{"id":796116,"date":"2026-05-14T15:38:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/796116\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T15:38:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:38:21","slug":"hockey-days-custom-shirts-and-more-stories-behind-2026-nba-draft-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/796116\/","title":{"rendered":"Hockey days, custom shirts and more: Stories behind 2026 NBA Draft prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Caleb Wilson poses after winning a baseball tournament as a child (photo via Caleb Wilson Instagram)<\/p>\n

CHICAGO<\/strong> \u2013 The week of the AWS NBA Draft Combine<\/a> is full of measurements, on-court shooting and first glimpses of who the top players are on the court. There are agility drills and scrimmages. Measurements and agency pro days that NBA executives and fans alike dissect leading up to the NBA Draft on June 22-23.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a chance to get to know who these players are off the court. Each player\u2019s road to the NBA is different and it\u2019s a journey.<\/p>\n

There are stories of other sports that made them choose basketball and shaped them into the basketball players they are today. The family members who motivated and challenged them along the way, and players from different countries and worlds who now intersect at the combine, each going through the same process.<\/p>\n

NBA.com<\/a> tracked down some of the unique stories that helped make the next wave of NBA talent great.<\/p>\n

Cameron Boozer \u2026 on ice?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was younger (around 7 or 8 years old), my dad played for the Bulls and me and my brothers went to a Blackhawks game and we just really enjoyed that experience and we wanted to try it so we played for about a year or two. My brother Carmani played goalie and me and Cayden played whatever, we were so young. I don\u2019t remember. Cayden hated it the most, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked to rate his skating ability Boozer said, \u201cat the time, about an 8 or 9. I was a good skater.\u201c<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Boozers played hockey when they lived in Chicago (photo via Carlos Boozer Instagram\/CeCe Boozer Instagram)<\/p>\n

Dybantsa, Flagg were nearly (AAU) teammates<\/p>\n

\u201cCooper [Flagg] played for Expressions Elite in 8th grade and I played with them too and there was no rule that year until the EYBL came out and said the state that you live in has to touch the state of the team that you\u2019re playing on and the program it\u2019s based out of,\u201d said BYU star AJ Dybantsa. \u201cSo Maine didn\u2019t touch Massachusetts, so Cooper played for Maine United and I played for Expressions but yeah, we were supposed to play on the same team because I was going to play up that year. I never got to play on the same team with him but I played against him plenty of times. I played against him in the EYBL, Made Hoops camps and Top 100 camp but I always think of what it would\u2019ve been like to be teammates that summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going pro in Peterson family<\/p>\n

This year, Kansas standout Darryn Peterson and his older brother, Darryl, will enter the NBA and NFL in the same year. Darryl Peterson III, a former linebacker at Wisconsin, signed with the LA Rams<\/a> shortly after the NFL Draft as an undrafted free agent.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t know this, but my brother played football at Wisconsin. He\u2019s a really good football player and he just got signed with the LA Rams. We grew up working and having the same dream, different sport and it\u2019s just super cool to see him achieve his and me, hopefully next month, achieve mine. Shout out to our parents. We both worked super hard and they sacrificed so much for us to both chase our dreams. Without them it wouldn\u2019t be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caleb Wilson\u2019s first love was baseball<\/p>\n

\u201cBaseball is a great sport and I feel like it\u2019s more mental than anything and baseball teaches you a lot of lessons because the thing about baseball is you\u2019re often going to fail. So having the ability to learn and fail and move on from that is really important and helped me as an athlete. I played shortstop, third base, pitched and played first.\u00a0 I stopped playing baseball in 8th grade. I was so tall the strike zone was just too big so it was time to focus on basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson was recently asked to throw out the first pitch on two different occasions: \u201cI threw out two first pitches recently and one was bad, one was good. One was a strike, the other was a little in the dirt,\u201d Wilson said while laughing. \u201cI\u2019m still grateful for the game but basketball is what I love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burries\u2019 support section<\/p>\n

