I'm so on board with this guy.....hoping he continues to play well and (possibly??) become a semi-perm bench player for us...
Yeah Jonas is solid. He’s doing everything I thought Casspi would.
We've SWEPT the 3-1 jokes away, NOW WE SMELL LIKE CHAMPAGNE AGAIN(OFFICIAL WARRIORS 18-19 THREAD)
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Yeah Jonas is solid. He’s doing everything I thought Casspi would.
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
I just finished reading this.
Alfonzo McKinnie didn’t just start his professional basketball career in Luxembourg. He opened it on the worst team in the second division of one of the most unknown hoops destinations on the map.
This was fall 2015/winter 2016: The same time the Warriors were storming toward an NBA-record regular-season 73 wins, McKinnie’s East Side Pirates pumped out a stellar 2-27 record in empty gyms across the tiny country, population around 600,000, basically the equivalent of Wyoming, the least-populated state in the U.S.
“Two wins,” McKinnie recalled last week. “shyt was crazy.”
So how did he go from there to here? How did the lightly recruited high schooler turned non-Power 5 role player, in only three years time, go from the basement of the basketball world to its mountaintop, currently shining nightly as a useful rotation piece for the defending champion Warriors?
It’s a stunning rise, as quick as it is unlikely — a tale best told by the 26-year-old McKinnie, the guy who lived it. So here it is, an unfiltered Q&A with the feel good story of the NBA’s opening month, from his Marshall High days in Chicago to his 2018 surge up the Warriors’ totem pole.
Barely recruited out of high school. Did that come as a surprise?
I mean, my high school career, to finish it off, we had a good squad my senior year. Nine seniors and a couple guys that were high profile. So I looked at myself as kind of a role player. Just did whatever to help.
We were pretty successful my senior year. Chicago city championship, placed second, then placed third in state. I want to say after the first city playoff game, I received my first college offer. Northern Illinois. Then I started getting a lot of mid-major offers.
I ended up going to Eastern Illinois because, at the time, I think that was the only school that could get me in with my grades, my GPA.
Who were the high-profile recruits at your high school?
Well, my junior year Darius Smith was, like, a five-star recruit. He went to UConn. Then my senior year, Vincent Garrett, he was our big-time player. He ended up going JUCO and then Rutgers for a couple years.
So when you get to Eastern Illinois, are you disappointed that you’re at Eastern Illinois?
Nah, I wasn’t disappointed at all. I mean, it was probably two-and-a-half hours away from Chicago. There were a lot of Chicago-area kids that went to school there. I roomed with a Chicago basketball player. There were a lot of Chicago ties.
Plus, you played pretty well there. That’s what got you to Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Well, my first year I really didn’t play. Then my second year I played a little bit, did OK (averaged 10.2 points and 7.0 rebounds).
The whole Wisconsin-Green Bay thing (transferred there after his sophomore season) was … so, my best friend, Keifer Sykes, he played at Marshall High School with me and had went to Wisconsin-Green Bay.
So after two years at Eastern Illinois, I had wanted to transfer. He had put the word in to his coaches and then a coach on staff, actually coach Chrys Cornelius, he was on staff at Wisconsin-Green Bay and was actually the original coach to recruit me to Eastern Illinois.
So I already had Chicago ties there. I went down on a visit and I committed the first day. I knew I was going there.
They’re not a high-profile school, but they’re pretty good basketball wise, had some recent tournament appearances. The two years you were there, they made the NIT.
Yeah, I think it was a step up from Eastern Illinois, just in terms of the way the basketball program was run, the facilities, the way they treated us as athletes.
We had some pretty good players, a coach, Brian Wardle, who had played back in the day, was very good at Marquette. So it was a step up and a great experience.
I see you tore the meniscus in your right knee a couple times while you were there. How’d that happen and how big a setback was that for you in your development?
To be honest, I don’t know how I tore it both times.
The first time, my knee just felt weird. I’d tell the trainer, it would swell up a little bit. I’d ice it every day, but the swelling never went down. But I was still playing.
I eventually went and got an MRI and they said I tore my meniscus. Got it repaired.
Is this midseason?
This is toward the end of my redshirt season (first season on campus, the year before his official junior year).
So you’re just practicing?
Yeah, so I got it repaired and I was back on the court in like four weeks. Still just tried to play it safe.
But going into that next season, I was practicing well. I was getting a chemistry with everyone and then I tore it again. And I think I tore it in the dunk contest.
Like one of those Midnight Madness, right before the season starts dunk contests?
Yep, one of those Midnight Madness things. That night, my knee swelled up. It felt the same as it felt that first time.
You do it on a windmill?
Yeah, I did. Which I was shocked about. Because I went through the whole dunk contest. Went through the whole game. Felt fine. But then once I went home, settled down a little bit, it blew up like a balloon.
(Instead of getting his right meniscus repaired, McKinnie got it removed this time.)
How big a setback was that for you?
Major setback. Because I’d worked to get back from that first injury, was feeling good, my game was coming along good.
I was probably looking to get big minutes. Then that whole injury went from a four weeks recovery to four-to-six weeks, to six-to-eight weeks.
Whenever you feel comfortable, you can play. But I know my body and I wasn’t feeling comfortable until almost the end of the season.
Then, when I did get out and play, it was just forcing it. My knee was still swollen and I still had to wear a big knee brace. For me, it was just a big setback. Because I was coming off a redshirt season where I didn’t play, but felt I got better. End up sitting the whole next season, so I basically haven’t played in two years.
Then going into my last year, midway through the season is when I was probably finally feeling like myself again.
(In his senior season, McKinnie played 30 games, starting 20, and averaged a modest 8.0 points and 5.3 rebounds.)
But still, that senior season, they still have you as kind of a role player there, right?
Yeah. I mean at Wisconsin-Green Bay, we had Keifer Sykes, who was like, in my opinion, one of the best guards. Back-to-back Horizon League Player of the Year. Putting up crazy numbers. He was the leader of the team. We just followed behind him.
