Seventy six Ers Summer League Minicamp rolling along in Camden, New Jersey, the team getting ready for the start of MGM Resort Summer League Action, which begins on Friday against none other than the Boston Celtics. A guy who has been a member of both organizations the past two plus seasons, Demetris Jackson is our guest on this episode of the podcast.
Arguably the veteran most member of the Sixers Minicamp invitee group at just twenty three years old, Jackson has appeared in twenty career NBA games between the Celtics, the seventy Sixers, and the Houston Rockets, and he'll lend his perspective on the importance of summer league, what players try to get out of that experience, where he's at in terms of his stage of his development, and also his impressions of some of the youngest and newest seventy Sixers. Will also
talk a little bit of Fortnite. Yes, Demetris Jackson is an avid Fortnite player. First reminder before we into the podcast that to subscribe you can head to iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and SoundCloud. Type in Sixers Podcast Network. That will take you to our feed. Please do subscribe well if podcasts coming away the rest of this week and also while we're out at Las Vegas four Summer League. Demetris Jackson getting set for a year number three at the professional ranks.
The previous two years he was involved in Summer League action, and there will be no different this year. The Sixers signed to Metris Jackson in January of last year after his two way contract with the Houston Rockets came to an end. When you look back over the course of his time in the pros, he's really had the chance to be mentored by and play under some fantastic guards, whether it was Isaiah Thomas in Boston obviously, James hard and Chris Paul in Houston at the start of last season.
So some good storylines surrounding Demetris Jackson. And right now we bring in the fifteenth overall pick in the second under the two sixteen draft out of Notre Dame, Demetris Jackson. Demetris, the other day, when you were meeting with the media, you were talking about how excited you feel, in particular for this year's Summer League. What is it that you're most looking forward to as you and the rest of the team get ready to set out to Las Vegas
in just a few short days. I'm just looking forward to competing. It's always falling, a lot of people come out, a lot of fans come out and support the Summer League. So I'm looking forward to competing, looking forward to getting better, looking forward to kind of gauging where I am in my game and seeing what I can grow on and what seeing the things I can do well. So I think we're ready. I think our group is ready to compete,
and I'm looking forward to it. The Sixers know you well from Summer League action, having gone up against Boston in Salt Lake City and Vegas when you were with the Celtics the last two years. What have you found to be the best approach to take to this time of year. What's the right type of mindset to have in Summer League. I think the right type of mindset to have is kind of finding yourself within all the chaos.
Is you know, the first game, guys are running like a hundred miles per hour, and you know you put so much pressure on yourself. So I think the best thing to focus on is just to trust your hard work, trust the coaches playing, trust, trust what you do every day and just rely on those things and then when the game comes, just have fun, be relaxed, and but be aggressive. How important in Summer League is something as simple as simply being organized and having a team that's organized. Yeah,
it's really important. Like I said, I was watching some of the games last night, and you know, you see some of the guys, it's just like it's like one hundred miles per hour and everybody's mind is just moving so fast. So I think the important thing is to you know, have a good pace to yourself and to your game and to the group, but also you know, being able to just like I said, kind of find yourself within all the chaos and especially as a point guard,
keep a group organizing and under control. I want to get into your story and your development in a little bit, but let's keep the conversation going about the Sixers mini camp so far, I would have been your impressions of a few of the guys have been out there. Um, yeah, I think we got a pretty good group. Um, guys are working hard every day and guys are like invested in getting better, invested in and learning. You know, I got guys coming over to me, asking me questions on
the sideline and things like that. So guys care like they care and they want to get better. So I think that's the first thing. That's the first step. But the group, we got some some talented players, some talented draft picks that can really play. So I'm looking forward to playing with those guys. For sure. With Zaire Smith, before we even address some of his physical attributes, natural skills and ability, he seems like someone who's for a
young guy who just turned ninety, he's pretty engaged. It looks like, yeah, definitely really engaged. Um yeah, I mean he's done a great job so far at this camp. Um. I know he'd do a great job in Summer League. And he has a good poise to himself, a good poise to his game, and I think that would be good when you know, you get the big crowds and you get all the fans and things like that. I think it'll be able to He'll be able to keep himself level. Um, you know, never too high, never too low.