Brayden Burries\u2019 entire family travels to games with matching t-shirts with his face on it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Brayden Burries\u2019 family has consistently supported him throughout his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad started making custom shirts for everyone when I was playing AAU and it carried to high school and then to college and it\u2019ll probably carry to the pros. My favorite shirt is the red Arizona one and there\u2019s a baby blue one from when I was younger and was playing with Carter (Bryant). It means everything to play the game I love and look over in the stands and see my parents there and my friends and family with all matching shirts, it means a lot and I can find them right away. There\u2019s always a lot of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown Jr.\u2019s long-lasting love of hoops<\/p>\n

Mikel Brown Jr. says his love for basketball started from day 1.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mikel Brown shooting at hoop as a toddler. (courtesy of Mikel Brown Jr.)<\/p>\n

\u201cMy love for basketball started from an early age. My mom and dad had me when they were in college. My dad was still hooping so he used to take me to a lot of practices, I used to sleep in the dorms with them, he would take me to class while he was doing tests. And just always being there with him and he put a ball in my hands early and basketball has been in my life forever. I love the game and that love I have for the game isn\u2019t going to go anywhere. I\u2019m having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown\u2019s dad, Christopher, has been by his side coaching him as a kid growing up before he became a five-star high school prospect.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad coached me my entire life and it was very much tough love. Just him being there for me every step of the way goes unnoticed. People see him in the stands and he has a straight face but he really is enjoying the process and just being that big supporter while on top of that, just being on me and him getting me to be the best player I can.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s been built and instilled in me since I started playing. Seeing him be self-driven and self-motivated and watching my mom (Marisela) as well and the way she coaches my sister in volleyball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steinbach and family have ties to Hall of Famer<\/p>\n

Steinbach grew up on a farm in W\u00fcrzburg, Germany (74 miles from Frankfort) and his dad, Burkhard, played with Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki for five years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a basketball hoop in my driveway and a gym 20 minutes away. I didn\u2019t have a trainer or anything fancy like that. I would always just drive there with my dad. Dirk played with my dad and he and his family used to visit us in the summertime and his kids would just run around with us on the farm and we would chase the animals and play there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nowitzki has been a mentor for Steinbach through this process. \u201cDirk just told me to enjoy the entire process because it goes by pretty quickly and just to stay in the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sibling influence on Peat\u2019s rise<\/p>\n

Koa Peat comes from a family of NFL players, but it was his older sister, Leilani, who influenced his basketball career.<\/p>\n

Peat\u2019s dad, Todd, played six seasons in the NFL (1987-90; \u201992-93) split between the Arizona Cardinals and then-LA Raiders. One of his older brothers, Andrus, has played 10 NFL seasons and is currently on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Another older brother, Cassius, played college football for Michigan State, while his brother, Keona, plays for the University of Arizona.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy sister Leilani had a big influence on me and she played basketball for Seattle U so growing up and watching her play, I feel like I kind of implemented my game after hers. She was a point-forward and could do a little bit of everything and she was a fierce competitor too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI played football growing up, we all did. During COVID-19 it just kinda slowed down and I had a growth spurt. I always loved basketball and it was the best option for me. Plus the weather is better inside the gym for sure\u2026you can\u2019t control that on the football field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas\u2019 commitment to winning<\/p>\n

Meleek Thomas hates losing and only quit football after a rough losing season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI played football for just one season. When you don\u2019t have a good record or you don\u2019t finish the year strong, that\u2019s kind of a wrap for that so I just stuck to what I know and what I\u2019m good at and went right back to the hoop. It was in 7th grade and I was a wide receiver and corner and like everyone says, \u2018winning solves a lot of problems.\u2019 We weren\u2019t winning and it was bad so I used that as a sign just to stick to basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Caleb Wilson poses after winning a baseball tournament as a child (photo via Caleb Wilson Instagram) CHICAGO \u2013…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":796117,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[1260,324824,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-796116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-nba-draft-prospects-2026-backgrounds","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116573681154305434","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=796116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/796117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=796116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=796116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=796116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}