So going into the draft, you’re not even sniffing the league.
I’m not even thinking about the draft.
You went to his (Keifer Sykes’) draft party, right?
Yeah, I’m at his draft party. Realistically, I knew I wasn’t getting drafted. I had no NBA workouts. I’m talking to Keifer about all his workouts and uplifting him to get through his whole process.
For me, it was just trying to find whatever opportunity presented itself. I had went to a couple free-agent Euroleague camps in Vegas that summer. I don’t think I got too much from it, even though I played well.
But then late in the summer, I end up getting hit up by a coach in Luxembourg.
So at that point in your life — really not that long ago, the summer of 2015, basically three years ago — obviously, you want to continue your basketball career, but is there even one percent in your mind thinking the NBA is still even a possibility down the road?
At that point in time … no. Just because I knew where I was at. I had nothing, basically, no offers. Then the Luxembourg thing, I didn’t even know where Luxembourg was.
Then once I got to Luxembourg, seeing the level of competition there … uh … it’s far from the NBA. I was just trying to make the best of that.
What was Luxembourg like?
As a country, it was dope. It was right in the middle of everything. You got Paris three hours away, you got Belgium three hours away, Germany right there.
First time you’d been out there?
Yeah. First time I’d been to Europe. As an experience, it was dope. It was the first time I’d been away. I’d always been close to home, went to Eastern Illinois, which wasn’t far, Green Bay was only three hours away.
Now, I’m 1,000 miles away, only American on my team, trying to adjust to a whole different environment, whole different culture. That was something I wasn’t used to, but it was good to learn to deal with it.
Then from the basketball side of things, I had to learn how to be the leader of a team. Pretty much, I’d played a role my entire career.
You were the star there.
Yeah, I had all the guys looking at me to lead. I took it as a learning experience. It helped boost my confidence because I had several great games, in my opinion, over there.
You averaged like 26 points per game.
Yeah, I kid you not. This is a real story. My first game I played, there were a couple like veteran Americans. I think like the first half, I want to say I had 20. We were at the free-throw line and he looked at me and is just like: Dog, why are you here?
This is the opponent?
Yeah, Americans used to just ask me why I was there. Like, you shouldn’t be here.
So that whole experience must’ve been a confidence booster.
Yeah, I mean, I played my game, but I was trying a bunch of extra stuff I never tried in games. And it worked. The confidence grew, even though we weren’t good.
We didn’t win much. Two games. shyt was crazy.
(Here are highlights from McKinnie’s time in Luxembourg. You’ll notice the lack of fans, the makeshift gyms and the one human who appears far better than the rest.)
This was fall 2015/winter 2016: The same time the Warriors were storming toward an NBA-record regular-season 73 wins, McKinnie’s East Side Pirates pumped out a stellar 2-27 record in empty gyms across the tiny country, population around 600,000, basically the equivalent of Wyoming, the least-populated state in the U.S.
“Two wins,” McKinnie recalled last week. “shyt was crazy.”
So how did he go from there to here? How did the lightly recruited high schooler turned non-Power 5 role player, in only three years time, go from the basement of the basketball world to its mountaintop, currently shining nightly as a useful rotation piece for the defending champion Warriors?
It’s a stunning rise, as quick as it is unlikely — a tale best told by the 26-year-old McKinnie, the guy who lived it. So here it is, an unfiltered Q&A with the feel good story of the NBA’s opening month, from his Marshall High days in Chicago to his 2018 surge up the Warriors’ totem pole.
Barely recruited out of high school. Did that come as a surprise?
I mean, my high school career, to finish it off, we had a good squad my senior year. Nine seniors and a couple guys that were high profile. So I looked at myself as kind of a role player. Just did whatever to help.
We were pretty successful my senior year. Chicago city championship, placed second, then placed third in state. I want to say after the first city playoff game, I received my first college offer. Northern Illinois. Then I started getting a lot of mid-major offers.
I ended up going to Eastern Illinois because, at the time, I think that was the only school that could get me in with my grades, my GPA.
Who were the high-profile recruits at your high school?
Well, my junior year Darius Smith was, like, a five-star recruit. He went to UConn. Then my senior year, Vincent Garrett, he was our big-time player. He ended up going JUCO and then Rutgers for a couple years.
So when you get to Eastern Illinois, are you disappointed that you’re at Eastern Illinois?
Nah, I wasn’t disappointed at all. I mean, it was probably two-and-a-half hours away from Chicago. There were a lot of Chicago-area kids that went to school there. I roomed with a Chicago basketball player. There were a lot of Chicago ties.
Plus, you played pretty well there. That’s what got you to Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Well, my first year I really didn’t play. Then my second year I played a little bit, did OK (averaged 10.2 points and 7.0 rebounds).
The whole Wisconsin-Green Bay thing (transferred there after his sophomore season) was … so, my best friend, Keifer Sykes, he played at Marshall High School with me and had went to Wisconsin-Green Bay.
So after two years at Eastern Illinois, I had wanted to transfer. He had put the word in to his coaches and then a coach on staff, actually coach Chrys Cornelius, he was on staff at Wisconsin-Green Bay and was actually the original coach to recruit me to Eastern Illinois.
So I already had Chicago ties there. I went down on a visit and I committed the first day. I knew I was going there.
They’re not a high-profile school, but they’re pretty good basketball wise, had some recent tournament appearances. The two years you were there, they made the NIT.
Yeah, I think it was a step up from Eastern Illinois, just in terms of the way the basketball program was run, the facilities, the way they treated us as athletes.
We had some pretty good players, a coach, Brian Wardle, who had played back in the day, was very good at Marquette. So it was a step up and a great experience.
I see you tore the meniscus in your right knee a couple times while you were there. How’d that happen and how big a setback was that for you in your development?
