Moving around several times when young, he was forced to hit the reset button on environment, friends, himself—his ever-ready swagger is just part of him being comfortable in his own skin. But his rookie season understandably had its ups-and-downs, mostly downs.
Before the 2016 All-Star break, Oubre saw action in 43 games (513 minutes), and even started nine games due to various injuries to teammates. But post-break, as Washington’s season (and Randy Wittman’s NBA head coaching career) passed the brink and started its downslide, Oubre received less opportunity, just 159 minutes over 20 games. During the late-season struggle, he started uncontrollably sobbing in his locker immediately after a tough outing while the media was interviewing teammates.