Obi Toppin and the Importance of Reinvention
The Knicks lottery pick from last year finds himself at a pivotal point in his career, is he ready to redefine his game?
So often in life, there have to be pivots and adjustments made. I know friends that went to college for a degree only to find that getting a job in that field is not a possibility and they had to go a different route. A path is not set in stone and is always subject to change. Yet so often in basketball and the NBA, a player is very often set into a role for far too long and not refuses to adapt. Carmelo Anthony had this problem with adjusting to the changing nature of the game for a few years before he ultimately adjusted and experienced a renaissance.
I think about this when analyzing and placing expectations on Knick’s second-year player Obi Toppin. Toppin was brought in to potentially be a key piece in a young core that was rebuilding. Instead, his rookie year was filled with turmoil and saw him relegated to a mostly reserve role. Going into his second year there are still questions over what his role will actually be, and more importantly if his future, in the long run, is with the Knicks at all.
