New upcoming NBA star Victor Wembanyama must "remember to be a kid" as expectations grow on the San Antonio Spurs' 19-year-old, who has already been likened to LeBron James.
That was the message from the Chicago Bulls' Andre Drummond, who is well qualified to offer such advice given he has his eyes on a significant milestone of his own.
Drummond is just 37 boards away from reaching 10,000 rebounds in his impressive NBA career, having initially started at the Detroit Pistons with expectations on his shoulders, too.
The Bulls' 30-year-old has been in basketball long enough – and from a similar young age as well – to feel capable of offering advice to the exciting Wembanyama.
The Chicago center told Stats Perform: "For Victor, if I had to give him some advice, I would always tell him to just remember to be a kid.
"I feel like that is something that I didn't take advantage of coming in at 18 years old.
"I feel like I'd stepped into this realm of basketball and like, instantly became a man.
"I had to do everything as a man when I still had my mom and my sister, I still had a family base too, and I think that's the best thing I did do, was bring them out.
"I was so focused on, 'Alright, how do I fit in?' So, I will just tell him to always be himself."
Drummond was rated as the number-one pick of the 2011 class by ESPN after featuring in a gold-medal winning United States team at the Under-17 World Championship.
Having experienced similar pressures in his early career, Drummond sees aspects of his own challenges in Wembanyama.
"Similar to him, I came in and played right away," Drummond added. "I had to figure it out on the fly.
"I was going to a team that was rebuilding and a lot of pressure was on me too, along with him.
"He has a lot of pressure on his back too, because now they're looking at him to be the guy to bring the Spurs back to the calibre that they were.
"For me coming into Detroit, it was like 'well, you have to bring us back to the playoffs, you got to bring us to being a contending team' because all they know in Detroit is winning, they are a blue-collar city.
"So similar stories, different guys. We're all going on the same path at the end of the day, we want to win a championship and we want to be the best we can be."
While likening his experiences to what Wembanyama will face, over a decade on from his NBA introduction Drummond now has milestones in his sights.
"Being 37 away from 10,000 rebounds," he continued, "it puts a lot of perspective for myself and just for the public because I always tell everybody, I feel like I'm the best ever to do it, [regardless of] me having, or about to have 10,000 rebounds.
"I think just my body of work and my percentages and numbers help prove that and honestly, for me it just shows the amount of work I put in.
"Every year I set a goal to be the best rebounder each and every season and to have the honour of reaching 10,000, not too many people have the chance to do that. I am with a group of high-calibre guys."
While delighted to feature in a group that includes the likes of legends Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, which Drummond labelled as "truly an honour", the Bulls star wants to use his experience to help teammates now.
"For myself this year, it's just, I think it's everything away from basketball, I feel like it's just staying with it, controlling things that I could control," he said.
"Focusing on the things that matter, being a good team-mate, being there for the guys, playing hard each and every time I'm out there.
"In practice, pushing our starters to be better each and every day, being a vocal leader. I feel like that's something that I lacked last year, not using my voice for someone who's been around for 12 years now.
"I feel like I should have spoken more and said a lot more to our younger guys, so I think just being that vet that everybody sees me as I'm really showing it."
Kerr demands improvements from Team USA as Olympic opener looms
United States coach Steve Kerr wants to see higher levels of intensity from his team as their Olympics campaign approaches.
Kerr was unhappy with the lacklustre displays from his side in their warm-ups against Germany and South Sudan.
Germany led 71-68 at the end of the third quarter before LeBron James conjured up 11 points in the final four minutes to give the USA a 92-88 win, while South Sudan were 20 seconds away from pulling off one of the biggest shocks in basketball history, before eventually falling to a 101-100 loss.
The USA face a dangerous Serbia side featuring reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on Sunday, and Kerr is adamant that improvements are required if they are to win a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
He said: "It's got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can't let teams outplay us effort and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan.
“We have another level. I think we have another two levels that we can get to, but it's a collaboration, always.
"We can show them, 'Let's do this, let's do that. Let's learn personnel.'
"We got to know the shooters, know the non-shooters, all that stuff. So that's where we can help them. Where they can help themselves is just effort and energy play after play, after play. This is different."
Kerr is a four-time NBA champion as a coach, and was part of the triumphant Olympics team in Tokyo in 2021, but the Golden State Warriors boss knows the experience of the Games will only be enhanced if the USA were to come out on top again.
"This should be one of the great experiences of our lives. But the best way to make it an incredible experience is to win a gold medal," he said.
After facing Serbia, the USA will once again go up against South Sudan, this time in a competitive format, before ending the group stage with a match against Puerto Rico.
Durant warns Team USA 'everybody is a contender' in Olympic basketball tournament
Kevin Durant has warned Team USA they will not have an easy ride through the basketball tournament at the Paris Olympic Games, declaring: "Everybody is a contender".
The United States will go in search of a fifth straight men's basketball gold in the French capital, where they open their Group C campaign against Serbia on Sunday.
After that meeting with Nikola Jokic and company, the star-studded USA team featuring Durant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and a host of other NBA stars take on South Sudan and Puerto Rico.
With Steve Kerr having so much talent at his disposal, the roster has been compared to that of the 1992 'Dream Team', who took gold in Barcelona behind the efforts of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen and other great names.
However, at a press conference ahead of Team USA's 2024 opener, Curry reminded reporters that the class of 1992 only faced nine other active NBA players.
Durant is expecting a much tougher assignment this year, responding to Curry by saying: "Everybody is a contender. Everyone is here for a reason.
"We're playing against 65 or 64 NBA players in Paris. So you know they're the best in the world."
Asked to identify the main players to watch from other nations, the Phoenix Suns forward said: "Giannis [Antetokounmpo] or Jokic."
While Durant adopted a cautious tone, Golden State Warriors star Curry was more bullish regarding the USA's gold medal hopes.
Quizzed on who he was most excited about facing, Curry simply said: "Whoever's in the gold medal game."
Knicks, head coach Thibodeau agree to three-year contract extension
The New York Knicks and head coach Tom Thibodeau have agreed to a three-year contract extension through the 2027-28 season.
New York went 50-32 last season to earn the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference before losing to the Indiana Pacers in the semi-finals of the play-offs.
The Knicks were also ousted in the East semis in 2022-23 and reached the play-offs during Thibodeau’s first season in 2021-22, when he won his second NBA Coach of the Year award.
Prior to 2021-22, New York’s previous post-season appearance came in 2013.
The Knicks have gone 175-143 over the last four seasons under Thibodeau, who earned his first NBA Coach of the Year award in 2011 as a rookie head coach with the Chicago Bulls.
The 66-year-old Thibodeau owns a 527-389 record in 12 seasons as a head coach with Chicago, the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York.
His teams have gone 38-47 in the post-season, and Thibodeau’s only appearance in the conference finals came in his rookie head coach season.
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