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PHILADELPHIA — Jared McCain is on Tyrese Maxey's level in the department of consistently upbeat personalities, so it was a surefire guarantee that the Philadelphia 76ers rookie would be all smiles after getting his first taste of NBA action in the preseason.
“It's the best feeling of my life,” McCain, flashing a big grin, said after the Sixers' rousing victory over the NBL's New Zealand Breakers. “I was nervous but that was amazing.”
McCain spent nearly 28 minutes on the court, playing with some rotation guys and some young players who are bound for the G League. He recorded 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists while shooting 5-14 from the field. After not shooting very well in Summer League, McCain shot 4-9 from deep against the Breakers. The competition was of a similar level to what McCain saw in the summer but, nonetheless, ripping off threes in front of his new home crowd felt great.
As long as McCain doesn’t get blocked, he said, he feels like every shot he takes is going in.
“Yeah, he can get them up, man,” Nick Nurse said. “He comes off screens hard. He's a guy that can find himself space to get open. Got a pretty decent drive game on top of it.”
McCain launched one of his triples with hardly any downward arm movement. Just as quickly as Jeff Dowtin. Jr swung the ball his way, he caught it near his shoulder and went up with it. He said he works on those types of shots “a lot” to combat the taller opposition.
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— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) October 8, 2024
“It's something as a smaller guard I think you have to be able to do,” he said. “If I'm gonna be a small guard, catch and shoot, you have to be able to have a quick release with everybody being so tall in this league. It's something I've been working on for a while now and it's nice that it's shown.”
Jared McCain gushes over first NBA action in 76ers preseason win
McCain had himself an incredible training camp. Perhaps sensing how much good rapport he could build with teammates and how much he can stand out to coaches — and, of course, because he has been an intense competitor for a long time — he practiced hard and left the 76ers impressed.
Still, McCain was shaky for much of the preseason game. Defensively, he got beat often and made a handful of bad mistakes on both sides of the ball. There were times when the game looked too fast for him, when he was out of sync. It's a work in progress. He's leaning on his star teammate and not letting his work ethic slip.
“A lot of it's just getting comfortable,” McCain said. “Like, I'm just talking to Maxey — when did he start feeling comfortable? How did he get comfortable so quick? I just wanna find myself out there on the court, find joy because I feel like that's when I'm playing my best — and all the rest will come with hard work.”
Nurse admitted that the rookie got off to a rocky start but was pleased with how he “settled in” as time went on in the 76ers' win.
“He made about three mistakes about as fast as you could make 'em when he checked in,” Nurse said. “But, first time on an NBA floor, you don't really have to worry about foul problems in a game like this. He was gonna play a lot tonight regardless.”
In due time, McCain will settle into NBA life and the speed of the professional game. There’s a lot of progress to be made. But there’s also a first step to sit back and admire.
“The greatest feeling ever. This is everything I've lived up to. I feel like I'm in 2K. This is amazing. There's no way to describe it,” Jared McCain said. “Like, I've played 2K, I've watched basketball games since I was a kid. And to put on that jersey tonight, there was no other feeling like it.”
