The Miami Heat went all in trying to get LeBron James to stay on South Beach, and that included drafting UConn’s Shabazz Napier. Several times LeBron made it clear that he felt Napier was the best PG in the draft, so Pat Riley made sure that Napier would be in a Heat jersey. Well, LeBron has sinced left Miami to go home to Cleveland, and this has left the Heat with a draft pick that isn’t shaping up to what they were hoping he would be.
Napier has struggled tremendously during the NBA summer league, shooting just 28-102 and turning the ball over 38 times. Napier led the Huskies to an surprising NCAA title, so it’s clear he has talent, but his believes his struggles are coming because of the difference between the NBA ball as opposed to the college ball.
“I just want to continue to get better at everything,” Napier told Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. “But my biggest thing is getting comfortable with that basketball. That’s one of my biggest problems and it’s kind of ironic, because it’s a basketball. But it’s different than a college basketball.”
Napier even admits that prior to joining the NBA he had never before even touched an NBA ball because of superstition.
“The funny thing is, I never really touched an NBA ball until I left school,” he said. “I told myself I never wanted to. I felt like it was superstitious, like something bad was going to happen, like I had to earn it. I never touched it and it’s definitely different. This ball is leather and the biggest thing for me now is getting comfortable with it.”
Ok we get it. The ball is different, but an entire summer league is over along with practice time. “The ball is different” excuse is only going to hold Napier over for so long. Riley made it clear that he’s on a mission to continue to win, and since Napier is a product of a decision made to keep LeBron who left anyway, the pressure is on Napier to prove his value to the Heat organization.
[h/t Larry Brown Sports]