Lori Nickel

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Those practices last year went long. Long into the season, long into the afternoons. Behind the closed doors the Milwaukee Bucks could be heard running and rebounding and battling, from November to April. The doors would open, the players would depart, for showers, for food, for couches.

Except one. The last one to leave was almost always the first-round draft pick, D.J. Wilson.

You didn’t know that, possibly? Maybe you saw his social media posts of his hair style changes and his fashion choices or his shout-outs to his friends back in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but only once in a while would Wilson hint at the work happening on the court, and the transformation that was taking place, from a college kid into a pro.

“I think there was something in him – he knew he wasn’t reaching that level of potential that he had,” said Mike Waters, Wilson's certified performance trainer and owner of Phase 1 in Las Vegas.

Wilson only averaged 3.2 minutes a game last year. He didn’t even play for 60 games. So he stayed after practice to make up for it. Bucks video coordinator Monty Buckley rebounded countless shots as Wilson kept shooting and drilling. Wilson didn’t look happy, he didn’t look miserable. He just got to work, putting up fakes around ghost defenders and shots against phantom shot clocks in an empty gym.

“I’ve always kind of been that guy to be the first one out and then the last to leave,” said Wilson. “I think that’s the mentality my mom and my godfather instilled in to me at a young age.”

The one respite Wilson got from the practice was Oshkosh. He played six games for the Wisconsin Herd, Milwaukee’s G-League affiliate. There he averaged 13.7 points in 23.2 minutes.

“I went there with a purpose, to get better,” said Wilson. “I didn’t look at anything but a positive.”

If there was any point that got tough for Wilson, it was March 2018. Wilson would have been a senior on that Michigan team that marched all the way to the NCAA championship game, where it lost to Villanova.

“It was bittersweet,” Wilson said of watching the Wolverines make their run.

Instead, he was on the bench, his work and efforts almost invisible.

“The position I was in last year, I think it’s kind of natural for those doubts to creep in,” said Wilson.

“I was a part of something great over here, too. We were playing the Celtics in the playoffs. I don’t regret anything. I still believe I made the right decision. I wouldn’t take it back.”

When Wilson showed up for work last summer at Phase 1, Waters, his trainer, was pleasantly surprised, repeatedly. Not everyone loves the sweat equity work. Some basketball players just want to perfect their moves, work on their shot. But Wilson bought in completely.

“Every time he walked in, it was real simple: ‘What we got today?’ ” said Waters. “Whatever that answer was, he was in. ‘Let’s go. I’m ready.’

“He was real easy to get along with. D.J. is going to get it done. You’re not going to have to drag him through the workout. I don’t have to text him, to try to see where he’s at. If we’re scheduled at 1, he’s there at 12:40, ready to go. I’m not waiting until 1:15. Real professional.”

It even got to the point Waters would have to schedule days off and make Wilson take them.

“And he’d say, ‘well, what about just this?’ ” said Waters. “I’d say: 'No. You need to chill at home today.' ”

Wilson has no idea how much stronger he got over the summer or if his body composition changed. He couldn’t tell you his weight lifting numbers or speed improvements. These are details that have little significance to him. All he knows is, in five-on-fives, he can tell he’s stronger. And with his body type, that works in his favor all the more.

But boy, was he off the radar. Wilson showed up for Bucks media day – you know, when Giannis usually tells his bad jokes and Khris Middleton shares his wry smile and Brook Lopez is, well, Brook Lopez – to kick off the 2018-19 season in October.

With the focus all on “the future is here” angle and the brand new Fiserv Forum, Wilson was asked exactly two questions. He answered that he hoped all the work he put in over the summer would be evident, and then hopped off the stage and out of the spotlight.

Now it’s April. And Wilson has been an asset to the first-place Bucks this season off the bench, and now, with half the team hurt, he’s carrying a respectable load for a 22-year-old second-year player as the Bucks round out the final week of the regular season.

In 42 games (entering the Bucks' game Monday night at Brooklyn) Wilson averaged 5.4 points in 17.5 minutes a game. He’ll hustle all over the court, chasing down a runaway ball and grabbing it one-handed while keeping one foot inbound, for a save. He’ll take a push from Philadelphia’s 7-foot, 250-pound big man Joel Embiid and come right back, at 6-10, 231, big enough to fight for his ground against anyone.

He’s still in contact with Waters, asking for refills on his supplements (multivitamin, protein, base chain amino acid and glutamine for recovery).

“That’s good because most athletes say, once the season starts, ‘Hey I’m going to just go play basketball,’ ” said Waters.

We're too impatient sometimes. We don't give a 21-year-old a moment to catch up, not when he's a first-rounder. We're quick to judge.

The good thing is whatever outside opinions were of Wilson, he didn't seem to believe them. When you put in the time and aren't afraid of the work, you can have faith improvements will come. And teams playing for NBA titles need contributions from everyone, even those players who spent last year observing.

“I feel like I’ve persevered,” said Wilson. “And fought through the worst. Last year was really kind of nothing but a learning experience. At the end of the day, the work that I put in is going to prove itself."

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