Another game, another Peyton Watson highlight moment. This time, it arrived via a spectacular dunk during the Denver Nuggets 130-110 win against the Washington Wizards.
Peyton finished the contest with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and a crowd-rousing dunk.
Shaq's son, Texas Southern guard Shaqir O'Neal, was also left in awe at the dunk and shared it on his Instagram stories.
Peyton Watson gets his flowers
Peyton Watson was selected No. 30 overall during the 2022 NBA draft after spending his freshman year with the UCLA Bruins. He played in the G-League before impressing with the Denver Nuggets this season.
After Denver's recent 120-108 win against the Portland Trailblazers, Denver coach Michael Malone, in his postgame news conference, was effusive in his praise of the forward, who scored 14 points.
“I loved it,” Malone said. “(The Blazers) came one time, no one had him. (Watson) pulled up from three and that was one of those, ‘No, no, no! Great shot!’ The kid's got stones man."
After not getting selected for the Rising Stars game during the All-Star Weekend, Miami Heat's Jaime Jaquez showed just how highly regarded Watson is among his peers by questioning the decision in an interview with the Denver Post.
“I definitely thought I’d be seeing him this weekend,” Jaquez said. “I know he’s having a great year out in Denver, especially Year 2 after the great year that (the Nuggets) had last year. It’s not up to me. I wish I could have seen him here. I think he deserves to be here.”
Jaquez was full of praise for his former teammate's energy and reminisced of their playing days for the Bruins.
“He always brought so much life and energy to the team at all times,” Jaquez said. “He was always such a positive spirit. It was just a joy to have him on our team.
“There were a lot of great memories. I was older, he was a freshman, so I was trying to really help out and take him under my wing, do all sorts of things like that. So yeah, I would just take him out with me wherever I go. We had a great relationship from then on.”
If the Denver Nuggets repeat last year's heroics and become champions once again, with Peyton Watson playing a crucial part, it will be hard to ignore him as one of the rising stars of the league once again.
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