lebron james

Casey Holdahl

As a boy growing up in Canton, Ohio, CJ McCollum only had one plan: to make it to the NBA. It seemed farfetched to many, a group which included some of his teachers, who had surely heard students before McCollum declare such goals only to eventually fall well short, and teammates who questioned whether he was even good enough to make the team at GlenOak High School by his own merits.

And to be fair, McCollum’s detractors did have a point. Standing at 5-7 and weighing somewhere well south of 150 pounds, McCollum didn’t really look the part of future NBA player, nor did he necessarily possess the skills at the time. He failed to make varsity his freshman year, and while he did get the bump up from JV the next season, he played sparingly. So realistically, if you were to ask someone in Canton about a McCollum going on to play in college at that time, let alone in the NBA, they most certainly would have assumed you were talking about CJ’s older brother Errick, who started at GlenOak and would later go on to be named a four-time D-II All-American at Goshen College.

“My brother was really good at basketball and played varsity, so my freshman year I’m on junior varsity and a lot of people would say I was only playing because of my brother,” said the younger McCollum. “They’d say ‘You’re only on JV because your brother is the starting point guard’ this and that. It kind of pissed me off, so I just used that as motivation. I always used to tell my brother — I was Errick’s little brother — I told him ‘One day you’re going to be CJ’s older brother’ and he’d just laugh. He’s like ‘I hope so!’ because that’s the kind of relationship we had.”

Even though Errick might have been the only one to believe him, the lack of faith never prompted CJ to downgrade his expectations nor consider a more feasible plan. It was always NBA or bust for McCollum, a tact he made peace with long before he signed a four-year extension this summer with the Trail Blazers worth roughly $106 million.

“I had that dog in me, just wanted to be great, wanted to kind of prove I belonged because I was a lot smaller than other people.” said McCollum of his first two years at GlenOak. “Teachers telling me ‘You need a Plan B. You’re small, you know the chances of you making it are slim.’ I would tell them ‘My Plan B is Plan A. I make it to the NBA and everything else will fall in line. The degree will take care of itself, I’ll build a resume, but without the NBA, there is no Plan B for me.’”

Which seems a bit reckless, though it’s hard to argue with the results. And there were players who had similar backgrounds to McCollum who gave him the confidence to reach for his incredibly lofty goals. Granted, those players had more going for them than McCollum did at the time, but they still served as models nonetheless for what a kid from Canton could achieve.

“I just remember watching and going to to Cavs games early on as a youngster, being able to see LeBron, playing for King James, seeing LeBron play and just watching his demeanor, his approach to the game,” said McCollum. “Warmups, the fans, how his family reacted and just saying ‘I can’t wait to be in a position to make that kind of impact on the community.’ LeBron being from Ohio, me being from Ohio, I was always able to watch him, watch how he approached everything, watch his business strategies and how he was able to grow his brand. So for me, it was simple. It was like, LeBron is kind of laying the platform for kids from Ohio. You work hard, you do what you’re supposed to do and you can make it to this level, because he grew up 10, 15 minutes from me going to St. (Vincent’s).

“So I was able to watch him and some other guys like Keith McCleod, Kosta Koufous, watching them work hard and get results. So my idea was just work hard, don’t worry about anybody else, don’t worry about distractions, don’t worry about obstacles, injuries. Just do your job, focus on you. You need to have that trust, that faith in yourself and God that everything else will handle itself.”

Though there were moments when it seemed like that faith might not be enough. While he swears he never experienced full-blown doubt  about whether he’d be able to follow in the footsteps of players like James and Koufos (which isn't hard to believe if you've spent any time around him), there was a sense that perhaps things weren’t going as well as they could be. But the combination of redoubling his efforts and undergoing a growth spurt midway through high school put him back on the right path.

