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Bub Carrington's Bold Declaration After Hitting Game-Winner In Final Game of Season

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Gerard Angelo Samillano | Last updated Apr 16, 2025 9:53 PM ET

Bub Carrington is here to stay! In the final game of the Washington Wizards' season, Carrington made sure to give the fans one more exciting moment. Against the Play-In-bound Miami Heat, Carrington hit a game-winning layup to give the Wizards a win in the last game of their season.

The game-winner was the perfect culmination to what has been an eventful rookie season for Carrington. After the game, the rookie reflected on the game-winning shot and his first year in the league. The Wizards rookie said that, well, he wasn't a rookie no more after that shot.

“Not a rookie anymore,” he said, per Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. “I played 82 games in this. I got a game-winner.”

Carrington was the 14th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. A product of Pittsburgh, the rookie came into the league as a nifty playmaker who demonstrated some proficiency in running the pick-and-roll. His playmaking and shot creation from the midrange was an excellent asset for him, assets that translated well into the league.

The Wizards rookie played in all 82 games of the season, starting in 57 of those games. He averaged just 9.8 points on a shooting split strikingly similar to his days in Pittsburgh (40.1/33.9/81.2), but dished out 4.2 assists and grabbed 4.4 rebounds per game. Carrington has proven to be a good complement to Jordan Poole in the backcourt, but there's more work that needs to be done.

Carrington and the Wizards now head into the offseason with the intention of improving more for the 2025-26 season. After finishing at the bottom of the East, there's nowhere to go but up for this team.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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