Sep 30, 2024; Camden, NJ, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain (20) poses for a photo on media day at the Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher
Jared McCain was smiling from ear to ear before he even took the podium on Monday.
"Of course. It's the best feeling of my life. I was nervous, but that was amazing," McCain said, with a smile, when On Pattison teased him about smiling.
Whatever nerves he felt didn't last long. McCain attempted his first shot - a missed 26-foot step back - just 43 seconds into his debut.
He wasn't discouraged by the miss. A great shooter never is.
A little more than four minutes later, McCain broke through with a pull-up behind a Guerschon Yabusele screen:
There's never just one snowflake parachuting in from the sky, though. That pull-up broke the seal, starting a light flurry for the rookie guard:
Preseason or not, it's an adrenaline rush. A recreational player might be wondering how long they can go without a miss. To a professional, the mind is filled with things like "remember to space out to the wing when the driver attacks middle from the weak-side wing" or "keep your mechanics consistent".
McCain has his warts. He's a tweener guard at this point. He got hung up on screens in the Sixers' preseason win over the New Zealand Breakers. It will be difficult to find rotation minutes when you don't have the athleticism to create real leverage for your playmaking game as a point guard or the height to be a shooting guard.
Nick Nurse paired McCain with other guards throughout the game. It's not a coincidence. Philadelphia wants to see how McCain plays as an off-ball guard.
If he's going to have a prayer at the rotation as a rookie, he's going to need to make threes at a high clip. At his size, he's going to need to get them off quickly.
Of course, it doesn't matter how quickly you pull the trigger if you're not accurate. The trick is to maintain your mechanics from catch to release, from shot to shot, as you work on quickening your draw.
Former Sixer Nico Batum was especially skilled at connecting on triples without needing to dip into his shooting pocket between catch and release. He has to adjust to things like distance, speed and closeout time at this level, but McCain is working on those secrets, including the no-dip skill.
"Not as much when you work on it constantly. It's just constant muscle memory. I just know once I get it off, it has a chance," McCain told On Pattison of the difficulty in maintaining mechanics on deeper, quicker shots after the preseason-opening victory on Monday.
"Every single time I shoot, I feel like it's going in. So, as long as I get it off without it getting blocked, I feel like it's going in."
McCain's rookie season, his career, has just begun. He will battle adversity through the long months of the NBA season.
But, Monday was a splashy beginning, a surreal 27 minutes and 39 seconds for the no. 16 overall pick in the 2024 draft.
"The greatest feeling ever. I mean, this is everything I've lived up to. I feel like I'm in [NBA] 2K. This is amazing. There's no way to describe it," McCain said.
"I've played 2K, I've watched basketball games since I was a kid. To put on that jersey tonight, there was no other feeling like it."
Yabusele shared a similar sentiment. But, his path to that podium in the bowels of The Center was much different than McCain's.
Sure, they have the draft slot in common. They have the name on the front of the jersey in common.
But, Yabusele had long been given up on by the NBA when McCain adorned his Sixers hat on draft night.
It took a dunk on LeBron James in the Olympic Gold Medal Game this summer to officially punch his ticket back to the NBA.
But, there he was on Monday night, tied for the team lead in scoring at the final buzzer. 15 points on 6-for-6 shooting.
"I'm not going to lie, it felt amazing. To be able to get the win and everybody on the team be able to perform, it's been a night. It's been a long road, but happy to be here," Yabusele said.
Nurse thinks of Yabusele as a power forward. Yabusele has had conversations with staffers about playing some minutes at center. He's working on making decisions as the roll man out of ball screens. He has his foot back in the NBA's door. Anything to keep that door open.
It's an adjustment for which he's continuously preparing himself. He can do so with the comfort of knowing that his life outside of basketball is settled, his family simply happy for him to have this opportunity.
"Pretty good. I think we can always ask them, but I think they love it. They love the city, they love being here. The whole situation, with the summer and everything that went on, they're just enjoying the time and being here," Yabusele said of his family's transition to Philadelphia.
"My wife was with me when I was in Boston, so of course she knows the NBA game. But, for her to be able to watch this game, she was telling me how much she missed it. So, I think everybody in general is happy for me to be around here. I think we found a good place here in Philadelphia."
