Jaxson Hayes’ father Jonathan played a total of 12 years in the NFL as a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers, so it probably wasn’t much of a surprise that Jaxson focused on football as a youngster, eventually becoming a college recruiting prospect at wide receiver. On an old Rivals.com football webpage, Hayes is listed as a 6-foot-7, 189-pound wideout, drawing interest from pigskin powers Notre Dame and Ohio State.
However, after growing to 6-foot-11, Hayes’ high center of gravity made basketball more conducive to his frame (his mother Kristi was also a hoops star in college at Drake). Following a season with the Texas Longhorns’ hoops program, the Cincinnati native was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, landing in New Orleans.
There is no evidence online that Hayes attracted the attention of some of the NCAA’s elite track and field programs, but maybe they should have pursued him. During three seasons with the Pelicans, the now-21-year-old has proven capable of outrunning virtually any big man matched against him. That was on full display during the third quarter of Tuesday’s Game 2 in Phoenix, when Hayes beat the Suns down the floor three times over a four-minute span for fast-break baskets. The power forward helped spark New Orleans to a 69-53 second-half edge, part of a 125-114 road victory.
“Jaxson Hayes is putting on his own transition show here in this third quarter!” TNT analyst Reggie Miller said on the national broadcast.
After one of Hayes’ three consecutive dunks, TNT’s cameras panned to Pelicans veteran teammate Larry Nance Jr., who celebrated on the bench with a “raise the roof” gesture, a move that perhaps peaked in popularity before Hayes was even born in 2000. Aside from showing his support from sideline, Nance has taken the precocious Hayes under his wing since joining the Pelicans in February, often awed by the youngster’s athleticism. Nance himself was invited to the NBA slam dunk contest in 2018, but notes that Hayes’ physical ability is on a different level. During Hayes’ third-quarter binge, he seemed to be playing at a different speed than the other nine players on the Footprint Center court.
“I’m a very good athlete,” the 29-year-old Nance said afterward, smiling. “Like a top-one-percent athlete. Jaxson Hayes is like a one percent of the one percent (athlete). It’s gross the things he can do.
“I’m a good athlete, but I was a really good athlete about four or five years ago. He would kill me in the 100 meters. The way he was running up and down the court, I don’t know who would catch him.”
Hayes was considered a project as a lottery pick in 2019, but has intermittently gotten significant opportunities to play in the Crescent City. His performance has sometimes been as up-and-down as you’d expect from a player who only averaged 23 minutes a game during his lone college season, but he found his stride in February when head coach Willie Green decided to make him the starting power forward. Including the postseason, New Orleans is 19-12 with Hayes as a starter in 2021-22, compared to 13-30 in games he played but came off the bench. He posted four double-doubles during the regular season, all after Feb. 1.
The third-year pro has been one of the Pelicans’ most improved in-season players, making major strides after he'd been replaced in the rotation in November and December by the always-ready Willy Hernangomez. But what often excites New Orleans and teammates most is Hayes’ long-term potential to continue developing, particularly given some of his unique traits that can’t be taught or coached.
“Defensively, how good he can be hasn’t even begun to be tapped into yet,” Nance said. “He’s 21. He’s a baby, and the fact that he can do the things he can do, at that height and with that athleticism, his ceiling is ridiculously high.
“He’s a freak. He’s (listed as) 6-11, (but) I think he’s a full 7 foot. The things he can do with the ball, off the ball, catching and finishing, he’s impressive. Physical specimen. Obviously he just keeps getting better and better. I’m excited to work with him.”