Duke small forward and projected lottery pick RJ Barrett's AAU coach doesn't like it when draft experts call Barrett a “ball hog.”
Dwayne Washington says if Barrett was a ball hog and only cared about stats, RJ wouldn't have played his college ball at Duke with Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish.
“If he was a ball hog, he would have went to Texas or Kansas State and tried to score over 30 points per game and taking every shot,” Washington told Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. “Everyone would be praising him. Some people run from other talent, and some people embrace it.
“If you know they have all of this top talent at Duke and you still go there, you aren’t a ball hog. Ball hogs don’t want to play with other good players.”
Barrett, widely expected to be picked third in the 2019 NBA Draft after Williamson and Murray State point guard Ja Morant, averaged 22.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists at Duke. The lefty shot 45.4 percent from the field, 30.8 percent from beyond the arc and 66.5 percent from the free-throw line.
Some pundits believe Barrett will be Andrew Wiggins 2.0, a volume shooter who can score 20 points, but won't be efficient. Only time will tell how RJ will fair in the NBA, but Washington believes the ball hog tag is foolish.
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