Jared McCain On ‘Podcast P With Paul George’

Jared McCain joins Paul George to discuss blocking out the haters, the NBA player that inspired him to start painting his nails, and the weirdest pre-draft question he received on “Podcast P with Paul George”.

We share this week’s episode of “Podcast P with Paul George”, presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment, where PG and the guys are joined by Philadelphia 76ers rookie and rising NBA star Jared McCain.

During the episode, Jared shares his experiences from his time at Duke University to draft night to his excitement about joining the Philadelphia 76ers, as well as his anticipation of playing against NBA greats.

Later in the episode, he shares his various mental health practices, including working with a sports psychologist, journaling, and doing things that make him happy such as painting his nails and creating TikToks.

He also discusses his love for TikTok and how it has become a significant part of his identity, even more recognizable than his basketball career at times.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• [2:21] JARED SHARES SHARES HE WAS INSPIRED BY JORDAN CLARKSON TO PAINT HIS NAILS AND THE INITIAL REACTION FROM HIS PARENTS

Jared: “It started in Covid. That’s when I first started. Jordan Clarkson was the first person I see get their nails like a different color and then I just started doing it. I played well with them on and I was like, let me just keep it going. I did it myself. The first color I did was lavender– came downstairs, mom and dad look at me a little crazy– wasn’t the best reaction. My parents are a little old, so definitely don’t rock with that, but they support it now. He definitely had some questions, but he got used to it.”

• [5:02] JARED ON REMAINING AUTHENTIC TO HIMSELF AND HOW HE BLOCKS OUT THE NEGATIVE COMMENTS HE RECEIVES ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Jared: “I mean that’s just how I’ve been raised. My brother’s really positive. My mom is always smiling. She’s five feet and she’s just always smiling no matter what. I feel like that’s where I get it from, just how I was raised and once I started doing everything in the social media, I just became like that’s who I am. I’m authentic to myself and being joyful, having fun with life. A lot of people take this basketball stuff so serious and it is at certain times, but I just like to have fun with it. That’s when I’m playing at my best and then outside of the court, I just do whatever. If I’m dancing, doing whatever, paying my nails. I know everybody has certain opinions on everything, but I’m just going to be myself and I’ve always prided myself on that and it’s got me to the NBA, so I’m just grateful every time.”

PG: “I do got to ask you a little bit on that because obviously the media is the media, right? Everybody got something to say and got an opinion on shit, how you deal with,motherfuckers is on your bumper, in the comment section going crazy. They talking about it on SportsCenter or ESPN or whatever you say. How you deal with that part of it?”

Jared: “Yeah, I mean at first it was tough. I was like, I’m trying to spread positivity and then people are hating saying everything to me at games. It was crazy, but at a certain point I’m just like, it’s either insecure about themselves or just projecting something that maybe they’re hiding whatever to themselves and they’re just trying to throw an opinion out just to get a reaction out of you. That’s all they want is a reaction…So just it you get used to it at a certain point….I’ve done basketball since I was three years old. I do this stuff on the side, but obviously it’s got me where I’m at today, but when they trying to overshadow my hard work in basketball just by saying I’m just the TikTok and the nails, that’s when I hate it, but you’s something you got to live with.”

• [7:42] JARED ON WORKING WITH A SPORTS PSYCHOLOGIST AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

Jared: “I got a psychologist going into Duke. I was like, I knew it was going to be crazy so that summer I was like, I need to talk to somebody whether it’s outside of my family. So it was someone I actually know throughout my whole life and he’s a sports psychologist and he’s helped me throughout the whole year– through the rough patch of Duke in the beginning– he helped me a lot, so I kind of knew going into it. Duke has a bunch of fans, but there’s a lot of haters too and it’s going to come with that.”

• [25:42] JARED ON THE PRE-DRAFT PROCESS, HOW EVERY TEAM BROUGHT UP HIS SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE AND THE WEIRDEST QUESTION HE RECEIVED FROM AN UNNAMED GM

Jackie Long: “I want to know how often was your social media presence brought up during your draft interviews?”

Jared: “Yeah, pretty much everyone. Oh man. Yeah, they didn’t talk about my nails though, which I was kind of surprised by that. My agent told me be ready for that. I was ready for it. But yeah, they talked about my social media, a lot of stuff, they just want to know how you grew up and your family, everything… I just remember the question that I got asked that was crazy. It was not from the Sixers. I don’t know if I’m going to say a team but they were like the GM. He was like, you doing yoga and I was like, yeah and he was like, how would you feel if we had you walk in and we had yoga and all the moms were there and I kind of was silent for a little bit. I’m laughing awkwardly, smiling, laughing, and he’s like, how would you feel? I’m like, I like moms. Then it stopped. He got up and went to the bathroom and when he came back we just switched subjects…I was so confused.”

