Brandon Jennings Claims He's The Most Influential Basketball Player To Ever Come Out Of California

Rocky Widner. Getty Images.

If there's one thing professional athletes have, especially NBA players, it's extreme confidence in their abilities. Some might say when an NBA player talks about himself and how good he was back in the day, it can be borderline delusional. As we've seen time and time again, lying >>>>>>> telling the truth, especially when the topic is subjective.

A prime example of this? Brandon Jennings

This my friends, is an outstanding lie. A lie so ridiculous you have no choice but to respect it. In the event you were curious, in the history of the NBA there have been 434 players from California. Of that 434, 17 have made the HOF with a few more headed that way once they retire. Now of course, Jennings didn't say he was the "best" player from CA but rather "the most influential". Sadly for him, that doesn't change a damn thing.

Don't take this as me saying Brandon Jennings wasn't good when he was a player. His Bucks years were legit for those 5 seasons from 2009-2012/13. 

His 55 point performance as a rookie was no joke. But again, let's try and stay on planet earth here. I'm just going to rattle off some names here and you tell me if they would be considered "more influential" to the game of basketball than Brandon Jennings

- Gary Payton

- Ray Allen

- Reggie Miller

- Bill Walton

- Damian Lillard

- Klay Thompson

- James Harden

- Jason Kidd

- Paul Pierce

- Kawhi Leonard

- Russell Westbrook

You kind of get the idea. There are guys like Payton (and Dennis Johnson) who changed the way guards defend. Hell, they had to change the rule book because of all the havoc The Glove would cause on that end. You have Jason Kidd who was basically Westbrook before Westbrook when it came to combo guards stacking triple doubles. You have Dame and Klay who helped redefine what NBA range is. James Harden is one of the greatest and most influential offensive talents in NBA history. Bill Walton was the best player on the planet once upon a time and I'd say was pretty influential in terms of the modern big. 

Now, where I think Jennings means to go here is more along the lines of his route to the NBA. He could have gone down the 1-and-done route, but instead, he went overseas and still ended up a lottery pick. In that regard, I'd say he was definitely influential. Players taking a nontraditional route to the league is way more common now than it was back in his day, whether that's skipping college for the G-League or going overseas. I think it's fair to give him credit for that. 

But if he means as a player once he got to the league? Yeah, that's gonna be a big time no from me. Decent player, but that's about it. I don't really remember too many players coming into the league saying they wanted to play like Brandon Jennings. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he just meant how he got to the league helped change the path we see players take today because at least that's not completely insane. Maybe he just worded it wrong or something.