PHILADELPHIA – Jared McCain sat down in a hallway near the Sixers' locker room and chuckled as he looked at a picture. It was his 18-year-old self, arms crossed, staring at his idol in the eye. Stephen Curry, the two-time NBA MVP and greatest shooter in league history, was looking back at McCain and providing him with wisdom.

Back at the 2022 Curry Camp, McCain met his hero for the first time. He was afforded the chance to ask one question. He asked Curry how he deals with pressure. Curry's answer informed how McCain has handled his own pressure in the years since. He constantly mentions "trusting his work," and that mindset comes from Curry:

"It's the belief in the work that you put in. There's no better, more powerful confidence than the reps, the work, that I know I'm prepared. In basketball, you're not going to be perfect. We all know that. There are so many highs and lows and everything in between – in a week, three- or four-game stretch, a month, a season, a career. The work never stops... That confidence in the work, I know it's coming back around. If you know you're cheating the game without putting in that work, then you don't deserve to say that. So when things are going bad, you're going to be lost, because you don't know which way to go. But if you know at the end of the day – if I look back at this offseason, did I prepare for what's coming? It doesn't mean I'm going to drop 30 every night, it doesn't mean I'm shooting 50/40/90. It means over the course of time, over the course of the body of work of a season, I'm going to show up and I'm going to do what I need to do. I get lost in that process. When the season starts, I know the goal is a championship. But you can't fast forward. Everything is a collection of moments. The work that you put in gives you the confidence to be ready for all that you experience."

In a conversation with PhillyVoice on Saturday, McCain could recall exactly what Curry had told him that day. He has given many answers in his young NBA career which mirror those words. They have guided him through a difficult sophomore campaign which has included a devastating injury on the last day of the offseason, multiple assignments to the G League and trips in and out of the rotation.

"Oh my God," McCain said. "I mean, anything he said, I was trying to remember, write down. On my other phone I have his whole workout – he did a workout in front of us, and I recorded the whole thing. Like a 30-minute video on my other phone of just him working out."

The Sixers' five-game swing against Western Conference teams has been circled on McCain's calendar. On Tuesday night, the Sixers will be in San Francisco to the Golden State Warriors. McCain left Philadelphia expecting to face Curry for the first time. "Yes sir," McCain said at the beginning of Saturday's interview. "Playing the GOAT!"

It will not happen yet. Tuesday's game will be the fourth time the Sixers and Warriors have faced off during McCain's career. But because of injuries suffered by both players, it will be the fourth time they miss each other. Curry will not play on Tuesday due to right knee soreness.

While most Sixers are likely glad to avoid chasing Curry around screens, it is difficult to imagine McCain is. He was amped to finally face off against his basketball hero. Now, it will have to wait until next year.

"That's been a dream of mine, just to play with somebody who is my favorite player of all time," McCain said. "That's the one jersey that I've wanted that I haven't been able to get."

Even as they play the basketball version of phone tag – McCain missed both Sixers-Warriors games last year; Curry will miss both of them this year – McCain has tried to take advantage of his brief chances to be around Curry in NBA environments.

When Golden State came to Philadelphia last season, McCain was already out for the remainder of the season. But he sat in the first row for the most famous pregame workout session in the NBA, locked in on Curry's every move:

How much was McCain trying to take in the moment, versus actually studying what Curry was doing?

"I think it's everything. A lot of it, I just want to see how he prepares, even just the little things," McCain said. "He works out usually when all the fans are in, and I just was wondering how much he interacts, how much is he focused on just him, how much is he smiling? Just certain things like that, because being at that level, I don't know how they can do that sometimes. Like, there's so much going on, there's stuff going on around you when you're shooting, and every shot I feel like everybody was clapping for him. It was a hectic time, so it was really cool to see him, how focused he is, and also just take it in, being able to be that close and watch someone I've admired my whole life."

What was even more helpful: McCain spoke to Curry at All-Star weekend last year. They took a picture together. McCain's smile widened as he recalled their chat.

