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Winning and…Bitcoin? Spencer Dinwiddie wants his own Wizards legacy

By Chase Hughes

Dinwiddie eyes his own legacy in DC, possibly with Bitcoin originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

Throughout different eras of playoff teams the past two decades, the Wizards have been more often defined by the point guard position than any other. They went from Gilbert Arenas to John Wall and then to Russell Westbrook. All three were stars in their own right.

Now Spencer Dinwiddie is taking over the point guard role, as he was brought over in a sign-and-trade with the Nets to replace Westbrook, who was traded to the Lakers. Dinwiddie projects to be one of the Wizards’ best players this season, alongside Bradley Beal in the backcourt. But he sees himself as different than his predecessors.

“I’m not Gilbert, John or Russ. Those are all dudes with very interesting personalities. You’ve got some of the best players, obviously, Russ is one of the best players to ever play in terms of the triple-doubles. You’ve got Gilbert, one of the best scorers of all-time. You’ve got John, who had an extended run, you could argue, as the best point guard in the league,” he said. 

“You’ve gotta always respect the accomplishments of what people have done… just my style of play is very different than them. I respect everything that they did. What I want to be known for is winning, and that’s what I hope to bring to the franchise at the end of the day. Just whatever it takes, and I think my career kind of shows that.”

Dinwiddie, 28, helped the Nets build a winner before Kevin Durant signed there in free agency. He developed from a second round pick to a 20-point scorer before suffering an ACL injury three games into last season.

Once he’s back to 100 percent, Dinwiddie plans to do whatever he can to help the Wizards win games. He also may be a fun character for fans to follow along the way. He provided a series of light moments during his introductory press conference on Monday, including when talking about the Wizards’ history of point guards.

One involved his favorite cryptocurrency, which he has advocated publicly for in recent years.

“I think I’ll be the first point guard in D.C. history to possibly lobby senators about Bitcoin,” he said.

If he does indeed follow through on that then, yes, he will almost certainly be the first. That is, unless Ish Smith was doing it all along and we just had no idea.

Wizards extend losing streak in San Antonio to 22 games with latest loss to Spurs

By Chase Hughes
Wizards extend losing streak in San Antonio to 22 games originally appeared on NBC Sports WashingtonThe Washington Wizards lost to the Spurs 116-99 in San Antonio on Monday night. Here are five observations from what went down...The streak continuesThe Wizards have not won a game in San Antonio since before Deni Avdija was born and after yet another loss, their 22nd straight in a span of 22 years, that streak will live on. Washington led the Spurs by six points at halftime, only to be outdone by 12 points in the third quarter and then 11 points in the fourth. This seemed like it could be the year. The Wizards, now 13-8, have been a much better team so far this season than the Spurs, who improved to 6-13 with Monday's win. As teams from different conferences, they only play in San Antonio once a season, so the Wizards will have to try again next year.It was another rough shooting night from three for the Wizards. They made just 9-for-31 from long range, good for 29.0%. They also allowed 72 points in the paint and were beaten 17-0 on the fastbreak. It also didn't help that they shot 8-for-13 (61.5%) at the free-throw line.Their defense, though, may be a growing concern at the moment. Three of their five-highest point totals allowed came on this four-game road tripThe Wizards closed out their road trip by splitting it evenly at 2-2. They will return home to host the Timberwolves on Wednesday.White-hotIf you only watched the third quarter on Monday night, you would think Derrick White of the Spurs is an elite scorer, a superstar, maybe even a living legend. He was completely unstoppable and it kind of came out of nowhere. No disrespect to the guy, but he came into this game averaging 11.4 points while shooting 38.6% from the field and 28.7% from three.But in the third quarter, he caught fire and scored 18 of his 24 points on the night. White played the entire frame and shot 7-for-9, including 3-for-4 from three. He also dished three assists. Everyone in the NBA is good and many players are capable of making teams pay for taking them lightly. Whether that was the case here or not, White certainly made the Wizards pay.Gafford stepped upComing off two big games in which he helped lead the Wizards to wins in different ways, Gafford came through again on Monday. He had 11 points, 10 rebounds and a block. He was the hot hand in the first half with 11 points as he helped the Wizards score 36 paint points by halftime. They had 56 for the game.Gafford did it all while clearly playing through some pain in his right thumb. It was less than two weeks ago that he missed a game due to the injury and he continues to play with black tape on the finger. And in this game, at least twice he got hit on his hand and each time the contact seemed to re-aggravate the injury. Gafford played through it and played well, but there were several moments where he was wincing and holding his hand.Keldon JohnsonThe Spurs aren't the team they were for the better part of the past two-plus decades, but they do have some emerging young players. One of them is Keldon Johnson, who is taking a sizable leap this season, his third in the NBA. He had a solid game against the Wizards with 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting in 35 minutes. After winning a gold medal with the U.S. Olympic team, he has come back noticeably better in his age-22 season.Why should that interest Wizards fans, you may wonder? Well, he's not the only player the Wizards have seen recently from the 2019 class who is showing significant progress. Tyler Herro of the Heat would be another. Remember, Rui Hachimura was also a first-round pick in 2019. Their development is a reminder that when the Wizards get Hachimura back, he'll prove to be quite a big addition. If they get the version of him we saw last year, that will help. But there's a chance he gives them much more than that.Bertans remains coldGiven his track record of needing time after injuries to find his rhythm and conditioning, perhaps it should be no surprise that Davis Bertans is struggling right now. But the degree that he is struggling is at a minimum worth noting and, if it continues, could present head coach Wes Unseld Jr. with an interesting decision to make.Monday's game was the fourth for Bertans since the left ankle sprain which kept him out for 10 games. He went 0-for-3 from three, continuing what has been a stunning drought from long range. He is now 1-for-19 from the perimeter since coming back, which for a shooter of his ilk is quite surprising. Unseld Jr. may have to determine his threshold pretty soon.If Bertans shoots like this, it will be tough to allow him to keep shooting, yet the Wizards need help with their threes and no one on the roster is capable of getting scorching hot from long range like he can. He just hasn't been able to do it in a while.
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