“My sophomore year when I didn’t start varsity, I was coming off the bench, sixth man, and that was when I was like ‘Alright, I’m a little behind,’” said McCollum. “You start to look at the trajectory levels of where you’re at — I’m a realist — averaging 6.0 points a game on varsity, I’m 5-7 and I really need to take my game to the next level if I want to make this dream a reality. So I just kind of focused. I evaluated my lifestyle, my work ethic, reevaluated how I could kind of get better and find my niche. Continued to shoot, shoot, shoot, handle, perfect my craft so once I grew a little bit more and got my chance to start varsity, I just told myself ‘This is it. If you leave everything out here, you give yourself the best chance to get a scholarship.’ Then for me, it was baby steps. Get a Division I scholarship and then get to the league, but I hadn’t got that scholarship yet, so I wasn’t even thinking about the league. I was like ‘Just get this scholarship.’ I got my first offer and I was like ‘Alright, we got one, let’s get some more.’ That’s kind of how it went, it kind of snowballed.”

His junior year, McCollum started and scored a school-record 54 points in the first game of the season. His senior year, he would be named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Ohio and finished runner-up to Jared Sullinger for Ohio’s Mr. Basketball. Then it was on to Lehigh, where he started all but the first two games of his collegiate career, led the Mountain Hawks to an upset victory versus Duke in the NCAA Tournament and ultimately won Patriot League Player of the Year twice.

So by the start of his junior year, it was fairly obvious McCollum would at least get a crack at the NBA despite having his final collegiate season cut short due to a broken foot. In the end, Plan A, the only plan McCollum ever had, was fully realized when he was selected by the Trail Blazers with the 10th overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft. And while being a max-level player wasn’t in CJ’s initial plans, he was nonetheless overjoyed to sign on the dotted line this summer rather than testing his fortunes as a restricted free agent in 2017.

“I’m just really thankful, thankful that the organization has been patient with me, they’ve trusted me, they’ve given me opportunities,” said McCollum. “Obviously it’s a dream come true to be able to get an extension of that magnitude. To get that trust and that commitment from an organization is huge, it’s everything a player looks for and everything a player works for. So it’s very comforting to know that they’re willing to go to those measures to secure an extension and keep me here long term. I’m thankful because this is exactly what I wanted. I wanted to be here long term, I want to continue to get better, continue to grow and be a part of this city, on and off the floor.”

But now McCollum has new plans, or at least more varied plans than the singular all-or-nothing approach he took as a young man growing up in northeast Ohio. Few have taken advantage of the opportunities afforded to professional athletes like McCollum has in his first three season, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down despite the fact that he now has, as he puts it, “generational wealth.”

“I laid out a plan early on about what I want to do in the community, what I want to do off the court,” said McCollum. “Launching my journalism program, CJ’s Press Pass, incremental steps that I had planned as we continue to get closer to 25, get closer to 30. I’ve got a lot of things lined up, I’m happy everything is falling into place. Obviously basketball is my priority, that’s my love and my joy and how I make a living, but I want to leave a legacy besides basketball and I think I’ll be in a position to do that. I’m just taking advantage of these platforms and writing, continue to build my resume. I’ve got a lot of stuff planned this year, it’s going to be a great year on and off the court. Just thankful because it’s been a long process and a long journey, but it’s all paid off.”

Though McCollum is quick to point out that this journey isn’t anywhere close to completed. It’s true that he is set for life financially — or at least he will be once his extension kicks in come the start of the 2017-18 season — and his position as Portland’s starting shooting guard is all but assured, barring injury, for the next half decade. But as he has grown from the scrawny kid who was known primarily as “Errick’s little brother” to the man he is today, so too have his expectations going forward. Just having an NBA career, even one which has made him incredibly wealthy, is no longer enough.

