THE TOUGH GUY
Warriors’ Paschall honed his skills on the playgrounds of Harlem
SAN FRANCISCO >> Before he was drawing a foul on James Harden and calling him “food,” Eric Paschall was a quiet, skinny kid from Westchester who couldn’t get into church league games because the black tops of Harlem got too hot in the summertime.
“He was used to playing in air-conditioned gyms up in Westchester County and I remember the coach telling me ‘Juan, I’d like to put him in the game, but he’s crying because he said it’s too hot,’ ” Paschall’s father Juan Paschall said. “He wasn’t always very aggressive. It’s from going to the city, from Westchester County, and playing with kids who were better than him, who were tougher than him, that brought out the toughness.”
Paschall developed a thicker skin in the AAU circuit. With his best friend Donovan Mitchell at his side, he developed into a mean isolation scorer who was dunking at age 12.
He lifted weights to fill out his frame and build confidence. He won a pair of national championships in AAU, was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year at Fordham and transferred to Villanova, where he won another pair of national titles. After half a decade in college, Paschall watched with his family in his hometown of Dobbs Ferry when he slid to the second round of the NBA
Draft and was scooped up by the Warriors.
Even Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who was on Team USA’s staff with Paschall’s college coach Jay Wright during this year’s FIBA World Cup games in China, has been surprised by Paschall’s immediate impact. The 23-year-old forward has stepped in as a key rotation player for a team decimated by injuries, averaging 15.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
His 34-point explosion against the Portland Trail Blazers on his 23rd birthday lifted the Warriors to their most recent win. Among rookies, Paschall is third in both points scored and minutes played. All of this production from the 41st pick in June’s draft.
So how does a secondround pick make such an immediate impact and establish himself as a building block for a championship organization?
At Villanova, Paschall learned to defer, something he didn’t have to do in high school or as a redshirt freshman at Fordham.
“He played with a lot of really good players who had established themselves at Villanova,” Villanova assistant coach Kyle Neptune said.
Playing alongside future NBA players Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson, Paschall focused on defending and rebounding. He was happy to do it, to sacrifice numbers for the sake of winning.
Still, Paschall’s performance in practices made it clear he could do more. He sought out one-on-one challenges and dunked on teammates in scrimmages. His size, athleticism and motor stood out. He emerged as a leader for a national championship team his junior year and then, as a senior, averaged 16.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
“I think his game is actually better suited for the NBA just because he can guard every position and there’s way more space on the floor for him to operate,” Neptune said.
Paschall was projected to be selected in the middle of the draft’s first round.
Partly due to his age and questions about his upside, Paschall slid to the second round. The Warriors had two chances to take him, but first selected guard Jordan Poole at no. 28 and center Alen Smailagic at no. 39. With the 41st pick, the Warriors took Paschall.
“We were kind of holding our breath hoping for him to fall,” Kerr said. “Luckily, it happened.”
After losing Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston and Kevin Durant in the offseason, the Warriors believed Paschall could contribute right away as a versatile defender off the bench.
“We really liked Eric because of his strength and his power,” Kerr said. “He was undersized, but these days undersized guys at that four position, as long as you are really strong with that wingspan, we’ve seen it the last few years with Draymond (Green). We felt like Eric had a chance to have a similar impact as a second-round pick. Somebody you could plug in and play particularly because he played four years in college, in a great program that won a national championship.
“He came in and didn’t look like a rookie at all from the first day of practice. He looked like somebody who’s been really well prepared for this.”
Then early injuries depleted the roster even more. In addition to Klay Thompson, lost in the NBA Finals to an ACL tear, the Warriors have dealt with injuries to Stephen Curry, Green, Jacob Evans, Kevon Looney and Willie CauleyStein, among others.
All of that has thrust Paschall into major rotation minutes, and provided the runway for him to show off a muscular scoring game.
Kerr reversed course for Friday night’s game and inserted Paschall into the starting lineup against the Celtics in place of Poole.
“In terms of his composure and presence on the floor, obviously when he gets it going he’s demonstrative and he knows he belongs and knows what he has to offer,” Curry said. “It’s an energy that is contagious.”
With two of Golden State’s three foundational players sidelined for most of the season, Paschall has temporarily become the face of the franchise. He talks to media after almost every game and every practice. The onceshy kid at Villanova is a media pro, deftly answering questions to provide a quote good enough to print without giving up any company secrets. He handles a media scrum like a player with 10 years experience.
“I feel like those four years helped me be ready for this moment, this opportunity I have now,” Paschall said. “Just being mature, just being able to handle it, being able to play the way I play. I feel like it helped me out a lot.”
Paschall is a rare rookie who thrives with more responsibility. Often, more minutes lead to more exposure of a rookie’s weaknesses. Paschall shows more of his strengths, from the isolation scoring he developed in New York to the versatile defense he came to lean on at Villanova.
Beat up and hung over from five straight NBA Finals runs, the Warriors are in the midst of a rebuilding season. Ten of the team’s 14 players are newcomers, and nine are age 23 or younger. Facing an uphill battle from a 2-10 record, Golden State is poised for its first appearance in the lottery since 2012.
This season, then, is about figuring out who will be part of the next championship run. Paschall has earned his place, and is prepared to adjust his game when the Warriors look like the Warriors again.
“It’s going to help a lot, them knowing they have another option on the floor,” he said. “I definitely feel like I’m going to have confidence knowing I belong. I know the guys are going to believe in me and tell me to go make plays now just because they’ve seen it.”
There are several reasons to be confident in Paschall’s future: his scoring ability, his defensive versatility, his physique and athleticism, and his willingness to put winning above all else. His father always told him to stay “hungry and humble.” A secondround pick earnestly proving himself, Paschall is ready to eat.
“Over time, he’s only going to get better and better,” Neptune said. “He has no limitations to his game. The sky’s the limit for him.”