes a long way.
So in honor of the upcoming NBA season, let’s look at one of the best debuts in the history of this league. Let’s take a look at the first game of Michael Carter-Williams.
It was October 30, 2013. It was the second day of the 2013-14 NBA season. The Miami Heat were the defending champions. They were going to take on the lowly Philadelphia 76ers. Not much was expected from them after winning 34 games the previous year. They drafted the aforementioned Carter-Williams with the 11th overall pick in the summer. But hey, let’s see how the Sixers do against the Heat, who had just defeated the Chicago Bulls the previous night. Also, Miami was going to play without Dwyane Wade.
Earlier in the day, Sixers legend Allen Iverson officially announced his retirement from basketball (even though he hadn’t played an NBA game since 2010). Other Sixers legends attended the game in the Sixers’ home opener. Moses Malone, Julius Erving, and Charles Barkley were all in attendance.
While Iverson understandably had the headlines for the day, MCW would steal it from him by the end of the game. The Sixers got off to a torrid start. Carter-Williams scored his very first NBA bucket on a fastbreak slam. And that was the start of a roll for the Sixers.
Philly would score the first 19 points of the game. They would go on to have a 26-4 lead as the Sixers made their first 11 shots. By the way, MCW had three steals in that run. MORE ON THIS IN A BIT.
The Sixers were going against the defending champions so, of course, the Heat weren’t just going to lay down and take it. The lead would be cut to two by the half. Then the Heat scored 45 points in the third quarter to take a nine-point lead after three. Ray Allen made a halfcourt shot to end that period because he’s Jesus.
But the Sixers weren’t going to lay down, either. Philly was down eight halfway through the fourth but the RESILIENCY of the Sixers was on the forefront. A 10-1 run led by Spencer Hawes (remember him?). MCW helped stave off the Heat by getting another steal off LeBron James in the closing minutes. The Sixers would go on to score the upset, 114-110.
The MCW box score?
22 points, 7 rebounds, 12 assists, 9 STEALS.
And he only had one turnover in 36 minutes.
HOW THE HELL DO YOU TOP THAT DEBUT? NINE STEALS. That’s obviously still the record for most steals for an NBA debut game. (There have only been two games since MCW’s debut where someone tallied 9 or more steals. Draymond Green had 10 in his memorable triple-double game in February 2017 that saw him score only 4 points. Lou Williams had 10 thefts in a January 2018 game.)
MCW would actually go on to have a really good rookie year that saw him win the Rookie of the Year award in an admittedly weak rookie class. He finished the season with 16.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists, and 1.9 steals. But that Sixers win against the Heat turned out to be fool’s gold because Philly would only win 19 games for the season.
Rey-Rey, you said this was about overreaction. MCW won Rookie of the Year. So you’re actually wrong here!
A little bit. MCW has been unremarkable since. He had decent stats in his stint with Philly and then Milwaukee; he played a lot of minutes for both squads. He’s played for four different teams in the last three years. It didn’t help that the injury bug bit him.
But what made him expendable was that he was not a good shooter. He shoots just above 40 percent for his career and is barely above 25 percent from three. He has a reputation for being a great defender (which didn’t show, at times) but it wasn’t enough to cover up his offensive shortcomings. Still, he has resurrected his career in Orlando and will be competing for minutes there.
“Competing for minutes” is a far cry from coming close to a quadruple-double with steals in his first NBA game. Just remember to try NOT to overreact on anyone’s rookie debut.
A great first impression can be awesome, admittedly. If a woman overreacted to her first impression of me, I’d be a married man.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
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