“I’m driven by legacy, I’m driven by my last name, I’m driven by where I come from,” said McCollum. “I don’t want to be known as a guy who got paid and then fell off. I don’t want to be know as a guy who they say ‘He was really good early and then he kind of faltered late.’ I want them to say ‘He consistently got better each year. He loved this game. He never changed. He’s the same guy from 16 to 26 to 36. He never changed, he’s just a little bit more mature, but he does the same things, he has the same friends, he acts the same way, he treats people the same way. He treats the janitor like he treats the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.’ I think based on how I was raised, I was raised to never be content and continue to seek the ultimate amount of success, and that’s just not money. Money doesn’t always define success. You need to find that happiness and for me, happiness is working out, giving myself the best chance to put my best foot forward. I think that’s huge, putting a good product on the court, representing where I come from — Canton, Ohio — representing Lehigh University every time I step on the court, every time I leave the house.”

mccollum-proves-you-dont-always-need-a-backup-plan

McCollum Proves You Don't Always Need A Backup Plan

On Thursday, Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts was a guest on The Doug Gottlieb Show on CBS Sports Radio. Over the 15 minute conversation, Stotts discusses LeBron James saying he would have been his pick for 2016 NBA Coach of the Year, Kevin Durant signing as a free agent with the Golden State Warriors, the notion of "super teams" in the NBA, having confidence in your players and his participation in the Men's Wearhouse National Suit Drive.

You can listen to the entire interview here, though I'm transcribed a portion which you can read below...

On LeBron James saying Stotts should have been Coach of the Year:
"To be honest, it felt pretty good. I have a lot of respect obviously for LeBron, what he does and what he’s done in his career, but for him to come out and say that, it made me feel good."

On Cleveland winning the NBA Finals after being down 3-1 to Golden State:
"Obviously it was historical. A lot of things went into it, but when a team can do that and to win two games on the road being down 3-1, it’s really remarkable. It just put an end to a historical season as it was with Golden State and what they did during the regular season, the way they came back against Oklahoma City and then for Cleveland to do that, it was just remarkable. I thought it was a remarkable season to begin with and it finished that way."

On Kevin Durant signing with the Warriors:
"My first reaction was he earned the right to be a free agent. I know a lot of thought went into it and it wasn’t a decision that he took lightly. I know he took a lot of criticism for making that decision but I think he earned that right to make whatever decision he felt was best for him. I think it’s going to be interesting with Golden State. Obviously defending them is going to be a challenge because — we talked about versatility — they were already an extremely talented offensive team and he’s going to make them better. They’re going to be a different team than they were last year, they’re not going to have the big guys. When you lose Festus Ezeli, who is on our team now, and Andre Bogut and Maurice Speights, the look of their frontline is going to be different. But I think they could be just as good just because of what they’ll be able to do at the offensive end."

His thoughts on "super teams" in the NBA:
"You know, I don’t know if it’s good or bad for the league. I’ve just kind of accepted that that’s the way things are. I know people have made comparisons when LeBron went to Miami and that was supposedly the first super team and they won two championships, but it’s not like there was a five year, seven year run dynasty. When you get out on the court, you still have to play the games. Obviously Golden State is going to be very good, but you’ve got to play an 82-game season, you’ve got to go through four series to win a championship. I think the league does thrive on star power, whether it’s star power within a team or having a team be a star. I don’t know, I think the league is doing extremely well, I think it’s extremely popular. I think this is just another story that people are going to be interested in."

On having confidence in shooters like Allen Crabbe and CJ McCollum:
"I’m a big believer in confidence when shooting. It probably goes back to my freshman year in college when I didn’t know whether to shoot or (laughs) you know the phrase. But anyway, I’m a big believer in confidence and Allen and CJ are two different categories. CJ struggled with injuries his first two years and was trying to get incorporated into a roster that was winning 50 games and never really got into a rhythm. I think shooting is about rhythm and confidence. Same thing for AC, really, is that he did have opportunities to play in his first two years but he was playing behind Wes Matthews and Nic Batum and his opportunities on the court were limited. When you’re looking over your shoulder and trying not to make mistakes and putting pressure on (yourself) to make a shot, it’s difficult. I really give it to CJ and Allen, they were ready for this year and they were prepared for it, the opportunity was going to be there. But I think that a lot of players — and you know, you played — is that if the coach trusts me, I’m going to play better. Whether I trusted them or not their first two years, certainly their opportunity was there and I trusted them with the role that they were going to have."

