His numbers don't look much different than last year, but Anthony Bennett says he feels better than he ever did while playing for the Cavaliers. Bennett, the 2013 No. 1 pick who Cleveland shipped to Minnesota as a throw-in to the Kevin Love deal, told Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix that part of the reason he struggled last season was because of poor eyesight.
Anthony Bennett says he couldn’t see last season
The former No. 1 pick says that last year he couldn’t see the plays his coaches were calling last year. That’s fixed after offseason LASIK surgery.
Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
“You see that white board?” Bennett said recently, pointing to a board no more than 10 feet away. “Last year, I couldn’t read the writing on it.”
And during games?
“Anything far, I couldn’t really see,” Bennett said. “I couldn’t see the people in the stands. Now I can see the scoreboard. I can see what plays coach wants to run.”
Bennett appeared in just 52 games last year and averaged a minuscule 4.2 points. He was 20 pounds overweight and found himself ill-suited to play either forward position. According to Mannix, Bennet also struggled with asthma and sleep apnea and didn’t wear contact lenses because he couldn’t put them in.
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Bennett lost 20 pounds since being traded to Minnesota and he underwent laser eye surgery in the offseason. His number don't look very different -- he's averaging 6.2 points per game for the 2-4 Timberwolves, though he is shooting 57 percent -- but the 6'8 forward says he feels better than he did at any point last season.
At least he can now see what plays are being called and how much time remains in the game. Sometimes progress is measured in small steps.
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