https://youtu.be/tKiP5QEhZdE
When I think about Tyrese Haliburton and his weird jumpshot mechanics that are strangely accurate, another legend of the Kings’ recent-but-not-so-recent past comes to mind. I’m thinking, of course, of the guy with the OG borked shot form: Kevin Martin.
Like Haliburton, Kevin Martin kicked off his NBA career with the Kings. Unlike Haliburton, he was severely underutilized his first season, scoring just 3 PPG per game. However, Martin was quickly able to harness the power of his odd-looking push shot, and by his fifth season in 2008-09, he was scoring nearly 25 PPG per game. That put him at seventh in the league in scoring, sandwiched between a second-year Kevin Durant and a peak Wolves-era Al Jefferson.
I don’t necessarily think that Haliburton will ever find himself in the upper echelon of scorers in the NBA, but Kevin Martin has set the precedent that a player with a goofy jumpshot can still find plenty of success. It is totally okay to clown players who shoot it funny, but in the process of clowning them, one must also acknowledge that unorthodox jump shots have worked in the past, are working in the present, and will continue to work in the future. And, in the case of those unfortunate players who both have janky mechanics AND chronic inability to hit shots, well, those players get double the dose of clownage. I’m trying to think of such a player, so that I can clown on them, but most of those types of players give up on their jumpshot rather quickly so as to avoid getting clowned upon.
In conclusion, Tyrese Haliburton is already ahead of Kevin Martin in development, and if anybody ever tells him to fix his shot, he should tell them to suck his Oshkosh B’Gonads.