Jared McCain remains a good guy to have on your team

It was well after 10 Monday night, well after Jared McCain’s new team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, had beaten his old one, the 76ers. And still McCain, in street clothes by then, lingered in Xfinity Mobile Arena’s lower stands, visiting with friends.

A handful of people hovered about the place. Workers folded up chairs and pulled up ratty carpeting, the beginning stages of the changeover for Tuesday’s Flyers game. Some kids romped around the court, firing shots in the general direction of the rim.

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“Jared,” one of them yelled up to McCain, “can we get a picture, please?”

“Yeah, I gotcha, buddy,” the second-year guard said.

A minute or two later he made good on his promise, posing with four youngsters in various Sixers jerseys – two Joel Embiids, one James Harden, one Dr. J.

It was almost as if McCain didn’t want to leave.

He played just 60 games for the Sixers, spread out over a season and a half. He performed really well for a really bad team last year, not so well for an improved one this year. In between he was injured, twice. He even did some time in the G-League this winter.

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But if he struggled to find his place on the court, that was never the case off it. As had been the case elsewhere (and as is the case in OKC), the 22-year-old Californian very clearly made some strong connections, very clearly made himself at home. Which is why the crowd greeted him so warmly when he entered Monday’s game, and why, from the beginning of the night to the end, he always had time for one more photo, one more hug, one more handshake.

“I really believe in, you put good energy out and it comes right back to you,” he said. “And I really feel like I was able to do that with the Sixers and with the fans, with the organization.”

It can be said with certainty that while the Sixers have traded better players than McCain during their long, tortured history, they have seldom traded a better human being. Sixers coach Nick Nurse was saying before the game that McCain’s approach and attitude always stood out as much as his ability as a shooter and scorer – that he is, in…

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Publish date : 2026-03-24 13:13:00

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