The TJD reveals origin of viral post following terrible writing session
Trayce Jackson-Davis discusses with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kerith Burke the Warriors’ 125-90 win over the Bucks on Wednesday night.
The 2023 NBA Draft did not go the way Warriors rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis initially had hoped, but it’s safe to say it all worked out in the end.
Golden State took the Indiana product with the No. 57 overall choice in the second round of last year’s draft, a selection that is proving to be a steal by first-year Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy.
Jackson-Davis joined 95.7 The Game’s “Willard & Dibs” on Friday, where he was questioned about his draft night experience and how he landed with the Warriors.
“The night was a little crazy; it was a little shocking,” Jackson-Davis added. “So my major agent, James Dunleavy, is clearly Mike’s brother, our GM. I guess they were chatting behind the scenes, but they didn’t want to tell me anything because James wanted me to go to Golden State because he thought that was the best fit, but there were three or four other teams who were hoping to get me between [picks] 20 and 40.
“But James said they didn’t want it to be on a two-way, so they said if you provide him with a primary roster slot, then we’ll come. The Warriors were the only team that said, ‘We’ll offer you that.’ ”
After being passed on by multiple clubs that exhibited genuine interest in him throughout the draft process, Jackson-Davis felt irritated and posted an ominous message on X, now known as Twitter, that has since gone viral after the rookie’s success with the Warriors.
“By pick 35-ish, [the Warriors] were attempting to grab another pick. I didn’t know this at the time, so I was furious, just watching the draft and watching all these players go before me,” Jackson-Davis explained. “By picking 50, I’m like, ‘OK, I’m upset. I’m tweeting this out.’ I’m like, ‘all right.’ suddenly pick 57 comes, and they finally get one, and suddenly everything is squared away. Then they informed me afterwards they were attempting to acquire a pick from pick 35, I said, ‘Well, if I had known that, I probably wouldn’t have tweeted that out.’ But it is what it is.”
The message, as Jackson-Davis noted, was not meant at one team in particular but rather at the handful of organizations that passed on him after expressing their intention to pursue him.
“Because Indiana is my hometown, a lot of people thought it was directed towards the Pacers, but it wasn’t necessarily directed toward the Pacers,” Jackson-Davis remarked.
“There were four or five clubs that I went out for that stated they really liked me between selections 20 and 40, so it was definitely focused toward them. But at the end of the day, it is what it is; I was going to play with a chip on my shoulder regardless. I think the tweet has aged very well so far.” Fortunately for Jackson-Davis, it all worked out in the end. And that’s putting it lightly.
The 24-year-old, along with fellow Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski, has been one of the best rookies this season and plays an important role in coach Steve Kerr’s rotations—so much so that Kerr is making a concerted effort to ramp up Jackson-Davis’ minutes to prepare him for a prominent role off the bench in the playoffs.
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