Cleveland Cavaliers newcomer Denzel Valentine recently spoke about adversity.
He explained that one of the things he has already noticed about the Cavs is that “everybody here has a chip on their shoulder.”
“We’ve all faced adversity,” Valentine said. “They’ve been through adversity the last two years and I’ve been through adversity in my career. But I think everybody here has a chip on their shoulder and I noticed that when we walked in. Everybody is competing, everybody is ready to get better and ready to go out there and give it their all. I just like that energy. That’s what I’m about right now. That’s kind of where I am in my career.”
Valentine has had a rocky career so far after being selected in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft. Once a top prospect, his NBA career hasn’t exactly gone as planned.
The 27-year-old has averages of 7.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game over four seasons at the NBA level. He has a career shooting clip of just 39.4 percent.
However, it’s clear that the Michigan State University product is ready to turn the page. He signed a two-year deal with the Cavs over the offseason, and he seems very excited to be with the team.
Many Cavs players have faced their fair share of adversity at the NBA level given the fact that the organization has suffered through three consecutive losing seasons. Surely, everyone on the team wants that streak to come to an end in the upcoming campaign.
