Cassius Stanley has been a Pacer for well under 24 hours, but he is already reaching out to Indiana fans. The 6-6 guard out of Duke, whom the Pacers picked with the 54th overall selection in last night's draft, wrote a post entitled "Nine Things I Want Pacers Fans to Know About Me" for The Players' Tribune.
In the post, Stanley reveals several details about himself, including his favorite play from high school and his obsession with watching old NBA games.
Stanley also delves into his well-documented athleticism, revealing that he first dunked in the summer after sixth grade. Stanley is quick to point out that his athleticism comes from his mother, who was an All-American heptathlete at UCLA.
Those reveals lead into a poignant moment he had with legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who pulled Stanley aside after he posted a 46-inch vertical in training camp, breaking the school record that had been set by 2019 number-one pick Zion Williamson.
"The line I'll never forget that he said to me is, he just goes — 'Cassius, that's not an empty number,'" Stanley recalls. "And basically what Coach meant by that is, '46'.... that's not some piece of trivia. That's not some show number. It's not a '12 guys in the gym and you're touching a stick' number. That's a real number. It's a productive number.
"'46' means you can rebound like hell from the guard spot, when the other team thinks you're boxed out. '46' means you can close out on a shooter that much faster, that much higher, that much more. '46' means that where other guys are taking low-percentage floaters and tough-angle layups, you're playing above the rim at a high percentage. You’re playing the attack angles. You're playing to win."
To learn more about the newest member of the Pacers, be sure to read Stanley's entire letter in The Players' Tribune.