Oklahoma City, OK, USA Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum (11) handles the ball while being guarded by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Sebastian Telfair (31) during the third quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Oklahoma City, OK, USA Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum (11) handles the ball while being guarded by Oklahoma City Thunder guard Sebastian Telfair (31) during the third quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Established ESPN analyst Bill Simmons expressly admitted to "flip-flopping," from being a basher of Dante Exum to a believer of the youngster.

The 19-year-old was picked fifth overall by the Utah Jazz, and Simmons wasn't too impressed with the move as he then thought that the Australian wasn't up to the task of taking his game to the biggest basketball league in the world - the NBA.

Apparently, after a few preseason games, Exum proved, so far, that he is worth all the hype.

"I've never done a faster 180, in my entire career, than the one I pulled off with Dante Exum," Simmons said on Grantland.com.

"Not only did Jalen and I crush the Exum pick in our preview, but when you and I worked on the first draft of this piece, here's what I wrote: 'For me, the Exum subplot is 100 times more fascinating than anything Philly is offering.'"

"He might be superduperduper raw, and on top of that, three lottery picks taken right after him (Marcus Smart, Julius Randle and my Rookie Of The Year Choice To Be Revealed A Little Bit Later) could be kicking ass right away."

He even went as far as comparing the kid to LA Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant.

"I nearly gave myself a concussion leaping on the hood of the Exum bandwagon as it started pulling away," he added.

"Did you see him in the preseason? It looked like Kobe cloned the teenage version of himself and added an Australian accent."

"I'm all in! Easily my fastest flip-flop ever - and that's saying something."

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