North Carolina great Rashad McCants dishes on the NBA Finals, Michael Jordan, Bill Belichick and more

Rashad McCants is a former McDonald’s All-American who continued his basketball career at the University of North Carolina, where he established himself as one of the Tar Heels’ all-time greats, winning a National Championship in 2005 and twice being named an All-American. His collegiate success led to him being selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2005 NBA Draft, 14th overall.

Following an NBA career that saw him average 10 points per game between stops in Minnesota and Sacramento, McCants became the first-ever pick in Ice Cube’s Big3 league. His team won the league’s inaugural championship and McCants was named championship game MVP.

On Monday, McCants, who previously wrote a book on the exploitation of student athletes – Plantation Eduction: The Exploitation of the Modern-Day Athlete-Student, joined OutKick exclusively on Monday to talk NBA Finals, Bill Belichick’s fit at UNC, playing alongside Kevin Garnett, the NCAA Transfer Portal and more.

Anthony Farris: With the NBA Finals currently tied at one game a piece between Oklahoma City and Indiana, who do you have coming out as the eventual winner and in how many games?

Rashad McCants: I have Indiana in seven (games) because (head coach) Rick Carlisle’s not going to allow certain things to happen where (the Pacers) don’t have an opportunity to win, like you saw in Game One. I think OKC’s lack of experience will have them put in situations where they’ll compromise games and I think that alone will allow Indiana to creep in. And the (Indiana) fanbase can propel a new story to the front of the tabloids instead of OKC doing so by having the MVP (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander).

Farris: If you’re starting a team today, do you do so with SGA or Tyrese Haliburton? 

McCants: There’s preference on what type of team you want to build. But right now, if I’m a winner, and I want a team with chemistry, I’m gonna pick Haliburton because he distributes the ball. He shares the sugar, makes sure everyone gets involved. And he’s not afraid to take the last shot. That has nothing to do with Shai, it just has everything to do with the advantages of Haliburton being a team-oriented guy.

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Farris: You played your first two NBA seasons with Kevin Garnett on the Timberwolves. What was that experience like? 

McCants: My experience with him was completely different than everyone else’s because I got to see the raw element of who he is in downtime when he’s not wearing the mask and he’s not performing. A lot of people can say through their experiences, “this is how he is,” “this is how he’s that.” But if he hasn’t let you through the door to let you see who he is, you’d see that he’s just a fun dude. He likes to do everything that everyone else likes to do, but he’s very competitive, very intense and very funny. So if you get past a lot of those little areas where he can scare you or intimidate you, you’ll find that he’s just a funny ass dude that’s cool as hell…

Farris: As hard a worker as everyone says?

McCants: Absolutely. He understands the dynamics of details similar to Kobe. I think having Kev as my mentor and vet, felt like I had Kobe Bryant as the same type of guy. I knew they were cut from the same type of cloth, both being my heroes. It was not a drop-off at all when it came to competitiveness, details, footwork, all of those things. 

Farris: You played against Kobe, LeBron, Wade, Arenas, others. Who was the best you played against during your NBA career?

McCants: Kobe Bryant was the best. I was a big student of his. But when it comes down to just talent..it’s hard to guard a chess master. (He was) like Bobby Fischer. He was just one of those guys you had to prepare two-to-three days ahead for. Outside of him, probably Vince Carter.

…Just that era period. You talk about shooting guards and small forwards, from Paul Pierce to Tracy McGrady to Ray Allen to Dwyane Wade to Michael Redd, we had to see a lot of (star) guys, so it’s hard to just pinpoint one or two guys. But then again, it’s actually really, really easy because there was one guy that was better than all of those guys – Kobe.

Farris: Switching over to college athletics, what are your thoughts on the transfer portal? Do you think it’s a good thing?

McCants: Whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, there’s just no structure to it. …I think it can be a good thing if it’s done right and if kids are not entitled to just show up and do nothing and demand things. There has to be a contractual obligation. For you to get this money, you’ve gotta show up and go to practice, you’ve got to be attentive. There are things now: boundaries, restrictions. It’s not just that you can make money, and you act like you’re a millionaire, you don’t have to come and perform. In my book I talk about performance-based requirements and academic-based requirements. If you’re here for basketball, you gotta do all these things before you transfer. If you’re Caleb Love and you wanna leave North Carolina and go to Arizona, alright, did you fulfill all your requirements?

Farris: When you were at UNC, was Michael Jordan ever around and were there open communication lines?

McCants: He came by. It was Michael Jordan so we didn’t have access to him like that (laughing), but he definitely came by to practices to say hello. He’d come back and say hello to everybody and bet us to shoot from halfcourt and keep it movin.

Farris: Who was winning that?

McCants: Me, of course.

Farris: So you beat Jordan?

McCants: Well, I hit (the shot attempt) first.

Farris: How are you feeling, as a Tar Heel, with A) having Bill Belichick as the school’s football coach? And B) with everything that surrounds him right now?
McCants: (laughing) I like Belichick a lot. I think the UNC move was a good move for him. But I think with his morale and everything around him now, (his girlfriend Jordon Hudson) and everything, it’s just controversy waiting to happen. It’s more pressure on him than ever before, because if he doesn’t win, it’s the distractions that around him and he’s not really focused. And if he does win, this is maybe a little bit too easy. You came down to the college ranks to dominate. I love the fact that he’s in North Carolina to give some prestige back (to the program). Mack Brown tried. It’s an opportunity for him to build something. But Belichick, I just think…he’s gonna be a man. He’s gonna be a man and do what you wanna do. I’m not gonna tell him not to do it. You know, we all want to do it but you gotta have enough money to do it. And if you don’t, you don’t. Cool. But salute to Bill. He’s having fun. He’s living his life. 

Farris: One last question. Ice Cube’s Big3 returns this weekend. You won a championship in the league’s first season. How big of an adjustment is it going from playing 5-on-5 full court to 3-on-3 half court?

McCants: When you talk about preparation for it and the half court and the difference, you play a lot harder because you can get exposed a lot quicker. There’s not a lot of help (defense). With 5-on-5 you’ve got a lot of extra help with two extra guys on the court. You can cut the court (angles) off and kind of rest a little bit. But 3-on3, as soon as a shot goes up, somebody gets the rebound, and you can throw it to (a player at) the three point line and shoot it (immediately). So everyone’s constantly running around. You have to be in (good) cardio (shape). It’s not what everyone thinks it is. It’s definitely harder than 5-on-5.

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