Nets’ Jalen Wilson says first career start was a ‘awesome moment’

Brooklyn Nets rookie Jalen Wilson earned his first career start in Thursday’s loss to the Cavaliers and it was an ‘awesome moment’ for him.

NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets have not had many great moments this season as the team has seen its season go off the rails after a 13-10 start. One of the bright moments for this season came when Jalen Wilson, the 51st pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, started for the first time in his career in Thursday’s 118-95 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“It felt great,” Wilson said after putting up eight points, three rebounds, and three assists in over 40 minutes of action in Thursday’s loss. Wilson started the game due to a combination of how he has developed this season along with the amount of players that the Nets were missing due to injuries and trades made earlier in the day. Either way, someone special was able to experience one of Wilson’s biggest NBA moments.

“My dad was able to be here to watch it,” Wilson said. “So, feel like it was just a awesome moment all around. It’s tough to lose like that. But, you know, at the end of the day, we can get better from it and translate that Saturday.”

Wilson is one of the more interesting players on the team as he has brought an energy and work effort that has paid dividends for Brooklyn whenever he has played. However, he has mostly been out of the rotation because of how much depth the Nets have in the frontcourt.

However, as Brooklyn moves forward trying to play well enough the rest of this season season to make it back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, Wilson could be one of the players that sees more time. He has already shown plenty of flashes of being ready for more minutes.

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