On his participation in the Men's Wearhouse National Suit Drive:
"Every year what I do is I go through the closet and knowing that I’m going to get some suits in the fall, I go through and weed out the older ones. There’s certain ones that I do kind of have a special place in my heart for them, but other than that, I just take some of the older suits and the Men’s Wearhouse has a great program with the suit drive to give away suits to people who can use them. I’m kind of a bigger guy so hopefully there’s some big guys out there who are able to take advantage of them."

stotts-talks-super-teams-and-suits-on-the-doug-gottlieb-show

Stotts Talks Super Teams And Suits On The Doug Gottlieb Show

PORTLAND -- Throughout the 2015-16 season, Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard has found his name mentioned among some of the elites in NBA history. His 50-point, five-assist, five-steal performance versus the Warriors was a line that only Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson and Rick Barry had ever accomplished. He joined Geoff Petrie as the only players in franchise history to score at least 50 points twice in a season and the the first Trail Blazer since Clyde Drexler to score at least 30 points 20 times in a season. And he matched the likes of Nate "Tiny" Archibald and Dwyane Wade in averaging at least 21.2 points and 6.2 assists in his first 300 NBA games.

But as the season goes on, the list of players who have done in their first NBA seasons what Lillard has done get smaller and smaller, as every point, every assist that he puts up pushes him into rarefied air. Such was the case in Tuesday night's overtime victory versus the Wizards at the Moda Center, as Lillard's performance moved him past 1,500 points and 400 assists for season, which would be a great season in and of itself. But this is the fourth time in as many years that Lillard has reached 1,500 points and 400 assists, making him the only player other than Oscar Robertson and LeBron James to score that many points and hand out that many assists in his first four NBA seasons. It's a milestone that the 6-3 point guard out of Weber State chalks up to hard work and opportunity.

"It’s obviously elite company and an honor to be mentioned with those guys," said Lillard after his 41-point, 11-assist performance in Portland's 116-109 overtime victory versus the Wizards Tuesday night at the Moda Center. "And part of it is me getting the opportunity that I’ve gotten from Day One. Not a lot of guys get that opportunity to shoot the ball as many times as I did from the jump, had the ball in their hand as many times. I give a lot of credit to Coach Stotts for that, for having that trust in me and allowing me to be able to accomplish something like this."

While it was Lillard himself who has spent countless hours in the gym honing the skills he already possessed while adding new facets to his game, he credits his relationship with Terry Stotts, the only head coach he's ever known in the NBA, with allowing him the flexibility to show the fruits of those seemingly endless workouts. He's undoubtedly earned the accolades he's received during his first four seasons, though Lillard knows that much of his success is due to being put in the position to both fail and succeed.

"It was huge, just because a lot of guys come into the league not knowing how much time they gonna get," said Lillard of the opportunity given to him my his head coach. "The players that they are in college, they don’t get the chance to be that player, they’ve got to kind of figure out a new way to help the team. When I came in, Coach Stotts, he put me in pick and rolls, he allowed me to pull-up three in transition. He just trusted me. He threw me out there and he had confidence in what I could do."

Of course, all of the trust in the world wouldn't have mattered much if Lillard hadn't had the talent to back it. But Stotts recognized what he had in the sixth pick of the 2012 Draft in the early days of both of their tenures in Portland, which set both player and coach on the path that they now find themselves traversing together.

"My job was to just get better at being able to do those things so his trust would only grow," said Lillard. "And I did my job and now we just on the same page. He’s the guy that had to give me the opportunity to do those things."

With any luck, Lillard will have the opportunity to continue to repay the faith that Stotts and the rest of the organization had in him since he first donned a Trail Blazers jersey at the 2012 Las Vegas Summer League. If he does, the names "Stotts" and "Lillard" might end up being as hallowed in Portland as Drexler, Walton, Lucas and Ramsay.

"It’s the work, it’s the time that I spend working on my game and preparing myself for the season," said Lillard. "And like I said, credit to our coaching staff putting me in a position to do such a thing."

lillard-credits-stotts-trust-in-joining-robertson-and-james

Lillard Credits Stotts' Trust In Joining Robertson And James

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