Bishop set to become a Buccaneer
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (BVM) — If you frequent social media and follow basketball, at one point or another, you’ve seen the video of a tiny varsity high school player clapping in the face of now-NBA star Zion Williamson in 2017. Bryson Bishop, a 5-foot-6 eighth grader at the time, was tasked with guarding one of the most generational prep-level talents since LeBron James.
😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/Jn9MQBp9Su
— kyle (@knicks_tape99) March 20, 2020
The video caught fire quickly, as people loved seeing the mammoth Williamson’s annoyance with the scrawny little kid. Now every year since the incident, whether Zion was making waves at Duke or with the New Orleans Pelicans, the video resurfaces and Bryson Bishop of Spartanburg Christian Academy gets his yearly moment of fame.
Most recently, the video resurfaced when JJ Redick, NBA teammate of Williamson’s, talked about it on his popular podcast “The Old Man and the Three.” The New Orleans Pelicans retweeted the video and JJ Redick tweeted at Bishop, offering him his “respect.” Williamson and Redick’s primary talking point was the respect they had for Bishop getting into Zion on defense.
Sneak peak ahead of tomorrow @jj_redick @Zionwilliamson @talter pic.twitter.com/RmMs1pkQzK
— TheOldMan&TheThree (@OldManAndThree) March 2, 2021
“Coming from two NBA players, every person looks up to guys like that in your sport, to guys who got there and made it and for them to say they respect me means a lot,” Bishop said. “Not only from Zion but from JJ. I’m a shooter, I grew up watching shooters. I’d watch him, Steph, Nash, people like that. I’d watch highlight tapes of shooters because I want to go out there and perfect my craft so it means a lot.”
And perfect his craft, he did. What a lot of people don’t know is Bishop himself has developed into a Division I basketball player. He’s more than just the kid who clapped in Zion’s face. He’s a soon-to-be guard at Charleston Southern University where he has accepted a walk-on offer.
When that video of him in eighth grade went viral, Bishop used it as an opportunity. It put him on a pedestal; it got people talking about him and watching him.
“Obviously it was pretty cool (the video going viral) but after a while it kept getting brought up so I did get a little sick of seeing it,” Bishop said. “But it’s really given me a platform now to really let people know that, I am good, I can hoop and it’s given me a platform to show I’m not just the kid who guarded Zion but I can play and I’m going to do that.”
That’s all he was trying to do when someone filmed him clapping at Zion and put it online. He was just playing his game. As a smaller guy, his fearlessness gave him an edge. His competitive spirit shined through.
“I wasn’t seeking attention or doing it for a reason, that’s just how I play. I’m a competitor and I go out there and I want to compete, I don’t care who I’m playing against,” Bishop said. “I hype myself up, I hype my team up, I didn’t go out there thinking I was going to get attention, I was just playing my game.”
That attitude has served him well for years following his viral fame. Many people who play ball with Bishop view him as their leader, and he is more than welcoming to that role. He considers it one of his best attributes and part of the reason he has blossomed into a DI athlete.
“Being a point guard, you have to be a leader. I love the guys I play with, whether it’s AAU or my school, I always want to take the approach of being the guy people can look to to lead,” Bishop said. “Every team needs a leader and I like being that guy.”
Everything came to fruition for him his senior year when he had the game of a lifetime. Bishop knocked down 11 3 pointers en route to 35 points, which put him on the maps of multiple schools. Within 24 hours of that game, he went from having zero college interest to various DIII schools calling, and eventually, being offered the CSU walk-on.
This past year, his senior season, he led the Spartanburg Christian Academy Warriors to their second consecutive SCISA Class 2A Championship. He was also selected as a member of the all-tourney team. He hopes his next step at CSU will continue to lead him down new paths.
“I am a big believer in going where God wants you to go. I’ve always wanted to play overseas but you never know the doors God is going to open,” Bishop said. “I’m going to ride this thing out.”
Now when this video of a once-small high school player guarding Zion comes across your timeline, you can know that Bryson Bishop is no joke. At this point, he deserves some fame for the player he has become. And when it comes to Zion, Bishop even thinks he could get a basket on him if a rematch were to take place.
“I’m not going to lie, he’s still scoring on me, I’m not the biggest guy still,” Bishop said. “Now if you reverse it and he has to guard me, I think I can hit a shot.”
