Well I certainly wish he said that before the Miami Heat drafted him! For his entire Rookie season I genuinely thought Shabazz Napier was going to be a top notch point guard, Mario Chalmers would go somewhere else leaving Shabazz to take the starter role and flourish.
None of that happened, well, Mario was finally shipped to Memphis but not before the Heat sent Napier to the Orlando Magic. So that was a pointless exercise, why was it pointless? Because Shabazz Napier didn’t expect to come out the gates blazing as a Rookie.
“I’ve always understood the business. I got traded on draft night [from Charlotte to Miami],” Napier said. “I never allowed it to push me away from my ultimate goal. It’s still the same as a young kid growing up. It was just to play in the NBA, it was to make an impact.
“I knew for a fact coming into my rookie year I wasn’t going to make the crazy impact I want to make as a young kid. It’s going to take time.”
Great, that’s just dandy isn’t it? I know how me and the Heat are feeling. Wasted pick basically, but what do the Magic think? Will they consider this a chance to help his blossoming as a player? I hope not, because that would be such a slap in the face. Unless that 2nd round pick the Heat got for him turns out to be beast.
