Brandon Jennings has been through a lot in his young NBA career. The Compton product is only 26, turning 27 in September, and he’s already been in the NBA for seven seasons with three different teams. When his eighth season starts, he’ll be with his fourth different team but this time he has some lofty goals.
When Jennings agreed to a deal with the New York Knicks just a week ago he was immediately slated to be the backup point guard. It’s nothing new for him, he’s been behind young or more talented guys before like Reggie Jackson or Elfrid Payton but this time he’s behind Derrick Rose.
Jennings is immediately slated to be the Knicks sixth man and with that comes expectations. A big expectation came down from Phil Jackson as the Knicks and Jennings agreed to terms.
Jennings said the following to media recently during his introductory press conference.
“He said he expects me to be sixth man of the year,” Jennings said Friday. “So I’m definitely gonna embrace that role. I don’t see why I can’t be in that conversation, and I’m fine with it. I’m definitely fine with it.”
Beyond winning the sixth man of the year, Jennings has high hopes for his team. With Brandon accepting his role on the Knicks, he also knows what kind of potential fire power the team has. When healthy, the Knicks should be able to compete with just about anyone and Jennings knows that.
“I feel like we can compete with anybody in the East right now,” Jennings said. “The East did get better; the Bulls got better of course and the Cavs are still the Cavs, but I don’t see why we can’t be in that top-five conversation. We have the talent. The main thing is we just got to stay healthy.”
That goal of being a top five team in the Eastern Conference, after three season of missing the playoffs, is probably something people dismiss. This team took a shot on guys like Jennings, Rose and even signing Joakim Noah with injury issues of his own. But having doubters is nothing new to Jennings in particular. He’s aiming to use this season with the Knicks as a season to prove everyone what he can do on the court.
“I definitely have a chip on my shoulder,” Jennings said, adding that he’s looking to disprove the theory that he doesn’t like basketball. “I just want to prove that I’m back to who I am and that I can still play, I can still go and I’m healthy. I think the main thing is just showing people that I’m healthy and I’m back, and that I can still run a team.”
Brandon Jennings, Joakim Noah and fellow new signee Courtney Lee all spoke to the media recently and they all strongly believe there is something special in New York.
