Anyone who follows Tyshawn Taylor knows of his frustrations with playing time. The rookie from Kansas will tweet that he's tired of hearing about the need for patience, then delete it. But Alyonka Larionov got him talking about frustration on camera, as part of her "In-Bounds" series on BCTV. In the second part of the interview, he does not hold back, even suggesting that he may need an opportunity on another team to prove himself.
Not long after we posted the partial transcript, the video was taken down for unexplained reasons.
Taylor's biggest point is that it's hard to balance his happiness being in the NBA with his unhappiness sitting on the bench.
Look, I want everybody to know that I'm happy to be in the NBA, but I want everybody to also know that I'm not happy sitting on the bench. How do I do that? I come around the media, I smile a lot. I work hard. 'Oh, he's a good kid, he's happy.' Yeah, I'm happy to be in the NBA. I'm happy to be here everyday with you guys. But I'm not happy I'm on the sidelines while you all are scrimmaging. I'm not happy about that. I don't know how to show both at the same time. It's hard.
He also thinks it's possible that it might take a change of scenery before he figures out whether he can play big minutes in the NBA.
There's a chance I'll sit on the bench again for another team. I'll at least ... I feel like I will always have an opportunity. Once I get an opportunity, people will say either he can play or he can't, At least I'll know. I'll know whether I'll be a back-up point guard or maybe this guy has the potential to be a starting point guard on some teams. Or maybe he's a third guard for the rest of his career, just gonna have to sit on the bench and be a good teammate, be one of those tough players, locker room players that make money.
He admits others on the roster face similar issues and admits he has fears about the future.
I got examples all over of how this works. Stack, Mirza, MarShon, Hump. These guys are examples of how one day you can be here and the next day you can be here, but it doesn't mean that it's over. I feel right now that in the NBA right now, I'm at the bottom of the barrel. I don't think it can get worse than this: I don't think I'll ever get paid as much as I'm getting now.
Bottom line for the 23-year-old, "I'm told, 'gotta be patient.' I've heard, 'gotta be patient' more than anything in my life, said Taylor, "but being patient is hard as hell especially when you know what you can do." It's uncertain whether the interview was done before Taylor's late season breakout game on April 15 when he scored 14 points in 24 minutes and hit the dagger against the Wizards.