To be honest, I don’t know how I tore it both times.
The first time, my knee just felt weird. I’d tell the trainer, it would swell up a little bit. I’d ice it every day, but the swelling never went down. But I was still playing.
I eventually went and got an MRI and they said I tore my meniscus. Got it repaired.
Is this midseason?
This is toward the end of my redshirt season (first season on campus, the year before his official junior year).
So you’re just practicing?
Yeah, so I got it repaired and I was back on the court in like four weeks. Still just tried to play it safe.
But going into that next season, I was practicing well. I was getting a chemistry with everyone and then I tore it again. And I think I tore it in the dunk contest.
Like one of those Midnight Madness, right before the season starts dunk contests?
Yep, one of those Midnight Madness things. That night, my knee swelled up. It felt the same as it felt that first time.
You do it on a windmill?
Yeah, I did. Which I was shocked about. Because I went through the whole dunk contest. Went through the whole game. Felt fine. But then once I went home, settled down a little bit, it blew up like a balloon.
(Instead of getting his right meniscus repaired, McKinnie got it removed this time.)
How big a setback was that for you?
Major setback. Because I’d worked to get back from that first injury, was feeling good, my game was coming along good.
I was probably looking to get big minutes. Then that whole injury went from a four weeks recovery to four-to-six weeks, to six-to-eight weeks.
Whenever you feel comfortable, you can play. But I know my body and I wasn’t feeling comfortable until almost the end of the season.
Then, when I did get out and play, it was just forcing it. My knee was still swollen and I still had to wear a big knee brace. For me, it was just a big setback. Because I was coming off a redshirt season where I didn’t play, but felt I got better. End up sitting the whole next season, so I basically haven’t played in two years.
Then going into my last year, midway through the season is when I was probably finally feeling like myself again.
(In his senior season, McKinnie played 30 games, starting 20, and averaged a modest 8.0 points and 5.3 rebounds.)
But still, that senior season, they still have you as kind of a role player there, right?
Yeah. I mean at Wisconsin-Green Bay, we had Keifer Sykes, who was like, in my opinion, one of the best guards. Back-to-back Horizon League Player of the Year. Putting up crazy numbers. He was the leader of the team. We just followed behind him.
So going into the draft, you’re not even sniffing the league.
I’m not even thinking about the draft.
You went to his (Keifer Sykes’) draft party, right?
Yeah, I’m at his draft party. Realistically, I knew I wasn’t getting drafted. I had no NBA workouts. I’m talking to Keifer about all his workouts and uplifting him to get through his whole process.
For me, it was just trying to find whatever opportunity presented itself. I had went to a couple free-agent Euroleague camps in Vegas that summer. I don’t think I got too much from it, even though I played well.
But then late in the summer, I end up getting hit up by a coach in Luxembourg.
So at that point in your life — really not that long ago, the summer of 2015, basically three years ago — obviously, you want to continue your basketball career, but is there even one percent in your mind thinking the NBA is still even a possibility down the road?
At that point in time … no. Just because I knew where I was at. I had nothing, basically, no offers. Then the Luxembourg thing, I didn’t even know where Luxembourg was.
Then once I got to Luxembourg, seeing the level of competition there … uh … it’s far from the NBA. I was just trying to make the best of that.
What was Luxembourg like?
As a country, it was dope. It was right in the middle of everything. You got Paris three hours away, you got Belgium three hours away, Germany right there.
First time you’d been out there?
Yeah. First time I’d been to Europe. As an experience, it was dope. It was the first time I’d been away. I’d always been close to home, went to Eastern Illinois, which wasn’t far, Green Bay was only three hours away.
Now, I’m 1,000 miles away, only American on my team, trying to adjust to a whole different environment, whole different culture. That was something I wasn’t used to, but it was good to learn to deal with it.
Then from the basketball side of things, I had to learn how to be the leader of a team. Pretty much, I’d played a role my entire career.
You were the star there.
Yeah, I had all the guys looking at me to lead. I took it as a learning experience. It helped boost my confidence because I had several great games, in my opinion, over there.
You averaged like 26 points per game.
Yeah, I kid you not. This is a real story. My first game I played, there were a couple like veteran Americans. I think like the first half, I want to say I had 20. We were at the free-throw line and he looked at me and is just like: Dog, why are you here?
This is the opponent?
Yeah, Americans used to just ask me why I was there. Like, you shouldn’t be here.
So that whole experience must’ve been a confidence booster.
Yeah, I mean, I played my game, but I was trying a bunch of extra stuff I never tried in games. And it worked. The confidence grew, even though we weren’t good.
We didn’t win much. Two games. shyt was crazy.
(Here are highlights from McKinnie’s time in Luxembourg. You’ll notice the lack of fans, the makeshift gyms and the one human who appears far better than the rest.)
How about your off-the-court experience there?
Europe’s dope. I took a couple trips while I was there. Visited Germany a little bit. Visited Paris. That was one of the dopest experiences I had.
Then when I think about it basketball-wise, I just think about what I had to do. I had to really work.
We’d practice maybe four times a week. We’d practice late at night, sometimes have only five guys. Because a lot of guys — well, pretty much all the guys — had day jobs, so they wouldn’t be able to make it to practice.
So a lot of days, I just went to the gym on my own, practiced on my own. A couple of guys would sometimes come to the gym with me. They’d see me in the gym all the time and be like: Damn, you really working hard.
So you’re on the worst team in the league there?
Yeah, man. Worst team. We was getting crushed (let’s out a hearty laugh). Dog, it was crazy. We lost by 50 points one time.
And for me, it was different. I was always on good teams. Even if I was on a not-so-good team, we’d be like mediocre, like subpar, but still, like, competitive. Nah, in Luxembourg, we won two games.
What was your biggest game there?
I remember playing against a team in the first league, I put up like 40. Quick, though. It was quick.
