Jared McCain Sits Down for First Interview as a 76er

Jared McCain Sits Down for First Interview as a 76er

Jared McCain welcome to Philadelphia thank you something that I was excited to learn about you is that you’re a journaler right every day since high school yes since probably fresh sophomore year of high school Co and those of us who Journal know that one of the benefits is you can crystallize your memories right you’ve had a lot of memories to build in the last few days what memories are you crystallizing from draft night really it’s like the very specific moments like whether it’s hugging my family hugging my brother um trying not to trip on stage like very Sim putting on the hat uh going backstage after the draft just to hug my family again my friends uh very specific moments I like to journal about and kind of visualize and you come almost straight to Philadelphia which is a city you said you haven’t spent much time in so what are your first memories of Philly going to be um I guess now trying a Philly cheese steak which is very good okay um what’ you get on it it was lettuce tomato and onions okay so had a little bit of everything on it no no it was cheese okay good it was cheese it was cheese um um but yeah I think that’s part of the main memory I have right now but going over the bridge from New Jersey to to Philly um yeah we’ll see what Memories We we get to make out here though to bring a tick tock term to this more formal environment you’re someone with a ton of Aura right and for those that don’t know Aura is sort of where confidence meets individualism and you have a ton of it so thank you than you how would you describe in your own words the Jared McCain Aura I think it’s just a positive vibe um who tries to have fun with life and yeah I think that’s pretty much it just Positive Vibes that’s what I try to bring everywhere and that’s a Persona that’s very clear in your online presence how would you describe how that Persona might differ from your basketball Persona which I know you’ve been very intentional about keeping basketball sort of the main thing and the internet is secondary what’s it like to live those sort of like it’s like a Hannah Montana thing like the two different lives yeah I get a lot of the Troy Bolton comparisons Corbin blue comparisons that’s my player comp right now um but yeah it’s kind of cool to have two different lives almost um obviously the social media and the basketball but a lot of stuff I do is almost combine with it I try to have fun that’s that’s literally the main thing I do with life I talk to God about it a lot every day um and I kind of bring that onto the court I’m just having fun and I’m out there doing what I love since I was four years old you called yourself the hardest worker in the draft Tyrese Maxi fancies himself the hardest worker in the league what are you looking forward to in terms of learning from he’s not a young guy anymore he’s a vet he’s an Allstar people have compared you guys for maybe what you lack in size you make up for in skill and in work yeah what do you think you can learn from him everything I mean uh curiosity is something I’m I’m trying to be big on especially coming to the NBA not trying to Big Time anything and so just asking him his how his transition went obviously he was one and done and just trying to ask him how he fit into the NBA what were some things he learned quickly that made him so successful um but yeah obviously working out with him um um the work ethic just learning everything I can from him are you guys going to compete over who can work harder I think so I think I think that’s a great competition to have so yeah speaking of work speaking of teammates we got to talk about Joel embiid who has a sort of illustrious history of working well with guards with Shooters Twan game a Duke shooter that was here a few years ago they thrived together right two Duke Shooters actually if you want to talk about JJ instead okay yeah I was thinking said I forgot about JJ that’s how long I’ve been here we don’t talk about JJ though Lakers illustrious career yeah yeah yeah when you think about becoming perhaps the next Duke shooter to have good on court chemistry with Joel embiid what are the thoughts that go through your head everything I mean I feel like I can space the floor with him um obviously he’s one of the best players in the world so again learning from him uh ask him how to play off of him and uh yeah I think it’ll be a fun uh a fun person to get to know we’ve mentioned Duke a couple times your experience there I watched an interview where I think you were talking about the idea that being in that environment set you up well to handle haters right to handle criticism perhaps Philly fans are going to hold you really accountable have you thought about the parallel sort of between Philadelphia fans and and that experience at do for sure they’re they’re ride or die with their team um even since high school you know I’ve had the social media I’ve I’ve gotten hate since high school I’ve painted my nails since high school so I understand um the Tik toks always are com going to come into play after one bad game I understand it uh but going to do what are they going to say you already know what they’re going to say yeah it’s going to be like I already it’s going to I’ve been on Twitter it’s going to be like um Joel embiid says Jared we need to make a three and it’s like Jared McCain and then it’s going to be one of my Tik toks I already know I already know what it’s going to be U but Duke I think going to Duke set me up for that uh I already know what’s going to come with it and I’m prepared for it and I just embrace it I try to um just work as hard as I can and and prove everyone that I can I belong here you’ve been journaling since high school you’ve been painting your nails since high school why is this individualism that you really really sort of lead the charge in so important to you I think I think it’s just being myself like my parents have instilled into uh in in me to just be myself since I was a kid and whether they supported the painting nails or the Tik toks or anything like that they’re always going to just love me no matter what and I think having that confidence um along with them um has build me to the person I am today like I I I’m not going to stop I I’ve gotten here being myself and I won’t stop now for for anybody in the comments telling me to not paint my nails or something and you’re going to inspire a lot of young kids by way that might be dealing with similar things and trying to grow into themselves what what’s your message to to young kids that might want to walk on perhaps not the beaten path or be themselves like you what do you hope that they can learn from you just like find whatever you love find whatever makes you happy and just continue it it doesn’t matter if somebody doesn’t like it or doesn’t agree with you um if you like to pay your nails pin your nails if you don’t you don’t you like journaling you like meditation just find whatever you love continue to do it and reach your goals I think always trying to dream Chase is something I’ve been big on my whole life you’ve mentioned your parents you’ve mentioned your brother a lot throughout this draft process what little pieces of each of them are you going to take with you into this next phase um I think my my brother’s big on gratitude as well um and just staying present like this a lot of stuff gets thrown at you in the NBA it’s very quick um so you have to just Embrace every moment and try to take it in and uh learn as much as possible I mean these are the best players in the world and I’m a rookie coming in and I’m trying to be one of those so I’m just going to ask them as many questions and have them as a backbone um for anything I need what about Mom and Dad you mentioned brother but maybe specific things you might take from mom who I saw here today and she seems just so proud my mom it’s very easy with my mom it’s just the positive attitude like she just she has a she’s a bubble of of light uh wherever she goes so I think I’m just trying to bring that wherever I go and then my dad you know he’s he’s he put the basketball in my hand so I think with him it’s more keep the main thing the main thing like love what you do and and work hard at it and continue to reach your goals so I got a a good balance of both so I don’t usually lead with this but I also went to Duke oh last question we’re going to leave on this one for those still watching the Duke people what’s your cookout order oh um is this like what what time of day is this well if you’re eating there in the morning I have questions that is a good question end day you want a little treat um I’m getting the bacon cheeseburger tray with double cajun fries and the the peanut butter milkshake only peanut butter yeah you’re not throwing anything chocol I think it would be the Reese’s I don’t know if it’s Reese’s but it’s peanut butter chocolate yeah okay don’t knock it till you try it blueberry Oro cheesecake we’ll be back in North Carolina in a couple months you can try about that one I don’t know about that Jared McCain thank you so much thank you it was a pleasure to see you and Billy’s very excited I’m very excited too

Jared McCain discusses Draft Night from his POV, his online presence, what he’s looking forward to in his professional career and more!