The name first attracts the attention.
“I’d say it’s more of a help but I’d say it goes both ways,” said Glen Rice Jr., the D-League player who was one of three sons of former NBA stars who went through predraft workouts the Knicks Tuesday. “You’ve got people looking at you wanting you to play just like him. They do look just because of the name. That’s always good.”
Then comes the hard part.
“You’ve just got to go out there and produce,” said Rice Jr., whose father played for the Knicks in 2000-01 during a 15-season career.
Rice was joined in the workouts by Tim Hardaway Jr. the Michigan shooting guard who played and lost in the championship to Louisville and point guard Phil Pressey, the point guard from Missouri whose father Phil was a longtime star for the Bucks. Also competing Tuesday were Baylor point guard Pierre Jackson, 6-9 forward, C.J. Leslie of North Carolina State and 6-7 wing Tony Snell of New Mexico.
Rice Jr. and Hardaway Jr. both knew each other from their time in Miami where both their fathers played (but not together). Hardaway Jr. recalled all the famous Knicks-Heat playoffs wars. Rice Jr., not so much.
“Can’t say I do. I think I might have been a little too young.,” he said.
But “Little Tim” sounded well versed.
“I remember a lot. I remember a lot of fights between Zo-Ewing and Oakley – Zo and more Zo and other players. All that stuff. Everything,” he said.
And now that they’ve been noticed they hope to take the next step. They feel they have tools to blend in with the Knicks.
“Shooting the three and I feel I can also bring a presence, defensive wise. Get out there and have a lot of energy on defense,” said Rice Jr. who was kicked out of Georgia Tech (a DUI was involved as well as previous suspensions) in his junior year.
Hardaway Jr. also presented his credentials.
“Vocal leader out there, directing people on the defensive end and offensive end, making sure people know the plays, running the wing, making sure I knock down open shot, getting people involved. I think I’m a better passer than what a lot of people think and just try to do whatever I can to get everybody involved,” he said.
All six who workout out for the Knicks, who draft 24th on the first round, are projected to be drafted. Leslie, Jackson, Snell and Hardaway Jr. are projected on some boards as first rounders