And your teammates are just feeding you?
Dog, I would get the ball off the glass and have the ball the whole possession. A lot of the times, they did look for me. It was the game plan.
I’d go into some games and you’d hear their coach saying, “Hey, they’re not a good team, but remember this guy can go off.” The best game I probably had 40 points and 20 rebounds.
What city in Luxembourg did you play?
So, we had gyms in two different cities. But the towns were right next to each other — Berbourg and Wasserbillig.
We’re talking small towns, right?
I mean, Luxembourg is a small-ass country. You can drive across it in maybe an hour and a half.
Kinda like Rhode Island.
Yeah. It’s a dope country, though. I saw a lot of stuff I’ve never seen, like castles and stuff. They’re known for banking. Dope country.
(Berbourg’s last recorded population was 827. Wasserbillig’s was 2,627.)
When I envision your time there, I almost see like that movie “Semi-Pro.” Was there a particular character on that team you remember well?
Uh, a lot of guys on my team … I don’t remember what everyone did for work. I know one of the guys who I was close to on the team, he worked for the airport. He worked at the airport.
A majority of the guys had real jobs. Like eight hours a day. A couple guys worked for the government. We had a police officer on the team.
You’re there for one season and then head back to Chicago.
Well, right after Luxembourg, I went to Mexico. I went home for like a week and then talked to the people in Mexico on a Wednesday, flew out on a Thursday and played my first game on Friday.
(McKinnie returned from Luxembourg in early May 2016, just before that famous, massively influential Western Conference finals between the Warriors and Thunder was cranking up. He signed with Rayos de Hermosillo of the Mexican League on May 21, 2016.)
How’d you get set up with that?
This guy in my neighborhood, Emmanuel Little, he played professionally and had actually told me, when I got home, his exact words were: “Don’t unpack your bags.”
He told me he was going to get me out to Mexico to get me some extra bread, some extra money. I was home for like a week and he had called me three-way with the managers in Mexico and I told them I’d come. Flew out Thursday and played a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday.
(McKinnie joined them midseason. They had already played 36 games before he arrived. On the second night of that initial back-to-back, McKinnie led the team with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists.)
How much is the money for these leagues?
Luxembourg, fam, I was making $1,500 a month. Fifteen-hundred, USD. Then Mexico, to be honest, I don’t remember what I made, but it was probably around the same.
What city in Mexico?
Hermosillo. Northern Mexico. Mexico City was maybe four or five hours away, if I’m not mistaken. But the league, it was a bit more competitive than Luxembourg. Well, way more competitive.
It was a good experience for me to keep playing, keep my momentum going and get a little bit extra bread. Just help build my résumé.
How was the experience?
The city I was in, Hermosillo, it was a dope little city. The fans was crazy. Everywhere we went throughout the city, fans knew us. I can’t speak Spanish, but I’d just get the vibe that they knew who I was, was excited to see me.
Went to a few places in Mexico on the road. A city called Mazatlán. Oh, beautiful city, everything on the beach, looks like Miami. A couple other cities that were nice.
Some cities were a bit rough, a little dangerous. Didn’t go outside my hotel room. And if I did, had to be with two other guys.
Was that a team policy?
Yeah, yeah. Never travel alone.
(In 25 games for Hermosillo, McKinnie averaged 15.4 points and 7.3 rebounds. Here are some highlights. You’ll notice the uptick in competition and fan interest from Luxembourg.)
Europe’s dope. I took a couple trips while I was there. Visited Germany a little bit. Visited Paris. That was one of the dopest experiences I had.
Then when I think about it basketball-wise, I just think about what I had to do. I had to really work.
We’d practice maybe four times a week. We’d practice late at night, sometimes have only five guys. Because a lot of guys — well, pretty much all the guys — had day jobs, so they wouldn’t be able to make it to practice.
So a lot of days, I just went to the gym on my own, practiced on my own. A couple of guys would sometimes come to the gym with me. They’d see me in the gym all the time and be like: Damn, you really working hard.
So you’re on the worst team in the league there?
Yeah, man. Worst team. We was getting crushed (let’s out a hearty laugh). Dog, it was crazy. We lost by 50 points one time.
And for me, it was different. I was always on good teams. Even if I was on a not-so-good team, we’d be like mediocre, like subpar, but still, like, competitive. Nah, in Luxembourg, we won two games.
What was your biggest game there?
I remember playing against a team in the first league, I put up like 40. Quick, though. It was quick.
And your teammates are just feeding you?
Dog, I would get the ball off the glass and have the ball the whole possession. A lot of the times, they did look for me. It was the game plan.
I’d go into some games and you’d hear their coach saying, “Hey, they’re not a good team, but remember this guy can go off.” The best game I probably had 40 points and 20 rebounds.
What city in Luxembourg did you play?
So, we had gyms in two different cities. But the towns were right next to each other — Berbourg and Wasserbillig.
We’re talking small towns, right?
I mean, Luxembourg is a small-ass country. You can drive across it in maybe an hour and a half.
Kinda like Rhode Island.
Yeah. It’s a dope country, though. I saw a lot of stuff I’ve never seen, like castles and stuff. They’re known for banking. Dope country.
(Berbourg’s last recorded population was 827. Wasserbillig’s was 2,627.)
When I envision your time there, I almost see like that movie “Semi-Pro.” Was there a particular character on that team you remember well?
Uh, a lot of guys on my team … I don’t remember what everyone did for work. I know one of the guys who I was close to on the team, he worked for the airport. He worked at the airport.
A majority of the guys had real jobs. Like eight hours a day. A couple guys worked for the government. We had a police officer on the team.
You’re there for one season and then head back to Chicago.
Well, right after Luxembourg, I went to Mexico. I went home for like a week and then talked to the people in Mexico on a Wednesday, flew out on a Thursday and played my first game on Friday.
