Spencer Dinwiddie is not your average backup NBA point guard. He’d probably start on most teams — good ones at that.
Over the last 12 games, he has been Brooklyn’s starting point guard. And he’s led the Nets throughout their 9-3 run, in which they’ve knocked off the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets — two top-tier teams in the NBA.
As a starter, Dinwiddie is scoring 23.8 points per game, while averaging 7.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. Plus, he’s scoring when the team needs it most, like in the closing minutes of Sunday’s 105-102 win over the Denver Nuggets.
But Dinwiddie isn’t one to promote himself. He’s humble yes, but, more importantly, personal success isn’t his primary focus. Dinwiddie has made his goal clear from Day 1, and did so again after Sunday’s win:
All it’s about is getting wins at the end of the day.
"We have some of the best energy in the league." – Spencer Dinwiddie#NETSonYES pic.twitter.com/GAejrNroBC
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) December 8, 2019
Dinwiddie spoke about his focus on winning above all else later on Sunday, when the topic of his candidacy for Sixth Man of the Year came up on Twitter:
Had nothing to do with potentially starting. The best form of this team without KD was always going to involve a Kyrie MVP run. Hard to win both awards MVP/6th man on same team. I’m not a dummy. At 5yrs old I dreamed of a title not 6MOY. If it comes then cool.
— Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) December 9, 2019
By keeping his focus on the task at hand, Dinwiddie is doing more than provide Brooklyn with a reliable offensive threat. He’s setting the tone for everyone to buy into their respective roles. Because, as much as he’s dominating right now, he’s ready to slide back into somewhat of a supporting role when his superstar teammates are ready to go.
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