So um, he has a great poise about himself for sure. Skill set wives what stands out about him, Uh, definitely as athleticism, stands out on the way. He can drive and and fly. You know, he really gets up and h I think that'd be good for him, especially if we can get defensive stops and then push the brake. I think him catching on the wing and just ripping
through on guys and going and playing off clothes out. So, um, that's something I recognize, and that's something I'm gonna try to help him with, maybe driving my guy kicking it back out to him so he's playing off a close out so he can get a good look. You guys at times have worn the same colored jerseys and practices different colored jerseys, but both of you seem like you're the types of players that defensively like to get into people. I would think that lends to a pretty good tone
in these sessions. Yeah, definitely, Uh, definitely, guys, I'll practice all camp long. Guys have been competing. Um, guys have been challenging each other, which I think is really good because then when you go out in the game, you're ready to be challenging, you're ready to compete. Um, So it's been great. He's uh, it's all. He's fine going
against talented players, and he's definitely that. Um, we got some other talented guys as well, So everybody's competing, everybody's having fun with it, um, and everybody's just staying engaged and ready to go. I wanted to ask you about the other first round pick, Landry Shambat. What is he done to date? Uh, he's really good. He's also really good too. And he um, he's a taller guard and taller point guard, and he's long, got long athletic arms,
and he's really crafty. He's got a craft to his game. UM, that's very unique. UM. You know, he has seems to have a great understanding um about the game as well. He's picking up on things really quickly so UM. And he did a great job today, especially defensively. He seemed to, you know, be like more locked in and and and challenge other people a little more today. So I'm looking forward to seeing him go as well. And I'm glad, you know, I'm glad we're all on the same team.
So now now we'll get to talking about you a little bit more. Two years into this in the pros, where do you feel the best about where your game's at and what are the biggest areas of developmental focus? That you continue to look at it you go into your number three. I think the biggest things I try to focus on is being that league guard, being a point guard, being able to run the team. Also, uh, you know, defending pick and roll in the NBA in
the game is just so crucial. Um, a guy's teams are running pick and roll every possession, So being able to defend the pick and roll, being able to help the team and things like that. And then offensively, just being able to knock down to three as you know, as well offensively the three pointers, so I'm portant now, so being able to shoot it off a dribble, handoff off spot, up off off the dribble, um, whatever that is.
Just being able to knock into threes consistently. Last season was the first year that the NBA and the G League experimented with the two way contract, and you were one of those guys, first with the Houston Rockets, then he linked up with the seventy six ers. What you think of it, Um, It's definitely unique. It was it was you know, it's kind of similar to my first year, UM, where I was in Boston, but I spent most of the year in the G League. So very similar to that.
I think it's good. I think it's good for guys to be able to go compete and play high many games, but also be around here and see what the NBA is like, UM and see um kind of what it takes to succeed, um, and be around great organizations. So I think it's it's definitely unique. I think it's important for guys to be able to do that, and uh, I think it's I think it'd be good for the future.
It's interesting because when you look at how things ended up for you last season, you played under thirty games combined between the Rockets in the seventy six ers, had a handful of games, uh, down to the G League as well. But then, as you mentioned, you do get that opportunity to be exposed to what's happening at the NBA level. Did you find that that accelerated your game or your development in ways you might not have thought just simply being around things at the highest level of
the sport. Yeah, definitely, um, and definitely, especially if you're you know, you're a student of the game, you get to you get to observe a lot um. You get to sit and watch and learn and and take in so much information and and just be observant. So UM, I definitely feel like I've grown, UM just from watching
some of the great guards. I've been been able to be a part Like I'm the same team with so UM, a lot of great guards, a lot of guys that learned from UM, and then everybody's been like a great person as well. So UM, just asking those guys questions and seeing how I can develop my own game as well, and then also compete against them in practice and low mini games and and things like that, and one on one challenging each other, UM best way to get better.
