That's not how I would have responded to the question, certainly it does show some immaturity on his part, but it's hardly a deal breaker. And I don't think this has anything to do with whether he'll be a good teammate or a good leader or not. All I got out of that exchange is that Jennings is a little upset that Rubio is ranked above him and he's looking forward to going against him for real and proving which is the better player on the court. He's not the most media-savvy guy out there, but is that really what we care about now? If Brandon Jennings turns out to be a better player than Rubio are you going to be upset that he's not 'Barrack Obama' smooth in press conferences? Every guy out there thinks they're the best. Some are just better at playing pretend and saying the right thing than others. I kindof prefer the honest guys myself. I had no problem with Artest for instance. You knew he was saying what he believes. Kobe's "say the right thing at all times even when you don't mean it" antics kindof annoy me.
Look, I never said it was a deal breaker, but these comments along with what he said about Evans and Holiday is coming off very childish. He doesn't give intelligent reasons to his opinion anyways, and outright misrepresents the game he had against Rubio. I have no problem with confidence and thinking you're the best, but doing it by bringing others down and bragging about some misleading box score is just plain weak and it makes him look more like a jealous poser trying to raise his draft stock rather than a confident player giving his honest opinion.
There's only so much you can really find out about a player during this whole process, you have to take every bit of evidence you have. I'm not suggesting reading too far into things, but there are red flags and that should be taken note of. You can never tell for sure, but you can never tell for sure in any part of scouting. He's already a very raw player at a very important position that will need a lot of time, a strong work ethic, and the right attitude to develop into a guy worthy of our top pick.
Yeah and how much of that "honesty" has served him as a basketball player? He is the epitome of immature and his comments are a reflection of that (as well as being completely bat s**t insane,) and that is why he's never going to amount to even half of what he could have if he had his head screwed on straight. That honesty being pleasing to you has nothing to do with winning basketball games.
Being a basketball player requires exceptional mental toughness and composure. You're constantly under the microscope and under a lot of pressure, that's the way it is and it's not so much about saying the right thing as it is about being able to show restraint and composure under pressure.
I reiterate, it's not a deal breaker, but you have to have higher standards with these things for players that are huge risks, you have to be confident that they have the right mentality to achieve their upside. And while these comments
may mean nothing as far his future, I do think they are signs that lower the probability that he is worthy of being picked at 4. You can't just ignore signs of immaturity when it's been in question for most of his amateur career.
For the record (this isn't directed at you) this has nothing to do with Rubio for me. Since last year I've really wanted to like Jennings, but I have to be honest about the red flags he shows. It's far from over with any of these guys, but this is worthy of seriously noting.