Big things are expected of Jared McCain already as a rookie. The Philadelphia 76ers’ 16th overall draft pick was a massive part of Duke’s NCAA campaign in the past season and could be a great role player for the Philly side in the next few years. However, the 20-year-old doesn’t intend to stop there. While speaking about his career goals, McCain referred to Boston Celtics superstar, Jayson Tatum’s career trajectory in the NBA.
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Interestingly, Tatum is also a Duke alum. Despite all the criticism that he may receive, Tatum‘s career resume so far has been pretty enviable. He is the face of arguably the NBA’s most winningest franchise, a five-time All-Star, and of course, an NBA Champion, among so many other things.
Therefore, McCain has planned a similar kind of path to success for himself in the league. The 76ers rookie recently told reporters,
“If I could follow Jayson Tatum’s path exactly, I’d call that a real successful career for me … There’s so much stuff I can learn. Especially from a guy like Tatum.” [per Daniel Donabedian]
Jared McCain wants to take it all in before his rookie season. And he knows his Duke connections will help:
“If I could follow Jayson Tatum's path exactly, I'd call that a real successful career for me … There's so much stuff I can learn. Especially from a guy like Tatum.” pic.twitter.com/gbqB9EYXb0
— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) July 25, 2024
Of course, there will be those who say that his goals are a bit ambitious. However, as every superstar in the league will admit, self-belief is a very important thing to achieve greatness.
With Paul George joining the 76ers, McCain is now part of a squad that is a legitimate title contender. Therefore, the rookie will be looking to gather as much postseason experience as he can, like JT, to spearhead a team to the Championship in the future.
McCain has already shown that he has the talent to make this happen. And what’s even more encouraging is that he is already reaching out to his seniors on the Philadelphia 76ers squad to achieve success as soon as possible.
Jared McCain has already had conversations with Tyrese Maxey and Kyle Lowry
There have been countless rookies who have come into the NBA believing that they don’t need advice, before eventually realizing how wrong they were. Fortunately, McCain has not made the same mistake.
As he revealed to Forbes, he has already approached the veterans on his team for help. He said,
“It’s the best [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.”
Additionally, the 76ers rookie has also engaged with Joel Embiid over Facetime. Now, Philadelphia fans will hope that he can put all that advice to good use, and blossom when he is needed most by the franchise.
