The Third Coming?!?

[Editor's Note: Yeah, this is a sports post. Expect lots more of em'.]

This NBA season hasn't been too fond to me thus far. My team, The Washington Wizards, had some critical injuries in the preseason and now find themselves as the league's only winless team at 0-5. Yes, even the hapless Clippers and should-be expansion Oklahoma City Thunder (what a corny a$$ name!) have at least one win. So, it's hardly been happy days in DC.

One of the few bright spots has been watching the emergence of rookie OJ Mayo. Mayo, who did one year at noted hoops factory USC before becoming the #3 overall pick in last summer's draft is the Memphis Grizzlies leading scorer at a sizzling 21ppg on a respectable 46% shooting from the field. The team (3-5) isn't winning much, but they're competitive, and I'd rather be 3-5 than 0-5 anyday.

This might sound like blasphemy to some bball purists, but the guy, to me at least, looks like the second coming of Kobe Bean Bryant. After watching him explode for 26 first half points last night, it's hard to argue.



Yeah, he was shut down in the second half and only finished with 31, but that's beside the point. Dude was halfway to half a dollar in his eighth NBA game.

The guy has off the dribble moves, can take it to the rack, and shoots well from 3pt range (a respectable 44%) and the line (88%). Sure, he could lay off the treys and get to the charity stripe more often, but that's just being nitpicky.

Other rookies like Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose are getting lots of attention, but I'd bet my NBA League Pass that OJ Mayo (what an NBA name!) wins RoY come June.

Question: Have you peeped OJ Mayo yet? Do you even care about NBA ball while the NFL is still in season?