Cam Whitmore was pushed down in the 2023 NBA Draft on Thursday leading fans to speculate if he is injured. The Villanova star was also compared to Will Levis, who lost several ranks in the NFL Draft due to medical concerns.
The Houston Rockets selected him at No 20.
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Whitmore was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) during the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship tournament. However, he was not chosen in the top 19 picks on Thursday.
The 18-year-old was on the sidelines for the first seven games of his collegiate career due to a thumb injury. He returned to the court only to lead a strong campaign for the Villanova Wildcats in the Big East Conference. He was named the Big East Rookie of the Year.
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Whitmore had an average of 12.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game during his NCAA year.
“Is cam whitmore injured or sumn wtf ?” a Twitter user asked.
“Cam Whitmore has to be injured bruh.. it’s no way,” another one added.
“Cam Whitmore gotta be injured or something. Blud suppose to be 4th pick, 5th at least,” a third one said on Twitter.
Whitmore was one of the four freshmen to record at least 25 dunks and 25 three-pointers last season.
Whitmore was seen “struggling at times with his shooting and intensity” during his individual team workouts, per ESPN draft expert Jonathan Givony.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Wasserman via Bleacher Report shared an update.
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“There have been some concerns over Cam Whitmore’s medicals, which could cause a few teams to pass in the mid-lottery, per sources.”
“At the Hoops Summit, Whitmore was not a practice-type player and didn’t look very good during the week. But once he played, he was one of the better players in the game. That’s going to have to change at the NBA level. He’s going to have to exert some effort, some ability and skill level in practice for a head coach to put him in a game. He’s not going to be guaranteed minutes like he probably was at Villanova,” David Aldridge cited a source.
