NEW YORK — Toronto Raptors rookie Gradey Dick is one of the most interesting rookies in the league.
The former McDonald’s All-American and Gatorade National Player of the Year (we spoke to him after he won the award) was a standout freshman at Kansas last season, earning Big 12 All-Freshman. The 19-year-old forward was then selected by the Raptors at No. 13 overall in the 2023 NBA Draft.
While he is known for his sharpshooting off the court, he is also an animal lover who does a shockingly good impression of the Disney character Donald Duck.
He performs dance routines and backflips on his TikTok, he is followed by Drake on Instagram and he has a personality as vibrant as the suit he wore on draft night.
Before the 2023 NBA Draft, For The Win met up with Dick, who shared his thoughts about his transition to the NBA.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. Read more of our pre-draft interviews with NBA prospects.
What were some of the standout elements of the pre-draft process?
Gradey Dick: The pre-draft process was a whirlwind of different events. I was in like seven cities in the last week before the draft doing the workouts and then coming out to New York City. I was going back to back to back with stuff. It felt like I flew in there, stayed the night, worked out and flew to the next one. It was a pretty quick process. But it was fun. I just tried to take everything in and tried not to go too quick with everything and took everything for what it was.
What was the most important thing you wanted teams to know about you?
Gradey Dick: You’re obviously working out on the court with them but they’ve seen you play more than anyone else has because they’ve done their research. So I learned that it was really important to show them the person you are off the court.
You go out to dinner with the GMs and owners of the teams and you want to show what kind of person you are and your character and stuff like that. I just tried to be myself. I wanted them to draft me for who I am.
I just try to be real and sometimes you see athletes try to be someone who they’re not with a stone-faced persona. But in everything I do, I try to relate to people. You see my social media presence. You can go check out my social media and you’ll see my personality for what it is. I just try to be myself in everything that I do. It’s goofy.
But when I’m going through my daily process, sometimes I have to be more serious just locking in and doing my work for the day. Then it’s my time to clear my head and go on social media and be myself there and that goofiness comes out. That’s my little space to make jokes. I’m just like everyone else. I do me. When people see that, I hope they respect that. I hope they see my realness.
How do you see your game translating to the next level?
Gradey Dick: I feel like my game goes with anybody’s play style in a way. I have the mentality that I can step in and try to make an impact early. I have the versatility and the size to do that quickly. It’s one of those things that excites me. Watching the playoffs, it made me want to get to the draft really quick and get on the court again.
What are some of the things you are doing off the court to raise your own brand?
Gradey Dick: I’m out here in New York with Philips Norelco. I’m with Jarace Walker and Keyonte George. Those are my guys. I’ve been playing against or with them since like eighth grade. We’ve been going at it for a while, so it’s cool to see how all three of us grew into this and now we’re here doing stuff like this.
I learned with NIL, the most important thing I learned was to know what I need in my daily life. The best advice is to think about what you use on a daily basis and around the house and look for those deals. So I looked in the grooming space even though I don’t have crazy beard-growing ability. But it’s one of those things where I try to keep it in shape to try to feel better and ready for the day.
What other advice would you share for an incoming freshman about NIL?
Gradey Dick: I think the biggest thing I learned was to take your time with everything. Don’t try to rush everything. Even bigger than that, probably the most important thing, in general, is just knowing what got you here. Keep the main thing the main thing.
Know that basketball is what got you these deals. So if you start to focus too much on these NIL brands and it pulls you away from basketball, that is the worst thing you could possibly do. That’s the thing I focused on every single day: My love for basketball and doing that every single day and knowing in my head that if I’m doing this, it’s going to allow me to have more opportunities with NIL.
What impact do you think that NIL is having on recruiting for freshmen and transfers?
Gradey Dick: It’s going to change a lot of things. Even with the highly ranked dudes coming out of high school and not going to these blue bloods all the time based off what they can get with NIL and being seen and stuff like that. The transfer space is a whole different thing in college. It is kind of weird because it was my first year in college, so I didn’t really get to experience the thing before. But I spoke with some dudes about how mad they got at what they could have got if they were back in college.
If you could have your own personal zoo, what animals would you have?
Gradey Dick: I love animals! Obviously, the dog and cat are the basic stuff. But if we’re going to go out there, a couple of monkeys just swinging around? Probably no snakes. I don’t really mess with snakes. Maybe some little tiger and lion cubs? Then once they get big, send ‘em off. But yeah, all the cute ones. But realistically? I need a dog and a cat together. I have a cat right now. He’s a Bengal cat named Milky. He’s pretty cool. He has snow leopard print. He has cool patterns. I need a little puppy with him so they can play together.
How would you rate the NBA championship celebration for Christian Braun?
Gradey Dick: The best! CB is my guy. I was with him the other weekend. Nobody celebrates quite like him. You saw it. He’s one of those all-time competitors and a Rock Chalk dude. He told me to just take it all in while going through this process. He and Ochai Agbaji told me to expect how sped up everything is in the pre-draft process. They said those raw emotions were going to come out and to enjoy them.
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