• [28:34] JARED RECOUNTS DRAFT DAY AND BEING SCARED TO DAP UP ADAM SILVER

Jared: “I hadn’t ate and I had coffee and I never have caffeine, so a lot of people don’t know this. I’m at the draft table and I’m like, damn, mom, I got to go to the bathroom ma. I’m struggling right now because I’m already nervous. I’m anxious and the coffee with nothing in my stomach, I was struggling. So I’m like, can we hurry this up? Let’s go but I’m super excited. The draft’s going by and I get to my range and I’m like, damn, this is about to happen. My hands getting sweaty, I don’t even know what I’m thinking to be honest and then finally after Miami, Miami pick and then Philly has the pick is in. My agent looks at me, he’s like, we’re going to Philly and I was like, this is crazy. This is insane and I’m trying to keep it in before I get drafted, but I’m moving and after that it’s like a blur. Adam Silver walks out, says my name. I get to hug my brother the moment I visualize for a whole year straight. It was a dream come true and really one thing I was trying to not mess up is the handshake Dap Up or Handshake with Adam Silver. I was kind of scared about that. It was clean. He knew what he was doing for sure.”

• [35:13] JARED SAYS HE GETS RECOGNIZED MORE FOR BEING A TIKTOK STAR THAN BEING A BASKETBALL PLAYER

Jared: “I get called TikToker more than basketball player by far, especially in college, people would be outside of Cameron Indoor [Stadium]. Just fans will just wait outside, but it was all people just there for my TikToks…they’re all just supporting me, I built that platform, so it’s cool that they even watch my TikToks, but sometimes I’m like, damn, am I good at basketball? Do y’all even know I play basketball?”

Jackie: “I like this because now you just got a lot proving to do people wrong, man. You know what I’m saying? You can just, all the people that think I’m just a TikTok or you could do this and all the people that your mama and daddy want to talk to, you can just prove them wrong.”

Jared: “That’s my favorite part. Throughout my whole life or throughout the social media part of my life. Everybody calls me TikTok like on the court as a dis, and I never thought of it as a dis.”

• [42:31] JARED CONFIRMS HE IS PLANNING TO CONTINUE WORKING WITH HIS PSYCHOLOGIST ON THE SIXERS

Jared: “Yeah, definitely. I mean, I’ve worked with him since Duke– work with him now. I mean, I talked to him a few weeks ago for Summer League. He always sends me little reminders before games. I’ll definitely keep that. It’s something that just helps my mental health and if my mind isn’t right, then I’m not going to play right. So I’ve always been big on just keeping a good mental health balance of the off court stuff and on court stuff so I can play my best.”

PG: “So it is very smart. I think I didn’t take advantage of that until the bubble happened because a simple black man, my father, had never seen him break down or go to a psychologist or speak to someone. So I felt I don’t have to and then I reached a point where it was like, fuck, I need someone and I reached out to them. They helped me get through certain situations and to where now if I do, I don’t use them as much as I did back then, but if I do need someone to talk to, I’m very comfortable with opening up that dialogue.”

• [46:39] JARED SAYS HE’S MOST EXCITED TO LINE UP AGAINST STEPHEN CURRY, JALEN BRUNSON, LEBRON JAMES, AND KEVIN DURANT IN THE NBA

Jared: “I mean it’s going to be Steph Curry for sure, but [Jalen] Brunson, I’ve watched his college highlights. Me and my trainer, he sends me film a lot and a lot of the highlights were just him in college so I’ve been watching [Jalen] Brunson for a long time now. I think the people who I don’t see often, I’ve seen LeBron [James] a little bit just in person. It’s like KD [Kevin Durant], I’ve never seen him before. I feel like I’m just going to be like, wow, this is crazy. Yeah, there’s a lot that’s going to throw me off.”

• [50:27] JARED SAYS HE CONSISTENTLY JOURNALS AND HAS 3 ON HAND AT ALL TIMES TO STAY ON TOP OF HIS GOALS

Jared: “I used to watch YouTube this guy Matt D’Avella.. he did a ‘I journaled for 30 days straight’… He did all that– got me into meditation, yoga, journaling. He does it all for like 30 days and he just shows us the benefits so that’s really the first person who I got for journaling….I have one in my high school bedroom that, I mean it had ‘Get a Duke offer’, ‘Get a Kentucky offer’. I didn’t get that one, but it don’t matter. Gonzaga, certain things like that, make Team USA by 18, McDonald’s, All American–I reached a lot of those…I got probably only 7 to 10 [journals] probably I’ve been through. I always have 3 with me– I got a manifestation journal, a gratitude journal, and then just my thoughts or plans for the day.”

• [58:20] JARED CALLS COOPER FLAG ELITE AFTER SEEING PLAY AT DUKE

Jared: “He was pretty set on Duke. I mean, from what I witnessed, he was like, I want to be here. I didn’t really do much for him. We did some pickup with him– he’s elite. I just came back from practice, I was in Durham for a little bit and just watching him. He’s just a very elite player. I don’t want to put no expectations on him, but great kid, works hard. I think the biggest thing that stands out with him is just playing hard. I think that’s an underrated skill for a number one player in the country– just playing hard and he does that defensively, offensively–so I’m excited to watch it this year.”