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Bronson Koenig: Dear NBA GMs...

Bronson Koenig's letter to the NBA's general managers explains why teams should pick him and that he's ready for the NBA. In a piece on The Player's Tribune, Koenig highlights his long list of accomplishments:

  • I’m a winner. I’ve proven that I can win at the highest levels of D-I ball. In my four years at Wisconsin, I played in two Final Fours and two Sweet Sixteens, and we won 117 games.
  • I’m a leader. I not only led on the court, but I tried to be a leader as a person, too. This year I was honored to accept the 2017 Most Courageous Award from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association for my support of the Native people protesting at the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota.
  • I can shoot it from deep. I’m Wisconsin’s all-time leader in made threes-pointers.
  • I’m not just a shooter. I ran the point every year in college, as well as on pretty much every team I’ve ever played for. I’m just as comfortable bringing the ball up the floor and running an offense as I am playing off the ball.
  • The pick-and-roll game in the NBA is perfectly tailored to my game. If a big switches off on a ball screen, I can knock down the midrange shot every single time. Or hit the roll guy for a pop, or for a pocket pass to the rim. I went to a Suns game last spring and my jaw was on the floor from seeing all the open shots that the guards got. At Wisconsin I never got to play the fast, open style that I’m best at because our system was focused on getting the ball inside. In college, I can count on two hands all the wide-open shots I got. But I’m grateful that I learned how to move without the ball.
  • I want the big shot. I want the ball at the end of games. I’ve proven I can hit those shots.
  • I didn’t get invited to the NBA Draft Combine, but don’t overlook my physical testing numbers. When you compare my shuttle run, agility and vertical jump numbers to those of the rest of the guys in this year’s draft class, I rank in the top 10 in each category. That includes this year’s prospective lottery picks.
  • If drafted, I’d be one of — if not the only — true blood Native American players to ever play in the NBA.

You can read the full piece from The Player's Tribune by going here.

Video: The Player's Tribune


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