On November 25, 2024, a Twitter/X account named "Podziemski's Gravity" posted a joke, saying they wouldn't tweet until Brandin Podziemski scored 30 points in an NBA game.
At that point in time, Podziemski was in the beginning of his second season in the NBA after a successful rookie year that saw him named to the All-Rookie First Team and finish fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting for the 2023-24 season.
However, scoring was never Podziemski's main calling card, so though he came close both last year and this year with multiple games between 26 and 29 points, the account remained silent as more and more mainstream media began to pick up on the joke that Podziemski would never reach that mark — until he did.
On a fateful Friday night against the Sacramento Kings, Podziemski sank 9 of his 15 shots and 3 of his 8 three-point attempts, and while standing at the free-throw line with under 5 seconds to play, he made it happen. Cashing in the second free throw gave Podziemski 30 points for the first time in his career and ended the long saga that all stemmed from a joke on social media by a small account.
Podziemski Gives Hilarious Reaction To Milestone
After the game, Podziemski revealed he knew exactly how big the 30-point mark was beyond his personal achievements, and gave a funny reaction to the milestone.
"Everybody (knew). As soon as I missed the first one, everyone on the bench looked at me. That's why I smiled a little bit. They've been giving me a hard time about it the whole year. It's cool, I'm blessed for sure. Last time we were here (in Sacramento), Will (Richard) had 30, so it's cool to replicate that ... The account will be activated."
As Podziemski said, the account did indeed break its silence. Posting a video from the TV show "Black Mafia Family" of a man waking up from a coma, reminiscent of other similar posts on NBA Twitter, the tweet has now garnered over 250,000 likes, 32,000 retweets, and nearly 5,000 comments in less than 24 hours.
30-Point Game Is Cherry On Top For Podziemski
The 30-point game became iconic for reasons beyond the court, but first and foremost, it's truly a cherry on top of an extremely valuable stretch of basketball played by Podziemski over the past few weeks.
The third-year guard is on track to play every single game this season, provided he doesn't miss Sunday's game against the Clippers for an unforeseen reason. This level of availability has been crucial for the Warriors during a season where so many of their players from top to bottom have been forced to sit out due to injury.
He hasn't just been available, though. Podziemski has been a truly valuable asset on the court.
In 21 games in March and April, where almost all the games were played without Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, Podziemski has been incredible, averaging 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 32.2 minutes per game. In addition, despite the uptick in offensive responsibilities due to all the injuries, he's been shooting 48.1% from the field, 39.7% from three-point range, and 83.5% from the free-throw line.
For all the jokes that Podziemski has been subject to this season, one of which being this journey to 30 points, he's quietly taken a huge leap in the back half of this season and should be an extremely valuable piece for the Warriors moving forward.