Bill Simmons, founder of The Ringer and longtime NBA media personality, hasn’t always been the biggest fan of Jalen Green during his first three professional seasons with the Houston Rockets.
But it appears the recent surge by Green and the Rockets (36-35), who own an NBA-best active winning streak of nine games and an 11-1 record in March, could be changing Simmons’ perspective.
From the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast:
I’m gonna say this very carefully, and I know what’s at stake, and I know he’s not gonna be this person … but when I watch him, he reminds me — this version of the attacking the rim and then the jump shooting — reminds me a little of young Kobe (Bryant).
Not like three-rings-in-a-row Kobe, but that late ’90s Kobe, where it was like, ‘Man, there’s a lot here. What’s goin’ on here?’ And watching him the last couple weeks, it’s like, man, if you were just drawing a two-guard from scratch, from a scoring standpoint, what kinda move or shot doesn’t he have?
The complete episode can be listened to here, while the segment comparing Green to Bryant is embedded below (via ClutchFans).
Green and the resurgent Rockets look to continue their push for a Western Conference play-in tournament slot when they visit Oklahoma City (49-21) on Wednesday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. Central. Considering the elite opponent, Houston likely needs another strong game from Green to have a chance at a 10th straight win.
Bill Simmons says that watching Jalen Green in March, he's reminded of a young, late-90s Kobe Bryant.
"Watching him the last couple of weeks, it's like, man, if you were just drawing a two-guard from scratch, from a scoring standpoint, what kind of move or shot doesn't he have?" pic.twitter.com/4TBtrxxTMx
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) March 25, 2024
