Why Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr.'s game is drawing comparisons to Stephen Curry

4 days ago

AdvertisementBut in San Francisco, Clayton Jr. insisted on setting the record straight. Asked who is actually the best NBA2K player on the team, Clayton Jr. didn’t hesitate.“He shoots the basketball going left 48 percent. He shoots it right going at, like, 38 percent,” Willard said. “We get a scouting report done by (Sports Analytics Advantage), […]

AdvertisementBut in San Francisco, Clayton Jr. insisted on setting the record straight. Asked who is actually the best NBA2K player on the team, Clayton Jr. didn’t hesitate.“He shoots the basketball going left 48 percent. He shoots it right going at, like, 38 percent,” Willard said. “We get a scouting report done by (Sports Analytics Advantage), and he grades better than any player they’ve ever had analytically, shooting the basketball off the dribble going right, off the dribble, going left.”

Certainly, they have similar builds. Clayton Jr. is 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, while Curry checks in at 6-2 and 185. They both shoot well on the move — a skill Curry has said is one of the toughest to master — and neither seems concerned that any look is out of range.But Condon wanted to add one caveat. Clayton Jr. dominates just about everywhere … except when it comes to video games.SAN FRANCISCO — It’s fitting, given the building they’re going to play in on Thursday, that Maryland coach Kevin Willard would compare Florida guard Walter Clayton Jr. to a certain 11-time NBA All-Star.But the most impressive thing, according to nearly everyone in the Gators’ locker room, is Clayton Jr.’s ability to take over any game at any time.That claim lines up perfectly with how Condon said Clayton Jr. reacted last weekend: “He sucks at losing.”(Via @OptaStats) pic.twitter.com/IgDMyDYZwJThat sounds like Curry, too.(Photo of Walter Clayton Jr.: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)A highly recruited football safety, Clayton Jr. spurned scholarship offers from Notre Dame, Georgia, Tennessee, Nebraska and Florida, among others. His basketball suitors were mid-majors, which is how he landed at Iona. He earned All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference honors as a freshman and sophomore before transferring to Florida before the 2023-24 season.Though Clayton Jr. lists it as his “hidden talent” on the Gators’ official school website, Condon bragged that he “smoked him in (NBA) 2K” during downtime last weekend in Raleigh, N.C.Golden also sees a little Jalen Brunson in Clayton Jr., too, because of his ability to “handle the ball, but get off (the ball), get it back and be a playmaker, decision-maker.”