Brooklyn Nets swingman Caris LeVert is hoping that getting snubbed from the Rising Stars Game last season and the All-Rookie teams two years ago can provide the chip on his shoulder to take his game to greater heights.
A dynamic 6-foot-7 wing with the ability to create his own shot and for others, the Ohio native is a quiet kid with a barbarically edgy side on the court, still feeling the recent snubs close to the heart.
“Yeah, absolutely I feel like I was snubbed from that game,” LeVert told Alex Squadron of SLAM Magazine. “Last year as well with the All-Rookie Teams, I felt like I should’ve been on that too. That’s really nothing new for me. I feel like I get snubbed from a lot of things, but that’s just motivation.”
The Michigan product has shown a steady uptick in each of his two seasons, going from a traded mid-first-round pick to an evolved playmaker in only a year, experiencing running the offense as a de facto point guard after the injuries to Jeremy Lin and D'Angelo Russell.
“That was good for me to be able to experience because I’ve played point guard sparingly, but probably never for that long of a span,” Caris says. “I was the second unit’s point guard for probably 25-30 games straight and I got into a rhythm and started to get very comfortable with that.
“So I think going forward that’s definitely something that I proved I can do.”
LeVert will have to once again fight for playing time with Russell coming back from injury and Spencer Dinwiddie surging as one of the team's best young playmakers. But if his uptick in minutes is any indication, it won't be long until LeVert finds a way to carve a niche as a prominent player in the rotation.
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