Aldridge: Caldwell-Pope on Choosing the Magic and Leading by Example
Posted: Mon Oct 7, 2024 4:31 pm
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on choosing the Magic, leading by example and playing in … 2033?
It’s beyond appropriate that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s new apparel line is called Never Give Up.
Just as Russell Westbrook has Why Not? and has made a brand out of it, the 31-year-old has carved out a pro career through an indefatigable belief in himself, allowing him to move past his limitations early in his career. Caldwell-Pope was a 2014 lottery pick out of Georgia, the No. 8 pick who the Detroit Pistons hoped would help restore their defense-first persona, which had slipped since the franchise’s championship days a decade earlier. But most scouts had Caldwell-Pope rated third among shooting guards coming out that year, behind Victor Oladipo and Ben McLemore. There were concerns about his jumper. Additionally, Georgia didn’t make the NCAAs in either of his two seasons with the team.
Fast forward, and KCP has two NBA rings and is the quintessential indispensable role player and good teammate. He’s become a reliable shooter — at least 38.5 percent from deep in each of his last five seasons — while retaining his status as one of the league’s elite wing defenders.
In Los Angeles, where he signed with the Lakers in 2017, he was part of the glue that helped LeBron James and Anthony Davis capture a title in 2020 in the bubble, amid COVID-19. (As Caldwell-Pope and James are represented by super-agent Rich Paul, there always has been speculation that Caldwell-Pope’s arrival in 2017 heralded James’ in L.A. a year later.) Caldwell-Pope helped keep Denver’s Jamal Murray in check during the 2020 Western Conference finals while shooting 44 percent on 3s.
Three years later, Caldwell-Pope went from Washington to Denver, which desperately needed a two-guard who could help Murray from gassing himself out at the defensive end. And Caldwell-Pope again shot 44 percent from deep in the Western Conference finals, this time against his former Lakers teammates in a Denver sweep. In the NBA Finals against the Heat, he delivered the series’ coup de grace, a steal of a Jimmy Butler pass in the waning seconds of the Nuggets’ title-clinching win in Game 5.
Eleven years into his NBA career, Caldwell-Pope entered this past summer as one of the top free agents in the league. Staying in Denver was not likely, given that the Nuggets would almost certainly have become a second-apron team had they kept him. But he had his choice among multiple suitors. Rather than play with a proven playoff squad, he opted to sign with the up-and-coming Orlando Magic for three years and $66 million. In doing so, he validated Orlando’s plans for building its team through length and defense, with Orlando learning at a geometric rate, going from 22 wins to 47 in three seasons. KCP chose them as much as the other way around.
“Music to our ears,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “You talk about someone who represents everything we stand for and how, organizationally, you want to do things? You want to defend. You want to be a good human being. You want to be a family man. You want to take care of home. You want to knock down shots. You want to be selfless. Professional. How can I teach guys to be professional? He doesn’t have to say a word. He just shows up and does it — with no complaints, figures it out — and he can do it with these guys by just that alone. I’ve got two of ’em.”
Caldwell-Pope has two rings — and counting. Not bad for a kid from Greenville, Ga.
“Hope creates dreams,” KCP said in his Instagram announcing his Never Give Up line, “and dreams become reality.”
There's a lot more after the intro...
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5812856/2024/10/07/kentavious-caldwell-pope-orlando-magic/ ($)
It’s beyond appropriate that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s new apparel line is called Never Give Up.
Just as Russell Westbrook has Why Not? and has made a brand out of it, the 31-year-old has carved out a pro career through an indefatigable belief in himself, allowing him to move past his limitations early in his career. Caldwell-Pope was a 2014 lottery pick out of Georgia, the No. 8 pick who the Detroit Pistons hoped would help restore their defense-first persona, which had slipped since the franchise’s championship days a decade earlier. But most scouts had Caldwell-Pope rated third among shooting guards coming out that year, behind Victor Oladipo and Ben McLemore. There were concerns about his jumper. Additionally, Georgia didn’t make the NCAAs in either of his two seasons with the team.
Fast forward, and KCP has two NBA rings and is the quintessential indispensable role player and good teammate. He’s become a reliable shooter — at least 38.5 percent from deep in each of his last five seasons — while retaining his status as one of the league’s elite wing defenders.
In Los Angeles, where he signed with the Lakers in 2017, he was part of the glue that helped LeBron James and Anthony Davis capture a title in 2020 in the bubble, amid COVID-19. (As Caldwell-Pope and James are represented by super-agent Rich Paul, there always has been speculation that Caldwell-Pope’s arrival in 2017 heralded James’ in L.A. a year later.) Caldwell-Pope helped keep Denver’s Jamal Murray in check during the 2020 Western Conference finals while shooting 44 percent on 3s.
Three years later, Caldwell-Pope went from Washington to Denver, which desperately needed a two-guard who could help Murray from gassing himself out at the defensive end. And Caldwell-Pope again shot 44 percent from deep in the Western Conference finals, this time against his former Lakers teammates in a Denver sweep. In the NBA Finals against the Heat, he delivered the series’ coup de grace, a steal of a Jimmy Butler pass in the waning seconds of the Nuggets’ title-clinching win in Game 5.
Eleven years into his NBA career, Caldwell-Pope entered this past summer as one of the top free agents in the league. Staying in Denver was not likely, given that the Nuggets would almost certainly have become a second-apron team had they kept him. But he had his choice among multiple suitors. Rather than play with a proven playoff squad, he opted to sign with the up-and-coming Orlando Magic for three years and $66 million. In doing so, he validated Orlando’s plans for building its team through length and defense, with Orlando learning at a geometric rate, going from 22 wins to 47 in three seasons. KCP chose them as much as the other way around.
“Music to our ears,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “You talk about someone who represents everything we stand for and how, organizationally, you want to do things? You want to defend. You want to be a good human being. You want to be a family man. You want to take care of home. You want to knock down shots. You want to be selfless. Professional. How can I teach guys to be professional? He doesn’t have to say a word. He just shows up and does it — with no complaints, figures it out — and he can do it with these guys by just that alone. I’ve got two of ’em.”
Caldwell-Pope has two rings — and counting. Not bad for a kid from Greenville, Ga.
“Hope creates dreams,” KCP said in his Instagram announcing his Never Give Up line, “and dreams become reality.”
There's a lot more after the intro...
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5812856/2024/10/07/kentavious-caldwell-pope-orlando-magic/ ($)
