Tyler Ulis says he remembers it “like yesterday.” He and his cousin, Travis Walton, were playing one-on-one on his childhood driveway in Lima, Ohio. Walton, nearly 10 years older, had been taking it easy on his much smaller relative for most of the game.
“The last shot, I had game point and he was playing me all aggressive, fouling me,” Ulis recalled. “I just threw it behind my head and went in. He was so mad.”
The 5-10 point guard has followed that blueprint for success ever since. Opponents see his diminutive stature, relax, and suddenly find themselves besieged by a whirlwind of speed and fury.
"All my life, it’s always been the same, no matter what level I went to," Ulis said. "I started high school at like 5-3. They were like, 'He’s not big enough to play varsity and compete at that level.' Once I got to college, they said, 'He’s not big enough. He’s going to be a bust,' because of my size."
He had multiple mentors to give him the confidence and skills to overcome the naysayers. Walton was an NCAA-caliber talent who played at Michigan State. So was another cousin, Jamar Butler, who played at Ohio State.
Ulis also drew from the NBA’s best example of small men who played larger than life: Allen Iverson. In the former MVP and recently voted Hall-of-Famer, Ulis saw a kindred spirit unrestrained by a short physique.
“He was small, but he came out there and gave it his all every night,” Ulis said of Iverson. “He fought through injuries. He was the biggest man on the floor. He came out, gave a 110 percent no matter what and left it all out there.”
Ulis did the same at Kentucky, where he averaged 17.3 points, 7.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game in his sophomore year. The season before, he played with current Suns guard Devin Booker, who has publicly shown his support of Ulis’s game since leaving for the NBA.
Booker attended Ulis’s Monday workout in Phoenix, which also featured another former Wildcat in forward Alex Poythress. Ulis was grateful for his former teammate’s support, which he returned frequently through his standout rookie season with the Suns.
“He rooted me on throughout the year,” Ulis said. “I played pretty well, so he was always there talking to me, as well as me watching him this year. He surprised a lot of people. I knew he could do it. He came out and showed a lot of game that people didn’t know that he had.”
Now, Ulis is hoping to have the same NBA impact. He knows the questions about his height will remain until he answers them, which he is doing one workout at a time leading up to June 23.
There is no compensation for his stature. Rather than try to make up for something he can’t change, Ulis thrives when he forces opponents to adapt to him. By doing so, he feels he can turn a perceived weakness into a game-changing strength.
“I feel like I can use my size to my advantage, my IQ to my advantage,” Ulis said. “Being small isn’t as much of a disadvantage as people think. Using your quickness and your hands, most guys can’t really see you. It helps you out a lot.”
“I’ve been small all my life,” he added. “It’s nothing new. I made my adjustments at an early age. I know how to get by it. I know how to use it to my advantage.”