"He was proud of me and my success, and he was talking about how far I've came from the [Curry Camp]," McCain said. "He gave me his number. We texted a few times. He's just a cool dude. He'll send me a voice note, and it's just super cool to hear him talk, and answer a question that I had asked. Just showing my family that, it was just a cool moment. Definitely the best thing about the NBA is being able to see these idols."

While McCain has not pestered Curry constantly, he has been able to utilize Curry's vast experience every now and then. McCain has studied Curry's game since he was a young kid. He has been more interested in discussing the mental side of performance.

"I just was asking about his meditation and visualization routine, because I know he's really big on the way he speaks about himself, the way he speaks about situations, and that was the main thing," McCain said. "He talked about in a voice note, he was saying how important it is to always be 'in process.' And I'm huge on that in general, so it was cool to almost get, like, validation for what I believe from the player that I admire the most."

McCain's admiration for Curry is evident in his game, which has been carefully crafted dating back to his childhood: McCain knew that he would be undersized with below-average explosiveness at the NBA level, and he has developed his skillset accordingly. Curry is not the only influence, but he is clearly the strongest. He strongly agreed with the claim made to him: playing like Curry is much more about what a player does without the ball than with the ball. As more and more players develop unlimited shooting range, the ones who come closest to resembling Curry are the ones who can create three-point opportunities for themselves with off-ball movement.

Curry's relocation ability is legendary and unparalleled. McCain is the rare young player who has tried to make it a tentpole of his workouts and in-game success.

"That's been my workouts since middle school, since I could be able to shoot a three," McCain said. "Every single time, he will literally pass it and he's relocating immediately. And I've gotten really good at that, and ever since high school, I've gotten good at that. When you play with really good point guards, it makes it really easy. I remember there's one play specifically last year, I remember watching it after, I think it was in Orlando: it was a transition play, and I went across the middle, I threw it to [Paul George] and then I relocated to the wing and shot the three. In that moment I was like, 'Dang, that was like Curry.' And so it's just cool moments like that where you get to see what you've worked on and see who's done it and then translate it to a game."

It is undeniable that these sorts of plays have been less frequent for McCain this season, even while accounting for the fact that he has not played as much as he did during his stellar-but-short rookie campaign. He is hoping that his off-ball movement will eventually resurface in a more noticeable way, but knows that the circumstances during his first few weeks in the NBA were unusual. He benefited from a handful of injuries.

"I think it's just something that comes with being in the game and being able to see the rhythm of the game," McCain said. "And we have so many good guards that sometimes my role could be different in the game. And so last year was obviously an anomaly in terms of that. So I think that will come, and I think the relocation has always been what I've been good at, so just continuing to find it and find that rhythm."

McCain will continue to ride the highs and lows of an unusual season by trusting his work, because that is what Curry has taught him and continually reinforced. Even if his first matchup with Curry will have to wait a while longer, he will feel something special playing on the court Curry has built his historic legacy on.

McCain's admiration for Curry has only grown as he has gotten to know the man behind the three-point records. And as the interview about Curry's impact on him came to an end, McCain scoffed at a famous expression: "never meet your heroes." After all, McCain did just that, and it provided him with tremendously valuable instruction.

"I hate that saying. Any person that I've met who I've looked up to, they've all been really good," McCain said. "...Steph, he's been really cool. Yeah, I don't like that saying at all. But it's been really cool to just have somebody, again, I admire as much as I do him. And I've watched all of his documentaries, his YouTube videos. [It will really be] just a surreal moment when [I'm] able to be out there on the court and then watch him play, because he really helped me get to the NBA. It's crazy to say that, but being able to watch his film and watch what he does and seeing a smaller guard get to the NBA and shoot the way he does, it's really brought me to where I'm at today. So I'm always grateful for him, and no matter what – even if he was a terrible person when I met him, I would still look up to him just because of what he's done for my life."

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