As rookies enter the final turn of the NBA season, their progress typically is accompanied by bated breath as fans await their crash into an invisible phenomenon: the rookie wall.
It’s an understandable side effect of a major step-up in competition. Rookies enter their first professional season accustomed to the shorter NCAA season. Their opponents are bigger, stronger, smarter, faster. After months of playing three or four games a week, the grind of the season wears down the optimism and excitement fueling young players through their first year in the league.
Yet despite all these hurdles, Chicago Bulls players and coaches aren’t worried about the rookie wall when it comes to Ayo Dosunmu.
“Sometimes people view competition as a threat, and sometimes people view competition as an opportunity to grow,” coach Billy Donovan said. “That’s the way he views it. He’s going to learn something and it’s going to make him better. He leans into situations.”
Donovan saw players struggle in their rookie years through both sides of the transition, first as a college coach and now in the NBA.
Two months into his tenure as an unexpected starting point guard, Dosunmu has been a key for the Bulls to stay steady throughout an injury-plagued season.
Dosunmu averaged 30 games per season during his three years at Illinois, breaking 1,000 minutes only in his sophomore season. With a quarter of the NBA season left, Dosunmu already has played 1,491 minutes across 57 games in the same span as a college season.
Although the increased minutes as a starter will weigh on Dosunmu, Donovan said he believes the rookie hurdle is often created by the mental weight of the season rather than any physical toll. The biggest factor in that weight is repetition.
For instance, Dosunmu was the primary defender on Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young for the third time this season Thursday night in a 130-124 loss in Atlanta. Dosunmu owned the matchup in their first two meetings, holding Young to 3-for-17 shooting on Feb. 24 with smothering defense. But each game creates a new challenge: How will Young counter? How will Dosunmu adapt?
On Thursday, Young fired back with his signature combination of crafty dribbling and long-range shooting, finishing 7-for-9 from 3-point range to lead the Hawks with 39 points. Dosunmu tried everything in his arsenal — swatting at dribbles, leaping over Young’s back to block shots — but his length couldn’t keep up with the more experienced guard.
After shimmying his way around Dosunmu to splash a 3-pointer and send the Hawks up by four points with 1:13 remaining, Young turned to the fans to chirp a taunt: “He can’t guard me.”
DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine scored 22 points each Thursday, Nikola Vučević added 21 points and 11 rebounds and Dosunmu scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the loss.
The Bulls will try to snap a three-game skid Friday against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks at the United Center.
The mental chess game of multiple meetings is difficult when playing the top NBA competition. A defender might stop a star once, maybe even twice. But shutting down a leading league scorer consistently is a feat rarely accomplished, even by the best defenders in the league. Dosunmu is learning that lesson the hard way.
“I don’t think a lot of times guys are physically exhausted as much as they’re mentally exhausted,” Donovan said. “What takes a lot out of a young player is the uncertainty of playing against teams that were played against before or matchups that were played against. That can be draining.”
The mental challenge extends to off the court. Without the constant weight of classes and tutors, there’s less structure on professional athletes. That extra time can be a mercy for athletes who were overworked by balancing their studies and athletics; but it also can provide a challenging hurdle in learning how to create an efficient daily routine.
For Dosunmu, his daily life maintained its core focus from college to the NBA: basketball, family, faith and, of course, video games. Dosunmu says two things — talking to his family and praying — keep him focused. When he needs to take his mind off basketball, Dosunmu organizes Xbox tournaments and invites fans to join on his Instagram stories.
But most of the time, Dosunmu is locked in on the next game. Donovan credited the rookie for being “unflappable” throughout the season, rarely showing signs of exhaustion or distress. When he looks at the longevity of his endurance this season, Dosunmu also credits the help of his brother Yakub in training him over the summer.
“We worked so hard in the offseason for times like this,” Dosunmu said. “Now that I’m playing 30-plus minutes, I’m prepared to take care of my body.”
That doesn’t mean every night will be a highlight. Last week, Dosunmu shut down Young for the majority of a game, then had to be pulled out of the starting lineup against the Memphis Grizzlies two days later as he struggled on both sides of the ball. Earlier in the season, he turned the ball over twice in the final minute of a one-possession game.
Donovan said those off-nights are to be expected — even from a star like DeRozan — but he never sees them as a sign to panic about the rookie reaching a barrier in his abilities.
“Ayo’s a young player,” Donovan said. “There’s going to be ups and downs with him.”
Although Dosunmu’s ability to lead from the starting point guard position has been critical to the Bulls, the team still hopes it will be a temporary fix. The rookie could be relieved of his starting duties within the next month as Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball both near the end of their injury-recovery timelines.
In the meantime, Dosunmu says he lives and plays by the same adage whenever he feels his endurance tested: “When your mind tells you you’re tired — that’s when you’ve got 60 to 70% left.”
