Chelsea forward Christian Pulisic welcomed New Orleans Pelicans shooting guard Josh Hart to Stamford Bridge today for the Blues home opener against Leicester City. Hart is a Chelsea super supporter who played college basketball at Villanova, which is not far from Pulisic’s home town of Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Hart, a two time All-American in college, helped lead Villanova to a national title in 2016. However, he certainly has not been a “star” (as the tweet below indicates) in the NBA thus far. The former Los Angeles Laker, traded to New Orleans as part of the Anthony Davis trade, is actually more a “role player.”
Christian Pulisic welcomes NBA star Hart pic.twitter.com/zhvlvzbrJt
— Nizaar Kinsella (@NizaarKinsella) August 18, 2019
Never the less he was on hand to watch Chelsea start really fast, fade quickly, and then settle for 1-1 draw with the Foxes. This was about as entertaining and interesting as 1-1 draw can get, but Pulisic didn’t have the greatest of games today.
He was less than impactful, and saw himself subbed off for Willian in the 71′. Pulisic’s less than stellar outing has certainly polarized opinion, and many Chelsea fans are already labeling him “overrated” after just three games in a blue shirt.
Christian Pulisic's game by numbers vs. Leicester:
46 touches
17/21 passes completed
3/4 tackles won
2/3 aerials won
1/5 take-ons won
1 foul won pic.twitter.com/U2RMaYVJLg— Squawka (@Squawka) August 18, 2019
That’s a bit trigger happy; $71 million transfer fee aside, these people need to realize that the 20-year-old American is going to need time to adjust to a new team and a new league.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
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