Some are ready to give up on Jalen Green. History tells us that may be premature.
The year was 1998, a then 14-year-old me was devastated by the news that my father had taken a job in Southern California, and we would all be relocating there. All I had known was Texas. More specifically, all I knew was Houston.
California seemed cool because of the sunny beaches, Hollywood, and “movie stars”, but the Rockets fan in me only could think about one thing. “I can’t stand the Lakers!”
Little did 14-year-old me realize that 26 long years later, the move to Southern California would provide perfect insight for my first article as the newest contributor to the Houston Rockets blog site, named after the signature move of his all-time favorite player. (It’s my honor to be here by the way, forgive me while I let this moment sink in.)
With the internet in it’s early inception (Ask your parents about dial-up kids… yikes!) and NBA League Pass costing $99, which to a 14-year-old kid with no job may as well have been $1 million, I was left with no choice but to stomach the Lakers and the highly irrelevant Clippers if I was going to consume my favorite sport.
The Lakers were at least interesting. They had just gotten Shaq two years prior, and a young high school phenom from Lower Merion High School was entering his third season in the league. Years later we would come to know him as “The Black Mamba”, but back then he was just Kobe Bryant.
Kobe’s natural talent was never in doubt, but up until that point, his impact on the court was not justifying what they had given up to acquire him in the 1996 draft in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets. After all, Shaq came to L.A. to win championships, and Kobe was supposed to be to him what Magic was to Kareem. Kobe’s 11.5 ppg, on 42.2 percent shooting, less than 3 rebounds and less than 2 assists, combined with a bad showing in the ’97 playoffs, wasn’t cutting it.
In his third season, he showed flashes of what he’d become, had vast improvement in his shooting percentage and began to see more time on the floor. However, going into his fourth season, 21-year-old Kobe Bryant had something very much in common with 22-year-old Jalen Green. They had largely not lived up to the expectation placed on them when they were drafted.
When we compare Kobe’s stats in his first three seasons to Jalen Green in his first three seasons, there’s no doubt that many of Jalen’s numbers are slightly better. Now of course they have played in different eras, different rules, and under much different circumstances. Kobe only played an average of 15.5 minutes per game in his rookie season, and he had the opportunity to learn from vets like Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel, and Cedric Ceballos.
Jalen Green was immediately thrust into the starting lineup from day one with no real veteran leadership on the team. Jalen has played 25 more games than Kobe did at this point in their careers and 2,275 more minutes. However, Kobe averaged about 1.8 points per minute played, and Jalen has averaged about 1.7 points per minute played. Kobe was slightly more efficient with his shooting percentage in his first three years (43.9) compared to Jalen (42.1), but that is mostly due to a 46.5 shooting percentage in Kobe’s third year. In his first two seasons, Kobe’s shooting percentage was very similar to Jalen’s. Kobe averaged 3.2 rebounds per game, Jalen has averaged 4.1 rebounds. Kobe averaged 2.4 assists. Jalen has averaged 3.3 assists.
You may be starting to see the point I’m trying to make here, and it isn’t that Jalen Green is now or is going to be better than Kobe Bryant. Please don’t go telling everyone the new writer for The Dream Shake going around saying Jalen Green is the next Kobe. But do we know for sure that he WON’T be the next Kobe?
The numbers in their first three seasons are very similar, and for both Jalen and Kobe, after their third season in the league with similar numbers, most believe now, or believed then in Kobe’s case, that they both should or should’ve been better.
Here’s what isn’t the same about them after just three years in. At no point in my time in Los Angeles did I ever hear anyone utter a syllable suggesting that Kobe should be traded. Not once. Not by any of the talking heads, (There were a lot in L.A. — Jim Rome, JT the Brick, and a young up and comer named Colin Cowherd.) not by any of the fans, not by anyone.
Kobe was closer to my age at the time (15) than many of the players on his team. It was understood that based on his raw talent alone, it would have been foolish to give up on someone who had just become old enough to buy himself a drink. Inevitably the response to this will be, “Well, Nick… Kobe was drafted 13th overall, and Jalen was a number two pick. Also players are making a lot more money now than they were back then.”
I get it, but does that change the fact that it’s a little unreasonable for us to expect a 22-year-old to have completely mastered his craft three years into a career? Especially after having to learn completely new system under a new head coach after his second year?
Myself, as someone who is just now stepping out and taking the leap of faith he should have 20 years ago, 40-year-old Nick Stevenson has no room to be demanding that a 22-year-old kid have it all figured out.
What were you dong at 22? I was working two part time jobs. One as a bank teller and one as a “fine jewelry” salesman at the local mall in Palmdale, CA. You see, I made the brilliant choice of eloping with my high school sweetheart when I didn’t even have a job, and I had a baby on the way. These were the life choices I was making at 22. So no, I will not look at Jalen Green’s first three years in the NBA as failure. Does he need to get more consistent? Of course he does. As the twenty-something version of all of us most likely needed to be.
Going into the second season under Ime Udoka, Jalen Green now should have clearer grasp of what his role is and what is expected. I imagine that some of the added responsibility in his personal life will cause him to mature in his approach to his work life, as it did for myself as a young, soon-to-be father/teller/mall employee.
Reports are that Jalen has begun inviting teammates out to California for a mini camp. That’s a good sign that he has matured and is trying to take a leadership role. As much talent as the Rockets have been able to acquire over the course of some really rough years, there is no one on this team that can do what Jalen Green can do.
That isn’t a slight on any of his teammates, he is just that special of a talent, and we have all seen what that can be when he puts it all together. That is the type of talent you are patient with. As long as he has no real serious issues off the court, which to our knowledge there is none, and as long he shows his coach and GM that he has the work ethic to figure this thing out, it’s too soon to give up on him.
Make no mistake, this is a prove-it year for Jalen. If he wants the max extension that he’s now eligible for, then he’s gotta show that he can do what he did in the latter parts of the last three seasons consistently throughout the entire year. It’s my opinion that regardless of what everyone else does on this squad, in order for the Rockets to truly become a “great” team, Jalen Green has to reach his max potential.
What is his max potential? At his best, Jalen Green’s name should come up among the top young stars in the league. Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Paolo Banchero, Victor Wembenyama… Jalen should be among those players as the up-and-coming new faces of the league. If it happens, Houston fans better pray it’s while he’s wearing a Rockets jersey.
Kobe Bryant played all 20 years of his career in a Lakers jersey. No one became the bane of my existence more than he and the Lakers, and I certainly had an equal amount of sports hate and respect for him, as went on to win five championships for the Lakers during his Hall of Fame career. Imagine if the first three years of his career had defined who he was destined to be. Imagine if the Lakers had moved on from him before he was able to reach his full potential. It’s unfathomable now, but that is very much what many of us have been willing to do with Jalen.
The better question may be what if who you were destined to be had been decided at the age of 22? I, for one, wouldn’t be here writing my first article for a website I’ve visited countless times as a fan and covering my favorite team of all-time at the age of 40.
I’m not saying Jalen Green is going to be Kobe Bryant. I’m saying at age 22, no one knew Kobe Bryant was gonna be Kobe Bryant. I personally am looking forward to what I believe is going to be a turning point season for one of the best young talents in the league, and I hope that 20 years from now, it is equally unfathomable that anyone even suggested that the Rockets should consider trading Jalen Green.