Warriors’ Wiseman makes a mistake but gets a chance to sit and learn from it.
Donzaleigh Artis made an agreement with her two children, James Wiseman and Jaquarius Greer, two weeks ago: They would all take an extended break from social media.
Tweets and Instagram posts about Wiseman, the Warriors’ rookie center, had turned decidedly negative. Almost every time Artis went online, she saw chatter suggesting that Golden State should trade her 19yearold son or at least regret drafting him over LaMelo Ball with the No. 2 pick.
The criticism from faceless internet users bothered Artis so much that she struggled to concentrate on daytoday activities. Then, just as she was beginning to feel better earlier this week, she learned that Wiseman had missed a coronavirus test at the start of the AllStar break. Punishments — as well as more scru
tiny — surely loomed.
A highly publicized suspension in college offered Wiseman experience navigating public scorn. But this past Tuesday night, when he realized he could have to miss practice — or worse — for that forgotten test, Wiseman was still crestfallen. His play had already been lagging behind his personal standards. Now, Wiseman risked having to face questions about his professionalism.
As mother and son sat in the living room of her apartment in San Francisco’s Mission Bay, Artis reminded Wiseman about a Bible verse she had showed him a couple weeks earlier. The passage, Matthew 6:25, states, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”
The message resonated with Wiseman: As big as his forgotten coronavirus test might have seemed, it was not worth stressing over. Artis told him, “Take responsibility for making a mistake and move on. Everything will be fine.”
Wiseman reflected on those words often in recent days. After being ruled out for Wednesday’s practice in Los Angeles in accordance with the league’s coronavirus protocols, he apologized to head coach Steve Kerr for forgetting the test. Later, when Kerr told him that he’d have to sit out much of Thursday night’s nationally televised game against the Clippers at Staples Center, Wiseman hardly complained.
As he watched the first three quarters of that blowout loss from the bench, Wiseman was angry — not at Kerr for holding him out, but at himself for being in that position. Wiseman’s 14point, sevenrebound fourth quarter left his coaches encouraged. Wiseman had channeled his frustration into an inspired performance.
“Give him some space and some time,” Kerr said. “This guy’s going to be amazing.”
Added Wiseman: “I’m very selfresponsible and my mom raised me well. I made a mistake, a simple mistake.”
On numerous occasions the past three months, Kerr has stressed the importance of perspective when evaluating Wiseman. This is someone who played 69 total minutes in college, no summer league and no preseason exhibitions. Though his physical tools make it easy to expect immediate greatness from him, Wiseman is just beginning to grasp the nuances of the NBA game.
Such reality hasn’t stopped certain Warriors fans from making him a scapegoat for the team’s issues this season. In the NBA, even teenagers sometimes don’t have the luxury of being brought along slowly. That’s why Artis told Wiseman recently that she’s done talking about the fact that he’s 19.
“He might be a kid, but he has grownman responsibilities,” Artis said of Wiseman, who turns 20 on March 31. “No one’s going to take pity on him just because he’s only a year removed from high school. He knows that. That’s why he gets so upset when he makes the kind of mistake any 19yearold could make.”
Before Wiseman became a celebrity, he often dealt with stress by going on long runs. His worries seemed to dissolve as he concentrated on the sound of his shoes hitting pavement.
But now Wiseman can barely leave his apartment without getting stopped for autographs or selfies — even during a pandemic. This week, when Wiseman started to feel anxiety, he put on lowfrequency music and let his mind go blank.
Late Thursday, as he fielded more than a dozen questions over Zoom about his forgotten test, Wiseman stayed calm as he repeated what his mom had told him to say: “I made a mistake. I’m human.”
Curious to see how he handled that critical postgame news conference, Artis logged onto Twitter for the first time in two weeks. What she saw made her smile.
“I was so proud of him,” Artis said. “He’s doing what he’s supposed to do.”