New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson has apparently chosen his New York NBA team. Is the New York Knicks or Brooklyn Nets?
The current surge of New York City’s respective NBA squads has seen several elite names from elsewhere join the fold. Brooklyn’s Nets have added Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Blake Griffin to work with Kyrie Irving. Julius Randle has brought hardwood excitement back to Manhattan through his endeavors with the New York Knicks.
Brooklyn has apparently made another addition though, this one apparently coming to the Barclays Center viewing gallery.
New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson has apparently chosen the Nets’ side in this metropolitan hoops debate, according to his Instagram profile.
Several users viewing Wilson’s “story” noted that Wilson was taking in Brooklyn’s nationally televised tilt with the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday. His photo includes the caption, “I guess I can be a Nets fan now,” indicating his new loyalty.
Zach Wilson becoming a Nets fan?
(via IG/zachkapono1) pic.twitter.com/KqFcLpgGDS
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) May 5, 2021
Unfortunately for the Nets, they fell to 0-1 in the Wilson era, as Milwaukee earned a 124-118 victory.
Wilson, the second overall pick in last weekend’s NFL draft, is no stranger to the roundball. He previously starred as a point guard at Corner Canyon High School in his hometown of Draper, UT, and saw NBA legends Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan as role models.
Coaches told Jay Drew of Deseret News that Wilson possibly could’ve moved on to college basketball at the junior college or NAIA level.
“My whole Little League (baseball) career and even into high school at first I never really thought about playing college football, let alone in the NFL,” Wilson, the BYU alum, told Drew. “I was more into basketball and was thinking that would be the future sport for me.”
Wilson was eventually convinced by then-BYU football recruitment coordinator Tevita Ofahengaue to trade in his sneakers for cleats and take to the gridiron. That put him on a path to be chosen by the Jets after a storied career in Provo, as Ofahengaue discovered Wilson at a tryout hosted by his son Tre, who runs football camps and showcases in Utah.
“I had never seen someone throw so accurately on that back-shoulder throw,” the elder Ofahengaue said. “He just threw it perfectly. To this day I haven’t seen a kid yet who can throw the football as well as Zach Wilson can.”
Wilson won’t have to wait for his next Brooklyn experience. The Nets, currently battling for the top seed on the eastern conference side of the NBA playoffs, return to action on Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
