How Derrick Jones Jr., Dereck Lively II, and other local players fought their way into the NBA

Desperate to make the Baltimore Bullets roster after being selected in the third round of the 1969 NBA draft, Fred Carter, who would later play for and coach the 76ers, once jumped on teammate Ray Scott’s back, bit his shoulder, and stole the ball during a defensive drill.

Stunned, Scott, a native of West Philadelphia, exclaimed: “That guy’s crazier than a mad dog.”

Carter (my father), a native of North Philly who averaged 20 points in three consecutive seasons with the Sixers, has been known as “Mad Dog” ever since.

About 55 years later, tenacious defense is still opening doors in the NBA.

Versatile, long-armed, and bouncy forward Derrick Jones Jr., an Archbishop Carroll alum, has proved as much during the Dallas Mavericks’ current playoff run.

“I love playing defense,” Jones told reporters after the Mavs dispatched Oklahoma City in Game 6 of their series. “I love going out there, trying to make someone else’s night a little tougher. That’s just it really. I just love playing defense.”

It shows. The Mavericks hold a two-games-to-none lead on the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. Often guarded by Jones, Wolves star Anthony Edwards, the offensive dynamo many believe could be the next face of the league, finished with just 19 points on 6-for-16 shooting in a Game 1 loss.

Jones went undrafted after one season at UNLV. His journey, however, has garnered respect from local high school coaches, some of whom have found lessons that current players can use to carve similar NBA niches.

During his eight seasons in the league, Jones has played for Phoenix, Miami, Portland, Chicago, Toronto, and Dallas, with several G League stops along the way.

He was certainly a capable scorer in high school, graduating in 2015 as Carroll’s all-time leading scorer (1,645 points), but he was best known for dunking.

But before he became known as Airplane Mode in the NBA, Jones was a skinny freshman whose defensive doggedness earned him a starting role at Carroll.

“It’s just funny that’s now what’s getting him on the court and keeping him on the court,” said current Malvern Prep coach Paul Romanczuk, who coached Jones at Carroll.

“Now his offense is coming around. … I’m proud of Derrick and happy that Dallas gave him this opportunity and it seems to have really worked out for them.”

Jones also has improved as a scorer. In the final three games of the Mavs’ second-round win against OKC, he averaged 19.3 points on 8-for-16 shooting from three.

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“I think [Jones] is the perfect example of a guy who had to fight,” said Imhotep coach Andre Noble, whose former standout Justin Edwards hopes to be drafted in June.

“Think of how many times over the course of his career that he [didn’t play]. To [not play] that many times and still stay hungry, and to go from not shooting well at all to where he is today. How much work did he put in to make it happen? And in the end, it’s about the character and the will to not give up and make it happen for yourself.”

Watch NBA benches closely during the playoffs and you’ll see familiar faces.

Bonner-Prendergast graduate Isaiah Wong saw his Indiana Pacers stun fans in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden, where George Washington graduate Charlie Brown Jr. watched as a member of the New York Knicks.

Wong earned back-to-back Catholic League MVP nods before graduating from Bonner-Prendie in 2019. He then attended Miami and led the Hurricanes to separate Elite Eight and Final Four runs, while earning ACC player of the year as a senior.

No wonder Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who played for Miami coach Jim Larrañaga in college, has Wong, who averaged 14.7 points in his first G-League season, absorbing the playoff atmosphere from the bench.

Players on two-way contracts are not eligible for playoff rosters, but that doesn’t mean Wong can’t earn experience.

“I don’t think they’d have him sitting on that bench if they didn’t think he could help them in the future,” said Wong’s former coach at Bonner-Prendie, Jack Concannon. “He plays hard on defense and … makes everyone better. I don’t think that will change.”

In 2021, current Pacers backup point guard T.J. McConnell, 32, signed a four-year, $35.2 million deal.

McConnell, who spent four seasons with the 76ers as an undrafted free agent beginning in 2015, sparked Indiana on both ends against the Knicks, perhaps increasing his value and making him more expensive to retain in free agency.

If he lands elsewhere, Wong could be the beneficiary.

“Right place, right opportunity,” Concannon said. “He can definitely be a contributor and I have no doubt he will be. I think he’s in the right spot.”

Brown went undrafted in 2019 after leading the Atlantic 10 in scoring at St. Joseph’s.

Since then he has spent seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, Thunder, Mavericks, Sixers, and Knicks, including several G-League stints.

Similar to Jones, Brown’s coach at Washington says versatility kept him on the court early, so manufacturing a role should not be new.

“You always could see he had all the intangibles that a lot of kids nowadays don’t because it’s a highlight-driven sport right now,” said former Washington coach John Creighton, now the athletic director at William Tennent. “But he does everything that’s not on the highlights.”

The Knicks, who suffered several injuries during the playoffs, could be ideal for Brown since Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau has a reputation for doling out heavy minutes, which means fresh bodies are often in demand, and versatile skills can cover several deficiencies.

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Westtown School coach Seth Berger was at an eighth grade AAU event the first time he saw Mavs center Dereck Lively II.

Berger, who has coached several Division I and NBA talents, quickly sensed what motivated Lively.

“His energy and decision-making were always about what was best for the team,” Berger said in a phone interview. “And that’s the same thing he’s doing with the Mavericks.”

After one season at Duke, Lively led all NBA rookies, shooting 74% from the field during the regular season.

He also has improved his free-throw shooting from 50% in the regular season to 60% in the postseason.

Last month, Lively’s mother, Kathy Drysdale, who scored 1,000 points at Penn State and coached Lively growing up, died after a lengthy bout with cancer.

Lively joked recently about hearing his mother say, “If you miss it, you [stink],” after OKC purposely put him on the foul line.

“I think the lesson from Dereck is, he wasn’t even a 1,000-point scorer in high school,” Berger said. “He was a 1,000-rebound guy, because that’s what we needed to win. Doing what your team needs to win games, that’ll also get you to the highest level …”

Noble knows what won’t.

Since Edwards, who declared for the draft after one season at Kentucky, is being considered by NBA teams, Noble says he has fielded calls from nearly every franchise.

» READ MORE: Dereck Lively II, a Westtown graduate, has risen into national stardom. His mother steered that path.

“They hire investigators to look back and track your time in high school,” he said. “Almost every team has either contacted myself, the principal, sometimes a teacher. They’ll do it a number of ways because they don’t want a canned response. So they investigate the character you had all the way through high school.

“I don’t think kids realize that these are multibillion-dollar businesses and they are going to protect their investment and make sure they’re making the right investment.”

Edwards doesn’t explode above the rim like Jones, who won the NBA dunk contest in 2020, but the two lefties might have defensive tenacity in common.

“Even in high school, people credited Justin with making an impact on both sides of the ball,” Noble said. “When I talk to NBA teams, I think Justin is going to be a really good three-and-D guy. I don’t see him being anything less than that ... if he takes advantage of the opportunities in front of him.”

In the end, like Jones, several local players will be or are looking for a toehold, including former Archbishop Wood and Villanova standout Collin Gillespie, whose Denver Nuggets were eliminated on May 19.

“Those guys who play in the league from our area,” Noble said, “are just a credit to the quality of basketball that I think we have.”