If New Orleans guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker sometimes sounds much older than his 21 years when he speaks, there’s at least one explanation: Since he was very young, he’s been preparing at a level beyond his age. Credit that to his uncle, Vaughn Alexander, who took the unusual step of immediately teaching his basketball pupils more than just how to dribble, pass and shoot.
“I’d be in third grade, and he would be talking to me about valuing possessions, making the right play at the right time,” Alexander-Walker remembered, smiling while thinking about a 9-year-old soaking up those advanced concepts.