Sept. 10, 2009
By Adam Lucas
Last weekend's alumni game was a window into what the Carolina family means on and off the court. What fans didn't see, though, was what the family means behind closed doors.
During the course of the weekend, as a group of alums sat and talked, the conversation turned to the players on rosters in the NBA. One of the men in the room, Rashad McCants, was a lottery pick four years ago. Now, he's without a team, reduced to waiting for Denver or perhaps Charlotte to call and offer a spot in training camp.
"Basically, I'd be getting the last spot on the roster," says McCants. "It wouldn't be anything big. I'd just be getting that last possible spot."
As McCants knows, and as Tar Heel fans know, and as everyone in that room in Chapel Hill last week knows, McCants is a better basketball player than end-of-the-roster filler. In a room of his fellow Tar Heels, Makhtar Ndiaye spoke up.
"Shut the door, man," he said.
The door was closed. Vince Carter, Shammond Williams, McCants, Ndiaye and a handful of others remained.
"OK," Ndiaye said, turning to McCants. "Why don't you have a job?"
What followed was a frank hour-long discussion of the McCants saga. The good, the bad, the rumors, and the future. Everyone in the room agreed there had to be a future, that McCants was too talented to allow himself to be out of the league in just four seasons.
"Those guys weren't in my class and they didn't know me before last weekend," McCants says. "They had a perception of me, and it wasn't a very good one. When we talked, I explained some things that maybe they didn't know.
"I was so impressed and humbled and honored that they would do that. Them sitting down to talk to me, I felt like they appreciated my talent. I felt like they appreciated my character. Vince Carter was my basketball idol. And to have him say he likes my game and take the time to give me some advice, that means a lot."
During his Carolina career, beloved former academic advisor Burgess McSwain said this of McCants: "I've done this for a long time. He's one of the easiest kids I've had to work with. He is very polite and very bright."
All of this leaves you confused. If McSwain loved him, and if his Carolina Basketball family takes time to try and point him in the right direction, then what's the problem?
Here's the thing: most people will never get the chance to sit down for a round-table discussion with Rashad McCants. Sit down with him one-on-one, and he's an insightful, thoughtful personality. Sometimes, though, you get the feeling he doesn't want to let anyone see that side of him.
"After four years in the NBA, what I've found out is that you have to go out of your way to do certain things to win over certain people," McCants says. "You have to have the growth and maturity to know what to do to take the next step. It's a transformation."
McCants thinks he began that transformation when he went through microfracture surgery in 2006. The Timberwolves picked up his option, but that led to a frustrating 2008-09 season that saw him traded to the Sacramento Kings. He averaged 10.3 points per game for the Kings...and wasn't re-signed. He has a career 10.0 points per game scoring average, but can't find work.
In the NBA, a league where putting the ball in the basket is the one unteachable skill, how does a double-digit scorer sit unemployed, hoping for a call from the Nuggets? It's the first time in his life he's ever had to hope to find a team. He was hotly recruited by several colleges. The 14th pick in the NBA Draft. And, now, an end-of-the-bench afterthought?
Something doesn't make sense.
"I'm not a bad person," McCants says. "I've never been in the news for doing anything crazy. That's what those guys wanted to talk to me about. When they took the time to do that, it showed me how much the Carolina family cares. It's more than just saying hello to somebody when you see them at a game. It's a group of guys taking time to make sure I don't slip through the cracks, that I don't let my talent go to waste."
At some point over the next days or weeks, an NBA team will decide to tap that talent. That's when the burden shifts to McCants. He is among the most purely talented members of the Carolina family. But a few days shy of his 25th birthday, it might be time for his last chance in pro basketball.
"If I'm given the opportunity to play in a winning situation, I'm going to change all the perceptions around," McCants says. "I'm going to show people who I really am. I'm ready to prove people wrong."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of five books on Carolina basketball, including the upcoming book on the 2009 national title, One Fantastic Ride. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter.
