Nail-Painting Serial TikToker Jared McCain Has Huge Stones, Because Philly Will Eat Him Alive If He Doesn’t Deliver For 76ers

Matt Fitzgerald·
CULTURESPORTS
·
Jared McCain
TikTok/@jaredmccain24

So much drama surrounding Duke basketball lately, my goodness. I’m not only talking about the dark Kyle Filipowski grooming story, either. That alone is its own can of worms. JJ Redick went from Blue Devils villain to respectable NBA vet to influential media personality to Lakers head coach at a dizzying rate. Redick had to sign off on LA’s decision to draft Bronny James, although I’m sure he knew about that plan before taking the gig.

Jayson Tatum just played a huge role in the Celtics’ 18th championship banner to edge ahead of Redick’s Lakers in the all-time record books. Still, nobody really knows what to make of Tatum’s superstardom.

All that brings us to this. Lost in all the Bronny/LeBron Lakers hype, and overshadowed by the ominous Filipowski narrative, former Duke guard Jared McCain is high-key one of the most interesting personalities from the maligned 2024 NBA Draft class. Viewed as a historically awful crop of talent by some, McCain at least has some unique intangibles to latch onto — not to mention the benefit of going to a passionate sports city like Philadelphia.

The 76ers needed a spark more than almost any pseudo-contender in the draft. They haven’t made it past the Conference Semifinals in Joel Embiid’s entire career. McCain’s Duke background and lights-out shooting ability bode well for his transition to the NBA. Whether he can make an impact probably has more to do with what’s between his ears, however. Because McCain is going to bring a lot of criticism upon himself from Sixers fans. And he was well aware of that long before he found out where he’d be drafted.

As McCain explains in the post above, he loves him some TikTok — three million followers is nothing to sneeze at — and he enjoys painting his nails, a la Chicago Bears No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams. Just look at what he opted to do to celebrate his first day in a 76ers uniform on Friday.

In meeting with the media this afternoon, too, McCain reiterated the message from his post in April when asked about how he could bring a lot of negative attention onto himself.

When you’re conducting pre-draft interviews on camera about your nail-painting backstory, and speaking about how you keep not one, not two, but three different personal journals, you’re bound to invite some haters in.

Some on social media have already started making jokes at McCain’s expense.

But the 20-year-old young gun doesn’t want to get anything twisted about his commitment to basketball first and foremost, before all his social media activity.

I personally think it’s fascinating that McCain can tune out all that negative noise, be so comfortable in his own skin at such a young age, handle the glare of the spotlight, and legitimately doesn’t care what anyone thinks. You won’t catch me painting my nails in any situation unless it’s for, like, a costume or fictional character. That doesn’t mean I harbor any animosity toward McCain for doing so.

It can be a bit of a slippery slope if you preemptively place a target on your own back. However, based on this rave review from Bill Simmons — who watched McCain at the prep level in Los Angeles (another big market) — McCain seems to have the right mental makeup to flourish regardless of what anyone says about him.

Like anything or anyone in the orbit of Philly sports, this has the potential to blow up in McCain’s face. Whatever the outcome is, I’m fascinated to see what he’ll do at the next level. For somebody who’s listed at 6-foot-2, it’s impressive that McCain managed to average five rebounds per game at Duke. I could definitely see McCain providing instant offense off the bench for the 2024-25 Sixers, which would also afford valuable rest for 38-year-old Kyle Lowry in the backcourt rotation.

If McCain succeeds in Philadelphia of all places, he’ll almost be like a glitch in the matrix. It’s hard to envision such impatient, quick-to-boo Philly folks embracing a guy as eccentric as McCain. Something tells me he’ll be too good to deny.

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