Memphis pick Carter went to Griz games as a child
In the weeks leading up to the NBA Draft, people asked Cynthia Johnson where she wanted her son, Jevon Carter , to get picked. She didn’t have to think about it for a second. “Well I only have one team,” she replied, “and that’s the Memphis Grizzlies.”
Johnson, who was born in Memphis and moved back to Chicago just two weeks ago, said she knew that Carter would play in the NBA since he was 5 years old. For her, the best part about draft night wasn’t the fact that her son made it to the league, it was where he was headed.
The Memphis Grizzlies drafted Carter with the 32nd pick.
“What made it the greatest experience for me was for him to come and be able to play in my home city,” Johnson said.
While he was born in Maywood, Ill., Carter doesn’t lack familiarity with his new home. He used to travel to Memphis during the summer and on weekends as a child. His uncle, Jemal Thompson, would even bring him to Grizzlies games.
“I used to sit up there man, way up there,” said Carter, who was officially introduced as a member of the Grizzlies on Friday. “It still don’t even seem real. I was just soaking up the moment being up there on stage with the guys and I was just like, ‘Dang, I want to see myself right now.’”
“We used to come to the games when I was a shorty, man. We used to come up here, watch them play and just be in awe. We used to get here early, watch the warmups and all that. It was just amazing.”
Two of the main factors that brought Carter from watching Grizzlies games in the FedExForum to playing for them on the court were his ability to win and his
embodiment of the grit and grind culture.
Carter played for four years at West Virginia. He helped the Mountaineers make the NCAA Tournament every year and racked up three Sweet 16 appearances.
The 6-foot-2 guard was known for being a pest and was the driving force behind the “Press Virginia” defense that gave opposing teams nightmares.
Carter would often pick up the primary ballhandler and defend them all 94 feet of the court. His relentless effort and active hands led him to an NCAAbest 112 steals in 2017-18 and a West Virginia career record 330.
Carter won the inaugural 2018 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award, two NABC Defensive Player of the Year awards, two Lefty Driesell awards and two Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year awards.
What made him a 2018 consensus second-team All-American, however, was his improvement on offense. Carter averaged 17.3 points, 6.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds in his senior campaign.
Carter also became a much better shooter, jumping from 31.4 percent on 3pointers in his freshman year to 39.3 percent in his last. He should give the Grizzlies a viable two-way threat off the bench behind Mike Conley.
Andrew Harrison started 46 games for Memphis last year after Conley’s season-ending Achilles injury. He played well, averaging 9.5 points to go along with 3.2 assists.
Harrison’s future with the team, however, may now be up in the air. The Grizzlies have until June 29 to decide whether to accept or decline his $1.54 million team option for the 2018-19 season.
Regardless of the outcome, Carter is excited to learn from and model his game after Conley.
“Learning from a guy like him, I feel like it’ll be great,” he said. “We can play similar. He’s not way above the rim, he’s not super athletic, super strong, super fast. I feel like we’re built the same.”