Anthony Bennett, the surprise number 1 overall pick, is being encouraged by his team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, to lose more weight as he continues to adjust to the high level of play in the NBA.
Cleveland.com reports that Bennett is honest about his lack of conditioning and suggests that the Cavaliers want their star rookie to get slimmer from his current weight of 240 pounds .
Asked about the most difficult part of adjusting to life in the NBA, Bennett told the website: "The conditioning. I've been working on it, I'm trying to play longer periods of time in games. Whenever Coach puts me out there I want to go out and play hard, but I'm still trying to improve on that. I'm just taking it day by day."
Bennett's first game in the NBA was against the Milwaukee Bucks, and the top draft pick shot poorly with a 2 out of 12 field goal performance although he managed to snag 10 rebounds.
"I saw a few air balls," Cavs coach Randy Brown was quoted as saying. "I saw some not getting back in transition, not boxing out. I didn't see the nerves. He might have had nerves. But I did see air balls. That's why he's getting extra shots today."
Bennett underwent surgery on May 8 to repair a torn left rotator cuff. He was out of the Cavs summer league team in Las Vegas due to the surgery. He is expected to vie for minutes at the power forward spot against Tristan Thompson, Earl Clark and veteran Anderson Varejao.
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