RJ Barrett’s former teammate, Zion Williamson, thinks New York Knicks fans are going to love what Barrett can bring to the Big Apple.
A significant part of the New York Knicks‘ future rests on the shoulders of RJ Barrett. The lefty wing is coming into New York with a lot of hype and his former teammate, Zion Williamson, believes he’s going to deliver.
“(Knicks fans) can expect that they’re getting a killer,” Zion Williamson said via Ian Begley of SNY. “For the people that are trying to look down on him, RJ’s been through worse. He knows how to battle through it and he’s going to bring the city everything he’s got.”
Williamson is likely referencing some of the criticism Barrett received for his up-and-down play in the Las Vegas Summer League. Barrett finished the summer averaging 15.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. His lackluster shooting (34%) was an early talking point, but it’s unwise to overreact to Summer League.
Barrett and Williamson spent one season together at Duke before they both made the leap to the NBA. Of course, it has to hurt Knicks fans that Barrett is coming to New York and not Williamson. But alas, the ping pong balls didn’t break right for the Knickerbockers.
The former teammates actually played each other in their first game in Las Vegas, but Williamson only played the first half before he was shut down for the summer.
With the NBA schedule set to be released on Monday, we’ll have a date for the first regular-season matchup between the close friends.
