For former Sixer T.J. McConnell, now isn’t the moment for reflection: ‘There will be time for that’
As McConnell enters his eighth season and a Monday meeting against the Sixers, the Indiana Pacers guard continues to outpace expectations.
T.J. McConnell has come a long way from his time as an undrafted rookie hoping to make the 76ers roster. Just don’t tell him that.
Now in his eighth NBA season, McConnell is a fan favorite with a different team, the Indiana Pacers. In true McConnell fashion, the reserve point guard didn’t want to focus on his accomplishments as his team prepared to face the Sixers on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center.
“I’m just trying to live in the moment,” he told The Inquirer. “I don’t want to focus on or reflect on anything that I’ve accomplished so far. I think when I’m done playing, there will be a time for that.”
Right now, the focus is on getting better each day.
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McConnell averaged 4.7 points, 3.3 assists, 1.3 steals, and 15.7 minutes off the bench in Indiana’s first three games. A gritty player with a high basketball IQ, McConnell’s contributions aren’t measured by scoring production.
Monday’s game is also sort of a homecoming for Pacers assistant Lloyd Pierce and two-way guard Trevelin Queen.
Pierce, a good friend of Joel Embiid, was a Sixers assistant for five seasons before taking the Atlanta Hawks head coaching job in 2018. He joined the Pacers coaching staff before the start of last season.
Queen signed a two-way contract with the Pacers on Oct. 11, two days after being waived by the Sixers. Philly signed him to a two-year deal, with $330,000 guaranteed, on July 1.
While Sixers teammates during the 2018-19 season, Jimmy Butler called McConnell the “heart and soul” of the team.
Butler didn’t think McConnell got the credit he deserved for picking up full-court coverage on defense. Nor did he think McConnell got credit for hitting jumpers when needed and getting teammates the ball in their comfortable spots.
“More than anything, him smiling is contagious,” Butler said in January 2019. “Energy guy. I’ll tell you one thing: Not too many people in this league [are] going to pick up full-court, and he does it on a nightly basis. It’s hard to do.
“I know if … he was guarding me, I’d be frustrated and I’d punch him. But I’m just glad to have the guy on my team.”
Those reasons and more led the Pacers to sign McConnell to a free-agent deal in 2019. In Indiana, he challenges teammates and brings his trademark toughness to the floor. He also helps the Pacers change their tempo with his ability to push the pace.
Serving as a gritty scrapper made him a fan favorite in Philly. He came to the organization on Sept. 22, 2015, and worked his way into the rotation. As a Sixer, McConnell averaged 6.4 points, 4.7 assists, 2.9 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 22.0 minutes in 314 games, including 72 starts in four seasons.
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The 30-year-old has career averages of 6.8 points, 5.0 assists and 1.3 steals in 484 games with 86 starts, and he has defied the odds by lasting in the NBA longer than players with higher ceilings and draft status.
“There’s some comfort in knowing year eight you are doing something right,” he said. “But like I said, it’s just one of those things where I am never comfortable, though.
“You know I think the time where I’m comfortable in what I’m doing, it’s time for me to hang it up.”