Denver Nuggets power forward Kenneth Faried together with San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Danny Green filled up the Mall of Asia Music Hall as they grace the NBA 3X event. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Kenneth Faried has come along way since being drafted late in the first round by the Denver Nuggets four years ago.
He’s averaged close to a double-double and shot at least 50% from the field in each of his first four seasons with the Nuggets and has won a gold medal as one of the key contributors for Team USA in the 2014 Fiba World Cup in Spain.
Still, what makes Faried continue to reach for greater heights is the motivation to prove his doubters wrong even if it’s having to do it over and over again.
“I’ve been proving people wrong my entire life,” Faried said during the NBA 3X event at Mall of Asia Music Hall on Saturday.
The man nicknamed “The Manimal” because of his ferocity and relentlessness to get every rebound and go after loose balls despite being an undersized power forward said he unsurprisingly patterned his game to Hall-of-Famer Dennis Rodman.
Rodman won five NBA championships while playing for the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls and like, Faried, his lack in size playing the big man position didn’t serve as a hurdle.
“Dennis Rodman, he’s my favorite player going up,” said Faried. “It’s his game.”
“Everybody’s saying you can’t make it to the NBA, everybody’s saying you can’t play for the Denver Nuggets.”
The 6-foot-8, 230-pound Faried was again invited to be part of the US pool of players in which only 12 will be selected to be part of the final roster competing in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Cracking the lineup won’t be an easy task as Faried will have to battle with the likes of Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, DeMarcus Cousins and Andre Drummond to name a few for a spot on the team.
“There are people saying I won’t make it to the Olympic team, and I keep proving everyone wrong my whole life,” Faried said.
“And that’s my inspiration to kids. Just don’t believe what everybody would say.”