(McKinnie returned from Luxembourg in early May 2016, just before that famous, massively influential Western Conference finals between the Warriors and Thunder was cranking up. He signed with Rayos de Hermosillo of the Mexican League on May 21, 2016.)
How’d you get set up with that?
This guy in my neighborhood, Emmanuel Little, he played professionally and had actually told me, when I got home, his exact words were: “Don’t unpack your bags.”
He told me he was going to get me out to Mexico to get me some extra bread, some extra money. I was home for like a week and he had called me three-way with the managers in Mexico and I told them I’d come. Flew out Thursday and played a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday.
(McKinnie joined them midseason. They had already played 36 games before he arrived. On the second night of that initial back-to-back, McKinnie led the team with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists.)
How much is the money for these leagues?
Luxembourg, fam, I was making $1,500 a month. Fifteen-hundred, USD. Then Mexico, to be honest, I don’t remember what I made, but it was probably around the same.
What city in Mexico?
Hermosillo. Northern Mexico. Mexico City was maybe four or five hours away, if I’m not mistaken. But the league, it was a bit more competitive than Luxembourg. Well, way more competitive.
It was a good experience for me to keep playing, keep my momentum going and get a little bit extra bread. Just help build my résumé.
How was the experience?
The city I was in, Hermosillo, it was a dope little city. The fans was crazy. Everywhere we went throughout the city, fans knew us. I can’t speak Spanish, but I’d just get the vibe that they knew who I was, was excited to see me.
Went to a few places in Mexico on the road. A city called Mazatlán. Oh, beautiful city, everything on the beach, looks like Miami. A couple other cities that were nice.
Some cities were a bit rough, a little dangerous. Didn’t go outside my hotel room. And if I did, had to be with two other guys.
Was that a team policy?
Yeah, yeah. Never travel alone.
(In 25 games for Hermosillo, McKinnie averaged 15.4 points and 7.3 rebounds. Here are some highlights. You’ll notice the uptick in competition and fan interest from Luxembourg.)
What’s your best Mexican League story?
Something crazy that happened? There was a lot of crazy stuff going on. I’d say the craziest thing I seen in Mexico, the CIBACOPA Finals, Game 6 at home. We’re down, 3-2 (in the series).
We know we’re about to lose Game 6. Series is basically over. (And then) the best American on our team …
What was his name?
Mike Craig. By far the best player in the league. By far. (Averaged 22.9 points per game.)
(The game was out of reach) so we know we’re going to lose. Been a heated series the whole way. People close to fighting each game, but it never happened.
Referees probably aren’t the best, either.
Yeah, the referees … nah. So it’s Game 6, probably 2 minutes left. Mike Craig just lost it. One of their players pushed one of our players and Mike Craig just lost it.
He knocked like two guys out on one punch. I’m just sitting there like … (mouth agape).
Did it turn into a brawl?
Nah. He put it away quickly. If you seen Mike Craig, he like 6-foot-4, bowed up, strong as hell. Knocked two dudes out. Our fans went crazy. That was the craziest thing I’ve seen.
So at this point are you like: “Wow, I’m getting way better?” When you went to Luxembourg, you don’t even have NBA thoughts.
I’m not even thinking whether I am, I know I’ve gotten much better. I knew the work I put in, the hours I’ve put in. In Luxembourg, I was working out on my own every day.
So you’re leaving Mexico, but that’s not a league that gets scouted a ton. You have no NBA offers. Where is your head at then and what’s your path forward?
My path forward, I didn’t know. I kind of had it in my mind that I wanted to go to the D-League. I didn’t really want to go overseas because I didn’t have any nice offers, nice teams that wanted me.
So I felt like if I could get in the D-League, that’d be an upgrade for me. But before I actually made the D-League, I’d just come back from Mexico, was working out and I got invited to play 3-on-3.
I got invited three times, declined three times. Then the last time, I ended up going. Only reason I ended up going was because coach Randy Brown, from the Bulls, he was the one holding the practices for the 3-on-3 tryouts.
I just thought if I went in there and played well, something would come from it. And, uh, yeah, something came out of it …
(McKinnie’s lone Mexican League season ended in mid-July of 2016. He returned to Chicago. The 3-on-3s he is referring to is an annual international FIBA event. It was held in Guangzhou, China, late that summer. He played for Team USA, which finished in second place. Here are some of his best highlights from the unique half-court event.)
So that’s where your connection with Randy Brown and Bulls started?
He told me once I was done in the 3-on-3 thing, he’d be in touch with me. Then once I was done with the 3-on-3 thing, this is a true story:
Nine in the morning, I’m asleep on my mom’s couch in Chicago, I get a call from him, like: “Zo, can you be at the gym in 20 minutes?” Hell, yeah, I can!
This is at the Bulls facility?
Yeah, the Advocate Center.
Same place the 3-on-3 tryouts were?
Nah, that was at the Quest (Multisport) Center, where they have the NBA combine and that type of stuff.
But, you know, he was like, “Can you be there in 20 minutes?” I’m like, “yeah,” grabbed my keys and walked straight out of the house. Gone.
That’s not the G League tryout, right?
Nah, this was just me coming into the gym, an open run, basically, with the Bulls. But I lifted with them, worked out with them a little bit. Hooped with them. They like to bring Chicago guys in, basically to just …
For bodies?
Yeah, just to run with them. And that’s what it was. But as the days went on, I was coming back every day, every day, every day for like a month. So I was working out with these guys before their training camp.
Which Bulls team was this?
It was Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade, um, Taj (Gibson), Niko (Mirotic).
Was there a play or a moment you remember that sticks out to you where you knew, OK, I can compete with these guys?
Uh, I mean, I almost dunked the shyt out of (Robin) Lopez one day. That was it. They were going crazy, like, “Yeah, that’s how you go hard!”
And I think, that’s what got me the chance to come back in the next day and the next day and the next day.
Then once training camp was about to start, they told me I wouldn’t be able to come to training camp, but it was the first year they were having a D-League team and they asked if I wanted to be a part of that, I could.
Me being a local player, I had to go through a tryout, get past that. But I ended up making the training camp roster for the Windy City Bulls.
You had to pay for that tryout, right? Like, $175?
Yeah. Tryouts is tryouts. D-League tryouts is crazy. Because it’s a bunch of guys from all over, travel city to city to go to these workouts. There might be a guy 40 years old in there.
But they already knew who I was, so …
Basically a formality.
Yeah. Once that was over, I made the training camp roster for Windy City. We went a week of training camp, played a preseason game. I fouled out of that game, remember that.
But they did cuts after that game and I made the cut.
Then you had a good year for them.
A great year, in my opinion. I think that year helped me tremendously. Because nobody knew who I was. Even though I was in the gym with the Bulls, they were the only people who knew who I was. But they didn’t know me like that.
Once I played with Windy City, well, I had four goals going into the season. First, it was making the team. I did that in training came. The second was being starter. The third was becoming an All-Star. Then the last was getting an NBA call-up.
I made the team, was coming off the bench, made my way into the starting lineup, made the All-Star team that year. The only one I didn’t accomplish was the NBA call-up.
Where was the All-Star game that year? Was that the Toronto one?
New Orleans. I actually played with Quinn (Cook), on the same team with Quinn. But after my D-League campaign with Windy City, that’s when things started to open up for me. Teams were calling.
I started doing free-agent minicamps. I was trying to go to as many as possible. I had nothing to lose. I went to maybe nine free agent camps.
Which spots?
I went to Utah, Indiana, Clippers, Utah, went to a few more, Brooklyn. Toronto was my last one.
Were you really good in Toronto?
Toronto was my best one, in my opinion. I just remember going in there, after my first workout, I got invited to come play open run with the younger guys on the team. I did pretty well.
Then I talked to Masai (Ujiri, the Raptors president) a little bit. He told me he liked the way I worked, my toughness, told me if I put the work in, I could be on this court.
I did my last day of work with them, left, then they hit my agent (Mike Naiditch) up and wanted me to play summer league.
It turned into a thing where they offered me money for training camp. If I got waived, I’d be a free agent. But if I made the team, it’d be a non-guarantee for first year, team option for the second. Stuck around. Made the deadline January 9th and it was guaranteed for the rest of the year.
Played summer league with Toronto this past summer, got waived after that. Then spent the whole summer working out. Got a call from my agent saying Golden State had some interest and he wanted me to meet with a couple guys in Chicago.
Back to making the Raptors roster. How big a moment is that?
Huge for me. That was my first NBA team. That’s where I wanted to be. For me to come in and beat four guys, two who had already played in the NBA.
Who’d you beat out?
It was me, Kennedy Meeks, K.J. McDaniels, Kyle Wiltjer, a couple other guys.
You get minutes that year.
Nahhhhh.
Nothing crazy.
Nah. I didn’t play.
(McKinnie got 53 minutes total, spread over 14 games, never at relevant times.)
What was that season like? I’ve talked to some people around here, they felt that Toronto kind of limited you as a standstill corner 3-point shooter, pretty stationary, maybe your game wasn’t fully unlocked.
Yeah, I was in the G League a lot. I was a 3-and-D guy. Straight corners. Corner 3s. But I spent a lot of time in the G League with the 905, playing under Coach (Jerry) Stackhouse.
My time with the G League team, it helped me a lot. Because I was transitioning from playing the 4 and 5, guarding 4s and 5s, to coming into the NBA as an NBA wing, having to guard NBA wings.
My time in the G League, Coach Stackhouse (a former productive NBA wing) helped me get the fundamentals down on how to guard wings. Just being that versatile defender, being able to guard multiple positions.
It was a breakfast, I’ve heard, with Kent Lacob this past summer that was the meeting that got you to the Warriors?
I went to lunch with him. In Chicago. He told me what the proposal was. It was basically coming in, competing for a two-way. Sign an Exhibit 10 and compete for a two-way contract.
If I got cut, you know, go to Santa Cruz, basically. I told him, “Straight up, I got no problem with competing.” I’ve been competing my whole life. Ain’t nothing new to me. I just told him all I wanted was an opportunity.
Are you monitoring the Patrick McCaw situation at this point and how it’s playing out, how that can open a path to a full-time roster spot?
You know, not really. I can only control what I can control and I can’t control his situation. I don’t even want to get my hopes up too high or too low. I just wanted to come in and compete, show I can play in this system.
The McCaw stuff, I guess, was good for my situation. But it’s not something I can control. Just went through training camp, worked my butt off and they liked what they’ve seen.
So I’ve heard something that’s been floated across the locker room. You are actually cousins with Ralph Walker (Steph Curry’s long-time security guard, who retired this past summer)?
Yeah, man. That’s cuzzo.
How close are you with Ralph?
I mean, I don’t really know him. My family just always talked about him. When I came here last year with Toronto, that was the first time I actually met him. But my family always talked about him, like: “There goes cousin Ralph on TV.”
Crazy connection. Well, now take me to the Chicago game. To this point early in the season, that’s obviously your highlight. Take me through that day. You finish the papers to buy your mom a house in the morning and then hit four 3s and go for 19 and 10 that night against the Bulls.
It was just special. All-around special. The whole day.
My mom and everyone came to the hotel where we were at. I had my banker there, the agent, my realtor. I was able to sign off the documents to get my mom the house. That was something I’d wanted to do for awhile.
To kick the day off like that was probably one of the best moments ever for me.
Did she know when she was coming to the hotel?
Yeah, she knew. She went and looked at the house and everything. I been telling her to look for a house and find one. For me, it was a matter of when I could be free to come in and sign off and take care of the details.
It was the perfect time, coming for a home game. That started the day off. Then I went into the game with no expectations. I just get on the court and play.
