[autotag]Jared McCain[/autotag]’s NBA Summer League debut wasn’t perfect, but the former Blue Devils star still finished his first professional basketball game with 15 points and six rebounds to help lead Philadelphia to a comeback victory on Monday night.
After the win, the newest member of the 76ers jumped on SportsCenter to talk about how his first NBA experience felt.
“It was amazing,” McCain said. “I was so excited to get out there, I was nervous, I had butterflies, but to get out there and just play basketball, it’s what I’ve loved to do since I was a kid.”
Despite only spending one season with the Blue Devils, McCain has spoken glowingly about his time in Durham during the NBA draft cycle and offseason. He talked about how much he loves the school at the draft and called the Blue Devils the best program in the country during his introductory speech, and he couldn’t resist another chance to build up his old program on ESPN.
“Being at Duke, being on the biggest platform in college basketball, the best program in college basketball, it was just cool to learn from Coach Scheyer, learn from my vets.”
76ers rookie Jared McCain chatted about his NBA Summer League debut 🍿 pic.twitter.com/QK7FGjnequ
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 9, 2024
The Sixers went through a pretty complete rehaul this offseason as well, and McCain will get to play alongside stars like Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey.