Stanley Johnson toyed with Summer League and scored 26 points in his first preseason game. Those things don’t guarantee NBA success, but they at least indicate it’s possible. Just not necessarily immediate success.
That’s easier to understand when you’re Stan Van Gundy with a lifetime of basketball to inform him and two decades in the NBA to shape perceptions. It might be a little tougher to swallow when you’re 19 and have known practically nothing but triumph.
But Johnson isn’t only not your typical 19-year-old, he’s not even your typical 19-year-old wunderkind. He didn’t come to the NBA expecting invincibility.