Out of the many NBA players currently housed in the bubble, 1 seems to have separated themself. He isn’t Lebron James, Giannis Antetoukoumpo, or Kawhi Leonard. However, he is a scrappy, underdog player that was memed tirelessly with one gesture by league superstar Jimmy Butler. His name is T.J. Warren. Despite the seemingly career-ending goodbye kiss from Butler, Warren has managed to elevate himself into the NBA’s spotlight by averaging the most points, 34.8 per game, out of a maximum of 450 players on the 30 teams’ active rosters.
Warren started the NBA Bubble off with a bang, scoring 53 points in the Indiana Pacers’ first game back against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. Shooting an impressive 69% from the field and a ludicrous 75% from three, Warren was unstoppable and helped propel the Pacers to a 127-121 victory. After the game, Warren stated, “I just wanted to be aggressive, do what I do best. My teammates did a great job of finding me, and just staying aggressive and locked in and engaged was really key for us.”
Following his insane showing against the 76ers, Warren went out and put up 34 points against the Washington Wizards. Warren stuffed the stat sheet as well, adding on 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks, and 3 steals. Despite a seemingly ‘all points’ approach from afar, Warren was able to do just about everything his team needed him to do, effectively securing a 111-100 win for the Pacers.
In his next game against the Orlando Magic, Warren posted another 32 points. Shooting 76.5% from the field and a blistering 80% from three, Warren somehow topped the insane efficiency he notched in his first game. The 120-109 win was a team-effort, as 5 other Pacers reached double digit scoring. "I'm just really in rhythm," Warren explained. "Really picking my spots and really just staying efficient. It was an all-around team effort and I'm just doing my part, doing what I'm capable of doing."
Following the amazing team performance, Warren faced his first challenge in the Bubble as the Pacers lost to the Phoenix Suns by a score of 99-114. Warren scored a decent 16 points, but did so on horrendous shooting, going 35% from the field and 20% from 3. Much of the Pacers’ struggles came from their under performing bench that scored a mere 16 points combined. "We were playing with a bench that hasn't really played together," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said of the team's scoring drought. "We didn't have a flow all night long."
To finish off his stellar 5 game stretch, Warren and the Pacers had to face Lebron James and the title-favorite Los Angeles Lakers. Despite the tough competition, Warren had arguably the best game of his career, putting up 39 points on nearly 70% shooting from both the field and beyond the arc. Showing off his clutch gene, Warren scored 7 points in the last 1.5 minutes, cementing himself as the premier player in the NBA Bubble thus far. In a T.J.-typical team based response, Warren stated,”I just feel like I'm in a groove offensively, defensively. I feel like as a team we're grooving right now. We've just got to keep it up.”
Despite being largely known for his infamous run-in with Jimmy Butler, T.J. Warren has flipped the narrative that once memed his career and has blossomed into one of the premier stars within the bubble thus far. Taking out the likes of Lebron James, Joel Embiid, and Devin Booker, Warren has also shown that no moment is too big for the rising star. No matter how Warren finishes out the remainder of the Bubble’s regular season, Warren will likely go down in the books as the premier player of a historic time in the NBA and world.
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