Philadelphia 76ers rookie guard Jared McCain has already seen the memes.
McCain, who was selected with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, still isn’t afraid to express himself. He paints his nails and posts videos of himself dancing for more than 3.3 million followers on his TikTok before ever playing his first game in the NBA.
He has garnered fans around the world after his one-and-done season at Duke, especially after playing particularly well for Duke during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
But there is a learning curve and, like everyone else, he have some games that are better than others. When that happens, though, he already knows exactly what is going to happen. It will look something like this:
Nick Nurse: Jared we need you to step it up!
Jared McCain in the Locker Room during Halftime down 25: pic.twitter.com/cxzhldibtx
— Justin (@JustinTalksBall) June 27, 2024
Fans are going to make memes using his viral dances, like the tweet included above, and it’s going to make him look very silly.
But he is prepared for that to happen and he recently acknowledged it.
I get all the comments about Jared McCain’s Tik Toks but listen to the guy and tell me he doesn’t seem built for it
In a way all the social media attention/hate may have prepared him for the scrutiny. His game certainly loves the bright lights as wellpic.twitter.com/ora5wlUGRU
— Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1) July 2, 2024
Here is what he said:
“Even since high school, I’ve had the social media. I’ve gotten hate since high school. I’ve painted my nails high school. So I understand. The TikToks are always going to come into play after one bad game. I understand it.”
McCain speculated about what this will look like:
“I’ve been on Twitter. It’s going to be like: ‘Joel Embiid says Jared we need to make a 3.’ Then it’s like: ‘Jared McCain’ and it’s going to be one of my TikToks. I already know what it’s going to be.”
He added, however, that Duke set him up for that kind of a reception.
The rookie said he already knows what is going to come of it, he feels prepared for it, he will embrace it, and. he will work as hard as he can to prove to everyone that he belongs.
