Philadelphia 76ers rookie guard Jared McCain details his draft night experience and how he's looking ... [+]
Philadelphia 76ers first-round draft pick Jared McCain says everything was a “surprise” on draft night.
The No. 16 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft explains that entering draft night, “you have no clue” what’s going to happen.
“Everything that night was a surprise," says McCain in a one-on-one interview. “You have no clue what's going to happen. There's obviously a range you think you're going to go, but anything could happen. When I got the call and they tell me I was going to Philly, it was tears of joy. That was exactly what I felt. And being with my family on draft night and experiencing that was the best moment of my life.”
McCain details why you never get a good grasp of which teams are actually interested in you during the pre-draft process.
“During a lot of these workouts and interviews, you can never tell if they're interested or not,” says McCain of NBA teams prior to the draft. “They're just kind of asking you the same thought questions and you never get a good response out of it.”
The Duke alum is obviously enjoying his early NBA career as a member of a contending team such as the Sixers — which he mentions as a benefit of landing in Philadelphia. He says his pre-draft meeting with the Sixers went well, but it was still a “shock” when he heard his name called by them.
“It was definitely a shock to me,” says McCain. “But the process with them was smooth and my Combine interview went well.”
Although he’s only been a member of the Sixers organization for less than a month, McCain is already getting acclimated to the team. He says he’s already spoken and FaceTimed with All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey — who he’ll be learning under at the start of his career — and he’s also had conversations and texted with former NBA MVP Joel Embiid, who is currently overseas playing for Team USA in the Olympics at the moment.
He also singles out Kyle Lowry — an 18-year NBA veteran and NBA champion — as someone he’s looking forward to learning from. The 6-foot-2 rookie is also looking forward to playing with Paul George, whom the Sixers signed early in free agency shortly after drafting McCain.
“It's the best,” says McCain of being able to learn from Maxey and Lowry. “I don't know what more I can ask. Kyle Lowry has been in the league almost the same amount of time I've been alive. To get the ins and outs of the game, how to stay in this league, how to find opportunity on the court, just going in there with an open mind and doing anything I can to help the team win.”
The 20-year-old is also starting to get acclimated to the NBA by playing in Summer League and while the results haven’t been perfect, he’s slowly trending in the right direction. McCain posted 15 points on 6-for-15 from the field, while going 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in his first Summer League game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Since then, he’s slowly improved, leading the Sixers to a 92-90 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in their most recent game with a team-high 21 points, including 9-for-9 from the charity stripe.
However, he’s still struggling with his efficiency, going 5-for-16 (31.25%) from the field in the win. While the shooting has been an issue during his six games in Summer League so far — he’s shooting 27.5% from the field — efficiency was actually one of McCain’s strong traits while playing at Duke, converting on 46.2% of his shots from the field and 41.4% from beyond the arc. His 61.1% true shooting percentage actually ranked eighth in the ACC last season.
McCain believes that playing for one of the most pressure-packed college programs such as Duke will prepare him well for Philadelphia, a city with a passionate sports fan base starving for a championship.
“Duke is the biggest platform in college basketball,” says McCain of his time in Durham, North Carolina. “I think just going and playing those games, obviously having a passionate fan base — just like Philly does — knowing what that takes and knowing the pressure, I'm used to it by now. I think the main thing I learned from Duke is just have fun with it. This is basketball.”
Although McCain played just one year at Duke, his mindset is beyond his years. He says “confidence” is key, even when you’re going through a rough patch.
“No matter if I'm going through a rough patch — the fans can be upset with you — but if you're not going to be confident in yourself, then nothing is going to work out for you,” says McCain. “Always stay the course. Never get too high, never get too low.”
As he prepares to begin his rookie season, McCain is partnering with Amazon for a video series called “Dorm Roomz.” McCain — who details this was his first-ever commercial — explains that the purpose of the series is to share his tips on creating a dorm room vibe, while also sharing advice on what to grab from Amazon’s “Off to College” shopping guide.
“It was the perfect collaboration,” says McCain of his partnership with Amazon. “Amazon literally has everything. And for my dorm room especially, it was perfect. I got literally everything from there. Having that dorm room was perfect for me to succeed in my daily routine, and I'll continue it as I go through my pro career.”
While McCain obviously has a lot of things going for him outside of being a first-round pick and his collaboration with Amazon, some of his very notable traits are his charisma, smile and natural on-screen presence. It makes sense considering the 20-year-old is well-known for his social media popularity, with 3.5 million followers on TikTok and 1.3 million followers on Instagram.
The young guard explains why he’s so comfortable in front of the camera — something that will serve him well if he ends up emerging as a big star in the NBA.
“I've always been comfortable in my own body and whatever I do,” says McCain. “I talk to myself a lot — my parents talk to me about it along with my mentors — is just to always be yourself. I think that allows me to be comfortable in any situation I'm in, because I'm never going to try and act like something else. I'm always going to have this joyful attitude about life. That's brought me to where I'm at today, whether it's just having gratitude for everything outside of basketball, or just being myself.”
