Onyeka Okongwu claims he sees people calling him a bust on Twitter and Instagram and thinks, “Damn, am I already a bust in the NBA?”
The Atlanta Hawks used their number 6 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft on the center that played alongside the famous, Lonzo Ball-led Chino Hills team in 2016. Onyeka Okongwu slowly become a player of his own in his time at USC and rose up the draft rankings to play himself well into the lottery. The Hawks didn’t hesitate and made it clear Okongwu was there’s for the taking.
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Surprisingly, though he was deemed a project due to his lack of offensive capabilities, he saw a decent amount of playing time. He averaged 12 mpg and put up about 5 points a game. This also stemmed from the fact that guys like DeAndre Hunter and Cam Reddish missed time due to injury throughout the season.
Though he did show off his defensive versatility and his overall defensive prowess during his playing time, fans online weren’t kind to the 20 year old. Onyeka Okongwu however, took the insults on the chin.
Onyeka Okongwu doesn’t look at any of the hate he receives online.
Onyeka Okongwu isn’t all too big of a social media fanatic like other 20 year olds of this generation. However, he was not able to escape the noise surrounding his capabilities to justify being the number 6 overall pick in a draft.
Okongwu said, “On Twitter, Instagram, people were tagging me saying, ‘O’s a bust, Okongwu’s a bust, right?’ And, I’m just looking at my phone like, ‘Damn, already?’ People are going to end up deleting all those tweets. I don’t really feed into it because the Hawks know what I bring to the table.”
Onyeka Okongwu has played valuable backup center minutes to Clint Capela and has shown off both his ability to catch lobs and roll to the rim when need be. His defense has been great, as expected. The series between the Bucks and the Hawks is tied at 2 a piece and Okongwu has played a part in that.