So I was gonna say, I gotta think that practice and pregame warm ups and off days when maybe not everyone is required to come in, those opportunities have got to become that much more significant, I would think for someone who might be around the NBA team on a regular basis occasionally down the GI League, but Knight might not get actual live game reps. Yeah, those are those
that is really important. UM. And the three teams I've been able to be on, UM, they all kind of have a setup where you were able to get work against great players. You know you're able to compete against the great players. You're able to play in one on one games and three on three and low minted games, and especially here, um we had a low minted game like every other every other day. Um, so it was good and I was to play against Marco t J play against great guards, and so it was a lot
of fun and I definitely enjoyed. I think it's important, you know, to play. I think that's one of the best ways to get better. You were saying the other day that in the brief time relatively speaking, that you've been at the pro level, you've been around some terrific talented backcourt players. So I'm probably gonna leave some people up. But I'm thinking you're talking in refraining to guys like Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley obviously when you were with the
Celtics organization. Then of course some guys by the name of James Harden, Chris Paul, Eric Gordon with Houston Rockets and young talent that's here. Can you maybe if we went through some of those guys, rattle off an example of things that you know, if I throw a name out there, you give an example of something that you might have taken from either watching a few of those guys play or maybe some wisdom they imparted. If we
start with why don't we begin with it first? I I definitely he definitely had that competitive edge, and that's something I was able to just watch and learn. His competitive edge and his fire was so great it allowed him to do great things. And so watch him play, watching how a smaller guy can maneuver in the lane, watching how you have to have a craftiness to your game to be able to make certain passes, to make
certain plays. Um. I think that definitely helped me. UM, and then also just just having fun with it too. What about Avery Bradley Avery Bradley, Uh, definitely defensively. I learned a lot from him defensively, just watching them, having him guard me in practices and not me not being able to cross like half court. UM, definitely learned a lot from him. Um learned a few tricks here and there that I hope to be able to utilize in
the summer League. So UM, Avie Bradley definitely defensively, how to guard guys on the ball screen, pinned downs and things like that. I'm assuming you probably had to go up against both James Harden and Chris Paul depending on who is available when in practice setting. Yeah, definitely UM aught for the for the season training camp. UM, going against those guys, compete and guarding those guys full court
m and then trying to score them on the other end. UM. And then when Chris Paul was rehabbing back from an injury, UM, when he was able to play right before getting clear to play in the actual game, playing one on one with him every day, full core, half core, different angles and things like that, post ups on the elbow, which is one of his specialties. So UM, competing against those guys definitely really fun at the start of what ended up being an MVP season for James Harden. There's clearly
fantastic ability and skill that he has. But what else do you think separates him that puts him at such an elite level. I think, to be honest, I think his his looseness. He's so loose and they you know, he's he's so relaxed. He just trusts his hard work. Um. He puts the work in like after practice, you know, you'll see him working on different things and and he
works on it. Like his craftiness as well. You know, he's he's doing different moves, unorthodox things to get three partners up, and those things you know, you never know when you'll need those things, and so you'll see him pull him out in the game and you see him those are the things he worked on. So um, like they having fun part of it. You know, he always
talks about swag and stuff like that. So um, seeing how relaxed he was, how much he trusted and his hard work trusted, and his process, all the things he did before, it was a good testament to see. Does it amaze you that some people can have that type
of dimension to their personality. That's like to me, where if you know there was someone in school or in college, maybe I only got two hours asleep the night before a final exam, you could show up for an eight am test and totally knock it out of the park. I was always like, where where does that come from? Yeah, that's that's the thing I would always think too, is like you see the guys and you see them go out and be able to play so well, but then a lot of times you don't see the work they
put in prior um. Sometimes you're lucky enough to see the work they put in, but not always. You see the work and it may be the work they did in the summer, may be the work they did a year ago, but they definitely put that work in and
then it pays off at some point in time. What was it like in the playoffs being on the seventy six ers bench, You got to travel with the team, and then of course you had Boston on the other side, and the playoffs, it was really fun to see to see how guys competed, To see how guys went from UM not being a playoff team to a playoff team, To see the atmosphere, to see the charisma of the team, on the energy of the team in the locker room, and see how much fun guys were having UM It
was definitely really special. And I watched Ben really closely in the playoffs, and you know, especially in the Miami series, the guys tried to rat on on guys who are like really physical with him, but he stayed poised. He stays so level, and that's something you can learn as a guard because guys are gonna try to pick you a full court summer league. They'll try to, you know, turn you over, speed you up, get your rat up.
