Indiana Pacers First-Round Pick Bennedict Mathurin Makes Incredible Claim That He’s Better Than LeBron

• The Indiana Pacers selected Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin with the sixth pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
• Mathurin should play early and often for the Pacers and already backs himself for success.
• The rookie made the wild claim that he’s already the best player in the league in an interview with the Washington Post.

Indiana Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin certainly doesn’t lack for confidence.

But the Arizona Wildcats product may have just put an unnecessary target on his back.

In an interview with Ben Goliver of the Washington post, Mathurin made an absolutely incredible claim about how good he is. Speaking about LeBron James, he said the following…

“A lot of people say he’s great. I want to see how great he is. I don’t think anybody is better than me. He’s going to have to show me he’s better than me.”

You have to admire the confidence, but that goes beyond a bold claim. Mathurin said that the first game against James and the Lakers is the thing he’s most looking forward to. Given James’ legendary competitive streak, that may be a statement that the rook regrets down the line.

Mathurin was a consensus second-team All-American and the Pac-12 player of the year as a sophomore with the Wildcats, but now he may have bitten off a bit more than he can chew. At least, NBA fans seem to think so.

Y’know, I respect the confidence. It could serve Mathurin well down the line in the NBA. Just uh, maybe keep this one thought to yourself next time.