How much influence did your dad [Mychal, a former No. 1 overall pick] have on you?
He just taught me the passion for the game. I really love the game because of him. I watched it so much growing up, and he loves it so much to this day. His life is pretty much basketball. He loves it and being around the team and the organization. My love of hoops comes from him, and just my simple fundamentals. He gave me a ball really young and taught me my form, how to dribble, how to pass at a young age, so I give him a lot of credit.
I’ve heard he can be tough on you. That ever been hard?
[Smiles] Not really. He played the game, so he knows how good I am, so he expects a lot. He’s never mean about it. It’s constructive criticism. “I think you can get to the free throw line more,” or, “Use your pump fake better.” Stuff like that.
Given how close you were in age to your brothers [three years between oldest Mychel, Klay and youngest Trayce], it must have been competitive between you all as kids?
Oh, extremely competitive. Any sport we did, whether it was football, basketball or baseball, we all wanted to win extremely badly. We were very competitive.
How did Trayce end up getting into baseball?
He always loved it. He was always swinging a bat, whether it was football or basketball season. He just loved to hit and he was really good from when he was a kid. He hit the most home runs I’ve ever seen in Little League. He just always loved baseball. That was his first love.
Did you guys just gravitate toward basketball?
Yeah. I loved football, too. I played quarterback until my sophomore year of high school. I played baseball, too. I loved all three, honestly. I still do.
Where did you play in baseball?
Man, I played everywhere. I played every position. Pitcher, catcher, I played third, short, second … I still played in an intramural softball league in college. It was so fun. Our basketball team had a team, and it was so fun.