Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: The Perfect Charlotte Hornet
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has recently signed a four-year/ $52M extension with the Charlotte Hornets and has become one of the best perimeter defenders in the league over the past few seasons. He has also become one of the best and most liked players on the Charlotte Hornets team and in the Charlotte community. Michael is the model for what the perfect Charlotte Hornet should be like.
Ever since being drafted by the Charlotte Hornets with the number two overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has taken a lot of criticism from fans and NBA analysts alike. But he has always been professional and played right through all of the outside talk.
He is a player that keeps to himself and doesn’t care about anything else outside of basketball. He isn’t in the league to make as much money as possible or to play in big market cities like most players these days. He is here in Charlotte to play his hardest each time out on the court and try his best to win games. He is the consummate professional.
Kidd-Gilchrist has recently spoke on his contract extension with the Charlotte Hornets and has said everything that you love to hear from a young player. This young man really has a good head on his shoulders.
A lot of people criticized MKG for not waiting until after the season when he would be restricted free agent to sign a contract extension with the team where he could have easily gotten more money. Michael spoke on that and said “Why wait? … I don’t do this for the money.” That isn’t something that you hear very often from NBA players these days where everything is about the money and not truly about the love of the game.
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Earlier this week on the Jim Rome Show, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist reiterated his feeling by saying that “I want to be in Charlotte. They drafted me, and they’ve always been my biggest supporter. So I wanted to be in Charlotte, man. I didn’t want to wait.”
He was also asked about the fact that he didn’t get a max-extension or even as much as he would’ve gotten after the season and MKG’s response was the same as before, “It wasn’t about the money or the he-said she-said stuff. It was about what I felt in my heart was right, and I was right, I just wanted to be in Charlotte. I’m staying in Charlotte for the next four years.”
Michael’s stance and take on a lot of the serious issues that basketball players deal with in terms of money and off the field issues is much different from what you usually hear from most other players. So different in fact that most people would probably think that he is just using this persona to show himself as a player that is different. When in reality it is just who he is. He is a genuine guy that is always being honest and is just grateful for the opportunity that he has been given to play the sport that he loves and to inspire his community on a daily basis. Kidd-Gilcrhist said, “I’m just being honest. I’m not hiding anything, I’m not making excuses. If you asked me when I was a little kid, I would be an inspiration to other kids I would have said ‘yeah right,’ but now I see the impact that I have in my community for one, but it means a lot to me. It teaches all these kids, and it shows them I mean you matter too, stutter or anything, everybody matters even you, so that’s how I felt.”
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MKG is one of the best young defensive players in the league and should be a mainstay in Charlotte for years to come. He will be one of the centerpieces that the team looks to build around. The former Nation Champion will be entering his fourth season in the NBA and with the Charlotte Hornets. MKG averaged 10.9 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game last season. He looks to improve his highly criticized offensive game next season while also becoming an even better defender than he already is. He is touted as one of the best, if no the best, perimeter defender in the league today.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is the perfect Charlotte Hornets because he is a hard-working player that plays the game for the love of the sport and cares about his teammates and community very much. There isn’t many bad things that you will hear about him. He is a consummate professional that is also on of the nicest and most genuine people who is in the NBA today.