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| Carter-Williams, the 11th pick in June's Draft, has been amazing so far in his rookie season, but good enough to criticize LeBron James? |
The most surprising team of the 2013-14 NBA season so far has undoubtedly been the Philadelphia 76ers.
Predicted by most pundits to win 25 games (on a very high end), the Sixers opened up their slate with a stunning win over the Miami Heat in Philly's home opener. Since then, Brett Brown's squad has beated the upstart Wizards and Bulls, before losing its first game of the year last night to the Warriors via blowout fashion.
Regardless of yesterday's unfortunate beatdown by Golden State, the 76ers are turning heads under new general manager Sam Hinkie, whose statistics-based approach is still a relatively novel one for the NBA.
Also, rookie sensation Michael Carter-Williams has exhibited why Philly invested a high lottery pick on him with some outstanding performances, most notably a near triple-double (and almost quadruple-double) in his professional debut versus Miami.
Carter-Williams, a Syracuse product, was just a steal and three rebounds away from an unfathomable NBA debut quadruple-double against Miami and afterwards, maybe on a confident kick, suggested that the Heat's star — LeBron James — wasn't playing his hardest against the 76ers.
Making such an assertion is pretty bold for a rookie fresh off his first NBA game, but at least Carter-Williams seems to be fitting perfectly into the role of outspoken star.
From CBSPhilly.com: "[LeBron] was coasting a little bit, so I didn't want to wake up the sleeping giant."
Although he has played just 141 minutes with the 76ers, the 6-foot-6 point guard is already making a name for himself in the Eastern Conference and looks to be on the road to stardom in Philadelphia, a city which embraced its last star point man — Allen Iverson — and would definitely do the same for its next, especially if it is Carter-Williams.
However, he probably should focus on his game at this point in his career and the season as opposed to calling out the NBA's best player. Maybe LeBron was coasting in that game, but it does not mean Carter-Williams is the guy to point it out necessarily.