But to have a game like that in front of my family and friends. It was probably one of the best days of my life, as a son to help my Mom out and as a basketball player. Got my first double-double in the NBA at home against a team, an organization I grew up watching, the Chicago Bulls.
The team that kind of cracked the door for you, too.
Yeah, they’re the team that helped me get into the league basically. They the one that invited me to the D-League, which kicked everything out. One of the best days of my life, really.
(Through 10 games, McKinnie has made 10 of his 17 3s, produced rebounding nights of 7, 8 and 10, has a plus/minus of +60 in his 133 minutes and a role that is increasing nightly. He played 27 minutes and closed out Friday night’s win over the Timberwolves, alongside the four All-Stars.)
(Photo: Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports)
Something crazy that happened? There was a lot of crazy stuff going on. I’d say the craziest thing I seen in Mexico, the CIBACOPA Finals, Game 6 at home. We’re down, 3-2 (in the series).
We know we’re about to lose Game 6. Series is basically over. (And then) the best American on our team …
What was his name?
Mike Craig. By far the best player in the league. By far. (Averaged 22.9 points per game.)
(The game was out of reach) so we know we’re going to lose. Been a heated series the whole way. People close to fighting each game, but it never happened.
Referees probably aren’t the best, either.
Yeah, the referees … nah. So it’s Game 6, probably 2 minutes left. Mike Craig just lost it. One of their players pushed one of our players and Mike Craig just lost it.
He knocked like two guys out on one punch. I’m just sitting there like … (mouth agape).
Did it turn into a brawl?
Nah. He put it away quickly. If you seen Mike Craig, he like 6-foot-4, bowed up, strong as hell. Knocked two dudes out. Our fans went crazy. That was the craziest thing I’ve seen.
So at this point are you like: “Wow, I’m getting way better?” When you went to Luxembourg, you don’t even have NBA thoughts.
I’m not even thinking whether I am, I know I’ve gotten much better. I knew the work I put in, the hours I’ve put in. In Luxembourg, I was working out on my own every day.
So you’re leaving Mexico, but that’s not a league that gets scouted a ton. You have no NBA offers. Where is your head at then and what’s your path forward?
My path forward, I didn’t know. I kind of had it in my mind that I wanted to go to the D-League. I didn’t really want to go overseas because I didn’t have any nice offers, nice teams that wanted me.
So I felt like if I could get in the D-League, that’d be an upgrade for me. But before I actually made the D-League, I’d just come back from Mexico, was working out and I got invited to play 3-on-3.
I got invited three times, declined three times. Then the last time, I ended up going. Only reason I ended up going was because coach Randy Brown, from the Bulls, he was the one holding the practices for the 3-on-3 tryouts.
I just thought if I went in there and played well, something would come from it. And, uh, yeah, something came out of it …
(McKinnie’s lone Mexican League season ended in mid-July of 2016. He returned to Chicago. The 3-on-3s he is referring to is an annual international FIBA event. It was held in Guangzhou, China, late that summer. He played for Team USA, which finished in second place. Here are some of his best highlights from the unique half-court event.)
So that’s where your connection with Randy Brown and Bulls started?
He told me once I was done in the 3-on-3 thing, he’d be in touch with me. Then once I was done with the 3-on-3 thing, this is a true story:
Nine in the morning, I’m asleep on my mom’s couch in Chicago, I get a call from him, like: “Zo, can you be at the gym in 20 minutes?” Hell, yeah, I can!
This is at the Bulls facility?
Yeah, the Advocate Center.
Same place the 3-on-3 tryouts were?
Nah, that was at the Quest (Multisport) Center, where they have the NBA combine and that type of stuff.
But, you know, he was like, “Can you be there in 20 minutes?” I’m like, “yeah,” grabbed my keys and walked straight out of the house. Gone.
That’s not the G League tryout, right?
Nah, this was just me coming into the gym, an open run, basically, with the Bulls. But I lifted with them, worked out with them a little bit. Hooped with them. They like to bring Chicago guys in, basically to just …
For bodies?
Yeah, just to run with them. And that’s what it was. But as the days went on, I was coming back every day, every day, every day for like a month. So I was working out with these guys before their training camp.
Which Bulls team was this?
It was Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade, um, Taj (Gibson), Niko (Mirotic).
Was there a play or a moment you remember that sticks out to you where you knew, OK, I can compete with these guys?
Uh, I mean, I almost dunked the shyt out of (Robin) Lopez one day. That was it. They were going crazy, like, “Yeah, that’s how you go hard!”
And I think, that’s what got me the chance to come back in the next day and the next day and the next day.
Then once training camp was about to start, they told me I wouldn’t be able to come to training camp, but it was the first year they were having a D-League team and they asked if I wanted to be a part of that, I could.
Me being a local player, I had to go through a tryout, get past that. But I ended up making the training camp roster for the Windy City Bulls.
You had to pay for that tryout, right? Like, $175?
Yeah. Tryouts is tryouts. D-League tryouts is crazy. Because it’s a bunch of guys from all over, travel city to city to go to these workouts. There might be a guy 40 years old in there.
But they already knew who I was, so …
Basically a formality.
Yeah. Once that was over, I made the training camp roster for Windy City. We went a week of training camp, played a preseason game. I fouled out of that game, remember that.
But they did cuts after that game and I made the cut.
Then you had a good year for them.
A great year, in my opinion. I think that year helped me tremendously. Because nobody knew who I was. Even though I was in the gym with the Bulls, they were the only people who knew who I was. But they didn’t know me like that.
Once I played with Windy City, well, I had four goals going into the season. First, it was making the team. I did that in training came. The second was being starter. The third was becoming an All-Star. Then the last was getting an NBA call-up.
I made the team, was coming off the bench, made my way into the starting lineup, made the All-Star team that year. The only one I didn’t accomplish was the NBA call-up.
