NICOLAS BATUM FELT the doubt creeping in.
He hadn't played a minute of NBA basketball since Jan. 24, 2020, when the Charlotte Hornets decided to embrace a youth movement and send their 31-year-old, $120 million veteran permanently to the bench. That March, he publicly apologized to Hornets fans for not being able to live up to his massive contract. And when Charlotte held voluntary workouts in September after not participating in the Orlando bubble, Batum was told the focus of the minicamp was to develop the team's young talent.
"Like, OK, I'm that bad?