What excites D-Lee about former locker mate Wiseman's solid start

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As the world finally gets to watch James Wiseman play to his true potential this season, his former teammate and current Phoenix Suns guard Damion Lee witnessed the behind-the-scenes of Wiseman’s long road to recovery. 

It’s all coming full circle Tuesday night when the Suns host the Warriors at Footprint Center. Even though Lee didn’t get much time to play alongside the Warriors’ 7-footer, he’ll be able to play against him for the foreseeable future. 

And Lee couldn’t be more excited for his former locker mate. 

“James is overall talent. He literally has everything in his bag,” Lee told reporters before Tuesday’s game. “I’m just happy for him because he’s back. Knowing the injuries, knowing what it took to come back from injuries, having so much pressure, really it’s outside pressure, but just excited for him that he’s back, that he’s fully healthy.” 

Golden State drafted Wiseman in 2020 and it has been full of ups and downs for two years. 

In his NBA debut, Wiseman finished with 19 points, six rebounds and two steals in a blowout loss to the Brooklyn Nets. He played in 39 games in his rookie year, including 27 starts, before he suffered a torn right meniscus. 

Wiseman didn’t touch the floor with the Warriors again until one week ago in the Warriors’ 2022-23 season opener.

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“He was my locker mate, he was right next to me so whenever he was down or wanted to talk about anything, he always went to my ear because I understand going through a major surgery myself,” Lee said. “But [I’m] just happy for him. He’ll be great for them, whatever his role is coming off the bench [or] starting. And then obviously the years down the line seeing his development.” 

The adversity that Wiseman faced, especially as a young player entering the league, couldn’t have been easy to go through physically or mentally. 

But Lee thinks it was just a batch of bad luck. 

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“He was dealt a bad hand,” Lee said. “Basically, every two weeks in his rookie year up until his injury it was something. It was COVID, it was his ankle, it was return to play, it was a hand, it was something. So just him actually being fully healthy and being able to play without looking over his shoulder will be amazing for his confidence.” 

In three games this season, Wiseman is already impressing on both ends of the floor, averaging 11.0 points and six rebounds in 18.6 minutes. 

There’s a long way to go, but Lee, and the rest of the NBA world, will be rooting for Wiseman this season. 

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