Brooklyn Nets rookie Jalen Wilson had a solid 2023-24 season in which he showed that he could be an immediate contributor to a team looking for someone to make hustle plays. Wilson went from someone who was a superstar during his college career to someone who had to earn his keep as the 51st pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
“It’s crazy. I feel like we just sat down and started like this day one. Now it’s April,” Wilson said during his exclusive exit interview with the Nets’ content team as part of their “Year 1” series where all of the rookies recount their experiences. Fellow rookie Noah Clowney recently gave his take on what this season was like for him and Wilson sat down to explain what it was like to be called on by a team desperately trying to make the play-in tournament.
“It’s crazy how fast it goes,” Wilson said about a season in which he signed as a Two-Way player, but ended up playing 43 games for a Nets team that valued his effort and willingness to do the dirty work. “You (I) got to play against people I’ve been watching my whole life. Like, you don’t know how it’s going to go until you really get out there and get to play.”
Wilson, 23, came into this season with minimal expectations given that he was a second-round pick, but by the end of the season, he played a solid role for the Nets as a guy who could stretch the floor and make some plays when the opportunity was there.
While time will tell if Wilson can ever reach the heights of being a former Player of the Year in college, it’s already known that he will be able to play for Brooklyn for years to come. Wilson realized that he can play at the NBA level after playing against some of the best players in the league during his rookie year.
“I feel like I’m playing good basketball on the same court as guys that I have watched play 20 years like you realize we’re all at the end of the day NBA players. We’re all on the court to do our job,” Wilson said.
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