But Ben was so poised and he moved at his own speed and played at his own pace, and that's why the team was winning. He was rolling. It surprised you at all that any of the guys on the Celtic side were able to do what they could do. In particular, I mean, al Horford is a guy who's been around a while, but whether we're talking about Terry Rosier, Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, obviously that surprised you that they were able to take their games to the level that
they did. To be honest, it didn't. Um, those guys are really talented. I was able to play and be around all those guys and and like with Terry, um sometimes all it takes his opportunity. Um, he worked really hard, and like I said, because the work he was doing a year ago, the work he was doing two years ago, the work he was doing last summer, and it paid off. And then with Jason, I was able to watch or play with him in the summer league, and I saw right away he was gonna be really good. And our
Horford has always been so steady. Um. So it wasn't fun to lose against those guys, but it was it was it was cool to see those guys in their development and see how they competed on both sides. So before we finish, I was told, I have to ask you about the video game phenomenon that is taking the world by storm Fortnite. Fortnite. Yep, tell me about it because, like it may surprise you. But I am not the most key to into the whole Fortnite scene. Uh. So
I played Fortnite. I play on PS four. I recently just started streaming Fortnite. Um, so I got some streams and things like that. But no, Fortnite is really fun. It's uh, it's just a game taking over the world. I think it's you know, I see a lot of young kids on the game. I think kids should definitely get outside a little more. Um it's still playing the game all day. But um, you know, I like the game. I think it's fun. I think it's it's like a fun I use it to kind of connect with my friends.
It's like two birds with one stone, Like I'm able to be on the be on the microphone with my friends and being a party with my friends. Um, talk to them, we talk about random stuff, have fun, you know what I mean. So, but also we're able to play together and work together and things like that. So, um, I think the game is cool, but I definitely think, you know, if you're a young kid, you need to definitely get outside, enjoy the weather, summertime, have some fun.
So this might be a really novice ignorant question. Are you also playing in streams that are available and open to the public. Are you in a private group with just people that you know so in the party? Um, the party is private, and you know, I'll just invite my friends, or sometimes I may play publicly and invite just random people. Sometimes I may post my my my PSM,
my gamer tax so people can can play with me. Um. And I also had had the opportunity to play with some some professional streamers, so um that's been fun as well. And then other times I'm just just with my friends. So do people know that they're going up against you're playing with an NBA player professional athlete? Uh, sometimes I do. It's funny. I I gotta I got a friend he's he's fourteen, and I play with him sometimes. And I met him he was sitting in front row one of
the games, and uh, I gave him my shoes. The shoes I had on my feet in the game. I just got a brand new pair of shoes and it was my first day wearing them and he asked for him,
so I had to give them to him. And every since we became friends and he, you know, he asked me for basketball advice and things like that, and whenever he sees me on he tries to invite me to play, and then he'll bring his friends too, and his friends like, oh, is this is this He's playing on the team offense, Samess, Joel and V So like, uh, it's it's fun, and uh it's it's good. So it's like you can whatever you whatever it is, you can always use it, um
in a go in a good way. I gotta think about a week and a half long stay in Las Vegas. That could make for some quality Fortnite time to put it in between games. Yeah, definitely, it's it's a good tool to just just hang out in your room, um, just relax. Um. A lot of times I'm doing other things, like I'll use the normal tech. I'll be doing recovery stuff and playing the game so and talking with my friends. So it's you know, it's all on one And yes,
definitely I'm definitely gonna play some Fortnite and Vegas. Tremendous, Metris, thanks m much, thank you. Thank you from the wisdom glean from all leaguers like James Harden, this year's MVP, multi time All Star Chris Paul, and another All Star Isaiah Thomas, to the ins and outs and anecdotes associated with Fortnite. That was Demetrius Jackson. Thank him for taking
the time to talk after practice. Coming up next time on the podcast later this week, a preview of what's to come in Summer League itself with Kevin Young on the seventy sixers assistants, who is going to be out in Las Vegas coaching at the team. Thank you for listening to this episode of the podcast. Talk to you next time here on the broadcast see it