The NBA summer league is upon us, and as usual, we find a star to zero on, and this year we have JT Thor. We are not sure how much of a god he is in other aspects of his life, but we can say that he has cracked this god-juice with basketball.
This 18 year old south Sudanese-American player who recently got selected to the Charlotte Hornets is a brilliant player who dazzled us at the NBA summer league.
His story is quite an inspiring one. Before getting drafted by the Hornets for the 37th overall pick in the NBA draft, Jokhow Panom Thor played college basketball for the Auburn Tigers. In west high, where he went to high school, he played for the varsity team and then moved on to West Virginia’s Huntington Prep, where he played among people who were better than him. Knowing that the competition was now stiffer, JT worked harder than he had ever worked in his life because he was looking at getting noticed.
JT had to work hard because he had made a huge sacrifice for basketball. At a young age, he left his family at Anchorage and went to West Virginia to chase basketball, earn money and send money home to his family. He comes from an immigrant family, with a mother who left Sudan 23 years ago when the country was ravaged by war to chase a better life for her family.
JT would again use this hard-wor strategy when he was waiting to be drafted for the NBA 37th overall draft. The work he did showed clearly in his body and skills that the Hornets were convinced that at that rate, he would grow better. When asked about his growth process, he said, “From my last game until now, I’ve drastically improved. My lower body got stronger, and my shot mechanics are way better. I feel like I’m going to be a great player someday, and I think the coaches seen that in me, and that’s why they took a chance on me.”
Seeing his recent performance at the summer league, it is clear that his hard work is paying, as we can see. Future predictions show that he will do even better as time goes on and become one of those names we sing of.
JT Thor may not have a hammer, but he has a basketball, and right now, in our eyes, they are one and the same thing.