11-Year Vet CJ McCollum Recalls Dismaying ‘Welcome to the NBA Moment’ Given by Manu Ginobili and Gregg Popovich: “How Am I Gonna Survive in This League?”

Now entering his 11^th year in the NBA, New Orleans Pelicans star CJ McCollum was drafted 10^th overall back in the 2013 NBA draft. However, his start to life in the NBA wasn’t the easiest. During a recent appearance on the “All the Smoke” podcast, McCollum talked about a special “welcome to the NBA moment” he suffered during his rookie year. Manu Ginobili and Gregg Popovich gave the then Portland Trail Blazers star a teaser of what it’s like being in the NBA.

McCollum averaged 5.3 points in his first season in the league and had a difficult transition from college basketball. He has since then become a bona fide veteran and has enjoyed his time in the NBA. Still, McCollum remembers the embarrassment handed out by Ginobili and Coach Pop quite well.

CJ McCollum talks about his ‘Welcome to the NBA moment’ involving Manu Ginobili

McCollum was treated by Ginobili in an almost hilarious fashion during their first NBA encounter. As it happened, the Argentine star first made a sign to his coach and then proceeded to run the same play seven times in a row.

Ginobili drained 5 shots out of 6 attempts and ended up passing to his teammate for a 3 during the 7^th play. Speaking on the All the Smoke podcast, McCollum revealed that he was left embarrassed after the whole fiasco. McCollum said,

“West Coast road trip. Got to play the Spurs next. Welcome to the land of Manu Ginobili. Manu, he starts talking in his language, looks at Pop[Gregg Popovich]. He holds up like, in my mind, he is calling me a loser. He holds up this, I guess like an angle. He wanted to screen me like a high angle screen.”

“He backs up to half court, throws the ball, runs at me, Euro. They run the same play seven times in a row. He scored on five of six. The sixth one I think he passes to somebody for three. This is different. I was like, this is different. I was thinking like, “How am I going to survive in this league?”

Pop ran the same play seven times in a row to welcome @CJMcCollum to the league. 😭#ATSWelcomeToTheNBA pic.twitter.com/GcaSHkneow

— SHOWTIME Basketball (@shobasketball) August 2, 2023

The Pelicans guard claimed that the situation was made worse because Ginobili spoke in Spanish. The overall experience led to McCollum wondering if and how he will ever survive in the NBA.

McCollum has established himself as an NBA veteran

While McCollum didn’t have the best start to his NBA career, he has improved tremendously since. The now 31-year-old won the Most Improved Player award in 2016 and has averaged more than 20 points for 10 straight seasons.

Despite this, McCollum is yet to be selected as an All-Star. His impressive Trail Blazers performances have went under the radar simply because the franchise has struggled to compete at the highest level in recent years.

McCollum will now be hoping to lead a full-strength New Orleans Pelicans to the playoffs next season. Apart from his on-court achievements, CJ has also bagged two $100 million plus contracts, and has secured a staggering $179,591,129 in overall career earnings, according to Sportrac.