Darryn Peterson has been under scrutiny over the last few weeks due to his limited participation on the court. Peterson has missed a lot of games for the Kansas Jayhawks already, and even when he plays, he often clocks out early.
He has played just 16 games this season and is averaging 27 minutes per game. Peterson is expected to be a top pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Reports suggest that he’ll be among the top two draft picks this year.
The narrative around Peterson is that he’s trying to protect his draft stock. However, his actions are putting the spotlight on him, and he’s being criticized for not taking this season seriously and helping the Jayhawks win games.
Many believe that instead of limiting his presence on the floor and missing game time without a good reason, he should’ve shut his season down early. During a recent appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, Jay Bilas echoed a similar sentiment.
“If Darryn Peterson was really getting advice from people about shutting it down, shutting it down would be the easy way to go, and the NBA would take him number one. Trying to play is what’s causing these speculative issues about his character and all of that other stuff,” he said.
Bilas said that questioning Peterson is unfair because the real reason behind his absence is still unknown. He also believes that since Peterson rarely talks, it helps propagate the narrative against him because he doesn’t defend himself.
But outside of the entire drama, Bilas believes that Peterson is a great player and every time he steps on the floor, his game does the talking.
Darryn Peterson on Missing Games
All the outside noise has made its way to Peterson. Even though he doesn’t like to do interviews, the Jayhawks star recently defended himself and explained the entire situation from his perspective.
“Everybody’s got an opinion on it,” Peterson told ESPN. “But basketball is my life. If I could have been out there every game this year, I would have. If you would have asked me last year, what were my goals for this year, I would never mention missing games. So all this stuff kind of just happened, but I’ve got to deal with it.”
Peterson considers himself a leader and a hard worker. As far as his game is concerned, Peterson doesn’t have anything to prove on the court. He’s the frontrunner for being the top draft pick this year. That’s an accomplishment that’ll speak on his behalf.
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