Where was the All-Star game that year? Was that the Toronto one?
New Orleans. I actually played with Quinn (Cook), on the same team with Quinn. But after my D-League campaign with Windy City, that’s when things started to open up for me. Teams were calling.
I started doing free-agent minicamps. I was trying to go to as many as possible. I had nothing to lose. I went to maybe nine free agent camps.
Which spots?
I went to Utah, Indiana, Clippers, Utah, went to a few more, Brooklyn. Toronto was my last one.
Were you really good in Toronto?
Toronto was my best one, in my opinion. I just remember going in there, after my first workout, I got invited to come play open run with the younger guys on the team. I did pretty well.
Then I talked to Masai (Ujiri, the Raptors president) a little bit. He told me he liked the way I worked, my toughness, told me if I put the work in, I could be on this court.
I did my last day of work with them, left, then they hit my agent (Mike Naiditch) up and wanted me to play summer league.
It turned into a thing where they offered me money for training camp. If I got waived, I’d be a free agent. But if I made the team, it’d be a non-guarantee for first year, team option for the second. Stuck around. Made the deadline January 9th and it was guaranteed for the rest of the year.
Played summer league with Toronto this past summer, got waived after that. Then spent the whole summer working out. Got a call from my agent saying Golden State had some interest and he wanted me to meet with a couple guys in Chicago.
Back to making the Raptors roster. How big a moment is that?
Huge for me. That was my first NBA team. That’s where I wanted to be. For me to come in and beat four guys, two who had already played in the NBA.
Who’d you beat out?
It was me, Kennedy Meeks, K.J. McDaniels, Kyle Wiltjer, a couple other guys.
You get minutes that year.
Nahhhhh.
Nothing crazy.
Nah. I didn’t play.
(McKinnie got 53 minutes total, spread over 14 games, never at relevant times.)
What was that season like? I’ve talked to some people around here, they felt that Toronto kind of limited you as a standstill corner 3-point shooter, pretty stationary, maybe your game wasn’t fully unlocked.
Yeah, I was in the G League a lot. I was a 3-and-D guy. Straight corners. Corner 3s. But I spent a lot of time in the G League with the 905, playing under Coach (Jerry) Stackhouse.
My time with the G League team, it helped me a lot. Because I was transitioning from playing the 4 and 5, guarding 4s and 5s, to coming into the NBA as an NBA wing, having to guard NBA wings.
My time in the G League, Coach Stackhouse (a former productive NBA wing) helped me get the fundamentals down on how to guard wings. Just being that versatile defender, being able to guard multiple positions.
It was a breakfast, I’ve heard, with Kent Lacob this past summer that was the meeting that got you to the Warriors?
I went to lunch with him. In Chicago. He told me what the proposal was. It was basically coming in, competing for a two-way. Sign an Exhibit 10 and compete for a two-way contract.
If I got cut, you know, go to Santa Cruz, basically. I told him, “Straight up, I got no problem with competing.” I’ve been competing my whole life. Ain’t nothing new to me. I just told him all I wanted was an opportunity.
Are you monitoring the Patrick McCaw situation at this point and how it’s playing out, how that can open a path to a full-time roster spot?
You know, not really. I can only control what I can control and I can’t control his situation. I don’t even want to get my hopes up too high or too low. I just wanted to come in and compete, show I can play in this system.
The McCaw stuff, I guess, was good for my situation. But it’s not something I can control. Just went through training camp, worked my butt off and they liked what they’ve seen.
So I’ve heard something that’s been floated across the locker room. You are actually cousins with Ralph Walker (Steph Curry’s long-time security guard, who retired this past summer)?
Yeah, man. That’s cuzzo.
How close are you with Ralph?
I mean, I don’t really know him. My family just always talked about him. When I came here last year with Toronto, that was the first time I actually met him. But my family always talked about him, like: “There goes cousin Ralph on TV.”
Crazy connection. Well, now take me to the Chicago game. To this point early in the season, that’s obviously your highlight. Take me through that day. You finish the papers to buy your mom a house in the morning and then hit four 3s and go for 19 and 10 that night against the Bulls.
It was just special. All-around special. The whole day.
My mom and everyone came to the hotel where we were at. I had my banker there, the agent, my realtor. I was able to sign off the documents to get my mom the house. That was something I’d wanted to do for awhile.
To kick the day off like that was probably one of the best moments ever for me.
Did she know when she was coming to the hotel?
Yeah, she knew. She went and looked at the house and everything. I been telling her to look for a house and find one. For me, it was a matter of when I could be free to come in and sign off and take care of the details.
It was the perfect time, coming for a home game. That started the day off. Then I went into the game with no expectations. I just get on the court and play.
But to have a game like that in front of my family and friends. It was probably one of the best days of my life, as a son to help my Mom out and as a basketball player. Got my first double-double in the NBA at home against a team, an organization I grew up watching, the Chicago Bulls.
The team that kind of cracked the door for you, too.
Yeah, they’re the team that helped me get into the league basically. They the one that invited me to the D-League, which kicked everything out. One of the best days of my life, really.
(Through 10 games, McKinnie has made 10 of his 17 3s, produced rebounding nights of 7, 8 and 10, has a plus/minus of +60 in his 133 minutes and a role that is increasing nightly. He played 27 minutes and closed out Friday night’s win over the Timberwolves, alongside the four All-Stars.)
(Photo: Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports)
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
Great read! Reading his story makes me like him even more. Total contrast between him and McCaw in regards to mindsets.
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
G.O.A.T Squad Spokesman
Logic Is Absent Wherever Hate Is Present
Mortal1
Superstar
McKinnie fukking balling brehs 
I'm liking the bench production from Jonas as well this may be the best version of the squad yet.
3PEAT mode going well so far :kdumad:
I'm liking the bench production from Jonas as well this may be the best version of the squad yet.
3PEAT mode going well so far :kdumad: