Philadelphia 76ers rookie Jared McCain was on the fast track to emerging as one of the NBA’s Rookie of the Year candidates.
The 16th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft came out of the gates hot amid injuries to Sixers stars Joel Embiid and Paul George. Forced to take on more of a lead role despite being on a stacked roster with championship expectations at the start of the season, McCain averaged 15.3 points per game on .460% shooting from the field while converting on .383% of his shots from beyond the arc.
During the month of November alone, McCain averaged 19.1 points per game to win Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honors. That month was highlighted by his 27-point performance in an overtime win over the Charlotte Hornets – he scored 23 points in the second half and overtime alone – along with his 34-point performance against the best team in the league in the Cleveland Cavaliers.
His 27-point performance against the Hornets snapped the Sixers’ five-game losing streak.
“I never really had a moment where I didn’t feel comfortable,” says McCain in a one-on-one interview. “I always was ready even in our very first game. I got in with like two minutes left. I felt ready to be in the game no matter when it was.
“But I really truly felt like I can hang with everybody else probably during the Hornets game,” McCain continues to say.”I think we played them early on, got the first win and that was probably the one.”
Jared McCain Using Season-Ending Injury As ‘Fuel’ To Make Him Better
However, McCain’s season ended after emerging out of the gates as clearly one of the NBA’s best rookies. He suffered a torn meniscus in a Dec. 13 game against the Indiana Pacers. He was officially ruled out for the season in January.
McCain says he’s using this injury as “fuel” to make him better moving forward in his NBA career.
“I read a book called ‘The Obstacle is The Way’ and the main thing it talked about is creating an advantage through your adversity,” says McCain. “That’s really what I’ve been trying to do. Any little motivation I can give myself, any advantage I can create through this injury, I’m trying to figure it out. I’m trying to learn from it and I know the universe will let me come back a better player.”
The Duke Blue Devils alum – he was at the team’s Sweet 16 win over the Arizona Wildcats – goes into detail about what his rehab looks like as he looks to come back “better” from his torn meniscus injury.
“I’m still lifting, I can do some on-court stuff and I’m doing PT every day,” says McCain. “So I pretty much got like three-to-four workouts a day, whether it’s recovery, PT, lifting on court, and just kind of continuing the consistency, stacking good days. It’s pretty boring. I gotta fall in love with the boring days. But it is dreading sometimes, but I know it’s helping me and I know I’ll come back even better.”
The 21-year-old McCain showed an ease in transitioning into the NBA, with his averages during his rookie season mirroring his lone season at Duke when he ranked second on the team in scoring while leading them to an Elite 8 appearance.
McCain had actually struggle during Summer League action prior to his rookie season, converting on just 28.2% of his field goal attempts and three-point shots. However, he showed no signs of those struggles as he emerged as the team’s lead scoring option prior to his injury, leading the team in scoring in eight of his last 13 appearances of the season.
“I felt like there wasn’t too much of a learning curve,” says McCain. “I think I had to learn the pace of the game, slow it down a little bit. But once I found the spots I want to go to and get into a rhythm, I really felt like I thrived. That’s what I wasn’t finding in summer league. But once I was able to get a rhythm in the league and the actual NBA was, it felt nice.”
Jared McCain Partnering With Dove Men+Care During March Madness
McCain is partnering up with Dove Men+Care during March Madness and the campaign will feature social media content. The young Sixers star details why Dove’s products are important to him and his routine leading into games while also aligning with his well-being off of the court.
The young star mentions Dove’s “Whole Body Deodorant” as his favorite product.
“I think with a lot of my partnerships, the main thing is making sure it’s authentic to me,” says McCain. “When I play basketball, when I’m off the court, I always like to look good, feel good, and that leads to making me play well. With Dove Men+Care, it makes it easy, it fits perfectly.”
My routine is based around I gotta get my nails done, I gotta get a haircut, I just gotta feel good. With Dove Men+Care, I think every man should need to get their routine better and I think it fits perfectly.”