On the date of this post's publication, it is the birthday of Golden State Warriors big man James Wiseman. Just a note before we get going, as it's important to the post itself.

While there are obvious benefits to being a lottery pick in the NBA Draft, it also has some drawbacks. For one, players who are included in the top picks of the draft will be burdened with great expectations from the moment they hear their name called on draft night. They will also likely be compared to other players who were picked before or after them to try to determine whether their teams made the right choice to draft them.

However, it’s easy to forget that while these young players have the talent to become the league’s next superstars, they are also just kids who are being forced to mature quickly in a league that waits for no one. Golden State Warriors rookie James Wiseman is one such player, as he was the second overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

So when The Athletic’s Anthony Slater published a story on Wiseman’s 20th birthday about the need for the rookie center to show growth in the coming weeks, his teammate Juan Toscano-Anderson came to his defense.

The Warriors are certainly looking for James Wiseman to show improvement, especially since they find themselves in the 10th spot in the Western Conference with a 23-24 record and will need more wins for a playoff push. However, as Toscano-Anderson pointed out, Wiseman had just woken up on his 20th birthday, and will probably still be in college if he weren’t playing basketball.

Wiseman, who is averaging 11.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, and one block while shooting 52.2% from the field and 33.3% from beyond the arc in 33 games, will have time to prove his worth for the Warriors. For now, as his teammate suggested, maybe he should be allowed to celebrate his birthday and be reminded that he is still very young and capable of reaching his potential.