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Kobe Bufkin’s Impressive Defense

It’s been an enigmatic rookie season for Kobe Bufkin. Atlanta’s 2023 first-round pick barely played in the team’s first 56 games of the season due to a fractured thumb before re-emerging in the G-League a few months later, eventually cracking the first team rotation after Young’s injury in the first game out of the All-Star break.

Bufkin played just 54 minutes in the team’s first four games without Young before injuring his toe in a loss to the Nets on March 2nd and has been sidelined ever since. However, in the limited time he was on the court, I was pleasantly surprised with the energy he displayed on the defensive end.

Look at how he remains engaged over the course of the entire possession, eventually coming up with a steal on this possession.

On this play, Mo Wagner thinks he has a free lane to the basket, but Bufkin is locked in, rotates off his man and is in the right spot to draw a charge.

This play from the Nets game won’t show up on the stat sheet, but see how Bufkin’s stunt towards Jalen Wilson walls off the paint, allows Matthews to recover, and forces Wilson into a low percentage shot.

Bufkin also scraps on the defensive glass.

Look at him box out Walker Kessler in this play, despite giving up (at least) 50 pounds in that matchup. It’s terrific stuff.

Bufkin doesn’t take any possessions off on the less glamorous end of the floor, and though it’s a miniscule sample size (89 minutes), Atlanta’s defense has allowed just 104.2 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor this season.

While it’s unclear when we’ll see Bufkin out on the floor again, the defensive intensity we’ve seen from him early on is more than encouraging. Get well soon, Kobe!