CLEVELAND -
Two and a half hours before tip-off, Kevin Jones is on the court at Quicken Loans Arena.
The former West Virginia University basketball star is now a Cleveland Cavalier, putting up shots and working on parts of his game that he hopes he'll get a chance to use later that night. It's year one in the NBA and whatever preconceived notions he may have had about this level of basketball, he's learning just how tough it really is.
"You can see what it looks like on TV, you can say, ‘Oh yeah, I can do that,' but until you actually play in the game, you never know what it's going to be like," Jones said prior to his Cavs taking on the Miami Heat. "Guys are a lot better than college, a lot more experienced, so it's been like trial and error and I'm just going through my usual rookie bumps, but I think I'm getting through it and I think I'm adjusting to the game well."
A big part in that adjustment process are these 25 or 30 minutes Jones spends before each game working with Cavs assistant coach Aubrey McCreary, who's had what he calls the pleasure of helping his new student get acclimated to the pro game.
"He's a great human being," McCreary said. "He has great character and he works hard every day. There are sometimes players and there are every day players, Kevin's the type of guy that comes in every day and puts the work in. I know he hasn't gotten a lot of minutes, but you look at every time he does play, he does the right thing."
Of course, hearing that Jones is putting in hard work each day is no surprise to anyone who followed WVU basketball. Bob Huggins would talk about KJ's work ethic until he was blue in the face – actually, he still does – but Jones says that part of his game just comes naturally.
"It's the player I've always been and I think it's also a necessity," he said. "People consider working hard as a talent and a skill now, which just kind of comes easy to me and I feel like it shouldn't be a skill. It should be what you want to do if you're a part of professional basketball."
This rookie season's been full of ups and downs. On any given day, he may be in Cleveland or down the road with the NBA Development League's Canton Charge with very different responsibilities depending on the uniform he's got on.
"It's tough, just not knowing where you're going to be," Jones admits. "They'd tell me right after practice is over that I have to go down and drive like 50 minutes to Canton, but it's fun. I'm enjoying the experience, enjoying the process and I've just got to work hard."
Right now, Jones averages just under nine minutes per game with the Cavaliers. He spends most of his time on the cushy chairs of the Cleveland bench.
When he goes to Canton, though, he dominates the league, averaging 22.4 points and 11.2 rebounds per game in 37.5 minutes of action. He is the only player at that level to average over 20 and 10 and has become what McCreary calls a "walking double-double."
He's hoping if he puts in a lot of hard work this summer, he'll get himself off the bench and out there on the court with Cleveland.
"I think he's got to keep grinding and keep grinding and hopefully the window of opportunity happens and he's going to be able to step in and get those minutes," said McCreary. "It's just going to be a matter of he's got to grind. He's in a tough situation, but he's on a roster spot. He's going to have summer league this summer to keep proving himself, which will be huge for him. I really hope that we can keep him around. I think he's got a great future ahead of him."
Jones says he sometimes reflects back to his college days and remembers the lessons he learned from his West Virginia coaches. Those help him in his push to get better every day.
"Definitely toughness and not backing down from any challenge, because you're definitely going to face a challenge every day in the NBA, whether that's during the game or during practice, you're always going to have guys trying to go at you," Jones said.
He'll use those ideals each time he sets foot on the court and keep on grinding as McCreary puts it to get himself where he wants to be.
Until then, you can find him warming up hours before tip-off with a very concrete goal in mind.
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