Now that he is on the other side of it, T.J. McConnell can talk about it with a chuckle. But it does not make the story any less absurd.
"I had a closet," he says.
When McConnell left the University of Arizona and latched onto the Sixers' training camp roster in 2015, he was initially considered such a long shot to make the team that he did not actually have a locker. He stored everything in a closet.
As McConnell holds court -- in front of a real locker -- a long while later, he appreciates how much has changed since then.
"It's one of those things where you blink, and it's like, 'Where did the 10 years go?' It's crazy to think about," McConnell said. "Just kind of enjoying this while I can."
Before his Indiana Pacers knocked off the Sixers on Friday night, McConnell discussed with a few reporters the unique journey he has been on over the last decade -- from a training camp body, to earning the Sixers' 15th and final roster spot in 2015, to establishing himself as a quality NBA point guard, and now being a 10-year NBA veteran.
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Any person familiar with McConnell's backstory knows he entered the league as an underdog -- that his mere presence in the NBA at any point was an upset in itself. Those who watch him on the court on the court realize he embraces that moniker and taps into it with the way he plays.
Yet, McConnell is no longer an underdog. He is an NBA mainstay with hundreds of games and extensive playoff experience under his belt. He just inked his fourth NBA contract, and once again it is the most lucrative deal he has signed. He has a stable role on a talented team, playing for a revered head coach in a market where he is beloved. In recent years, he has received increased national recognition. For all intents and purposes, everything is coming up T.J. McConnell.
"I felt like I went out and earned what I've gotten, and just put my head down and gone to work and let the chips fall," McConnell said. "I'm just proud of where I'm at now and I think I've earned everything I've gotten."
But how can McConnell keep that specific chip on his shoulder -- the one which belonged to the 23-year-old who was only given a closet, to the player who was on veteran's minimum contracts for his first four years in the NBA -- after all he has accomplished in a decade?
"It's one of those things where you're just picturing that you're still that rookie that hasn't made it, and a guy that's still fighting for everything," McConnell said. "That's how my mindset is every game: I'm out there scratching and clawing for everything, and I haven't lost that mindset."
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That mindset is what enables McConnell to momentarily forget about the wild success he has achieved and return to the shoes of the 2015 version of himself. Asked about his status as a fifth-string point guard entering that first training camp, McConnell rattled off the names of Pierre Jackson, Scottie Wilbekin, Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall without even needing a second to think (two of those four players were cut by the Sixers that year, the others played 38 combined games with the team before falling out of the league).
It made for a comedic moment inside the visitor's locker room at the Wells Fargo Center, but it truly represented the essence of McConnell's being -- and it is not some sort of charade. Even with the tenure and skill of a quality, longstanding NBA player, McConnell truly carries the psyche of a fifth-string player on the verge of being cut and heading overseas.
Once the Sixers became competitive again, McConnell reached cult hero status. His game-winning buzzer-beater over Carmelo Anthony to beat the New York Knicks during the glory of January 2017 is one of the mostly fondly-remembered moments in recent Sixers history.
A city which is known for desiring tough-minded athletes who give it their all latched onto a player who was the ultimate hustler on the floor. McConnell's penchant for stealing inbounds passes in the backcourt -- this would be his signature play if not for his deadly short mid-range jumpers -- were equally amusing and impressive:
But, to borrow a word often used by Brown during his time in Philadelphia, McConnell's spirit can best be represented by his rookie season.
McConnell got his start with a tough gig: serving as an organizer for one of the single worst teams in NBA history. But night in and night out, then-head coach Brett Brown's makeshift groups would really fight. Countless NBA coaches and players would speak ad nauseam -- typically after notching a win which had been harder to earn than they anticipated -- about how impressed they were by the tenacity those Sixers teams showed.
It was McConnell who was often setting the tone for those teams, and it did not just leave a lasting impression in Philadelphia. Across the league, people took note. In fact, it was part of what made McConnell an appealing backup point guard option for the Pacers -- an organization with which he has now spent more time than he did with the Sixers.
"The first thing that I always remember is when they were going through the rebuild in the early stages," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. "You'd come in here, and you'd have, like, 14 turnovers at halftime and be down eight or 10 points. [McConnell was] the main reason for a lot of the chaos. I gained a lot of respect for him, just as a hard-playing, defiant competitor. Time goes pretty quickly -- now it's 10 years."
As McConnell reaches a full decade in the NBA, there is no sign that he is anywhere close to wrapping up what has become a marvelous career that nobody saw coming.
"He's had an amazing career so far," Carlisle said. "It's been 10 years, he's got quite a few years left on his contract. Who knows how long he can keep doing this?"
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