Second year guard, Iman Shumpert, suffered a torn ACL in the Knicks visit to the playoffs last season. During his time away from the game not only was he working on getting healthy, but also his rap career.
Shumpert has already made a great contribution to the Knicks back court his his intense defense and energy. He has also begun to do so in the music world by making his first official mixtape. The mixtape was released December 21, 2012 including 5 different tracks. Like many other artists Shumpert goes by a different name in the music world, calling himself 2wo 1ne. The name is representative of the number that he wears for the Knicks.
Nearly a month after the mixtape was released Shumpert made his return to the court for the Knicks. After making the All-Rookie first team last year, he can only hope to continue to improve his game from where he left off last season.
In his second year in the NBA, Shumpert is in the starting line-up but is getting the minutes of a player who is coming off of the bench. Coming off of a serious injury like his, Coach Mike Woodson doesn’t want to risk him aggravating it. The Knicks can’t afford to lose a key piece like him if they want to make a run for the Championship.
The Knicks can hope that Shumpert still has the same defense intensity he had before he went down with the injury. But also that his role in the offense will expand with more time. He ended last season averaging just over 9 points per game. If his offensive presence in the offense expanding it could bring a whole other dimension to an already versatile New York Knicks offense.
