Taurean Prince wanted to play for the Hawks.
There would be a brief stint as a member of the Jazz — call it 14 days in NBA limbo — before his wish became a reality.
Prince was selected with the No. 12 pick in last month’s draft. The Jazz called his name, but it was at the request of the Hawks following the agreement of a three-team trade the previous day. While the deal has been announced, it will take another day or two before league approval allows Prince to suit up and make his professional debut.
“I wanted to go to Atlanta from the beginning,” Prince said Saturday. “It all worked out.”
Prince had two pre-draft workouts with the Hawks. It was during those sessions he thought he would be a perfect fit. Prince will eventually get on the court as part of the Hawks’ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League. He acknowledges some frustration. A lesson in patience will take a little longer.
There have been many such lessons in Prince’s life.
There was a time as a young boy that Prince lived in a Salvation Army shelter while growing up in San Antonio, Texas. Some nights, if they didn’t get to the shelter in time, they would be on the streets.
Stability eventually came to Prince and his life. He realizes how far he has come.
“You wouldn’t be serving yourself if you didn’t look back,” Prince said. “Because of what I went through, is the reason I’m where I am right now. It gave me a chip on my shoulder. I fueled that fire. I’d go through it again if it meant I would be right here.”
Prince, a 6-foot-8 forward, played four seasons at Baylor. He said it was during his sophomore season when he first realized that the NBA could be a reality. He completed his eligibility. He got a degree. He got his game ready.
“From that point on I knew I had to progress an enormous amount to do so,” Prince said. “Now I’m here.
“I think I do a lot of things well — I can guard, bring a lot of energy, score from different levels of the floor. I think that serves me well as a basketball player.”
His time at Baylor taught him to be a professional and how to conduct himself, Prince said. He was late to a practice once as a freshman. It never happened again.
Prince ranks seventh in Baylor history with 129 games played and ranks 13th in scoring with 1,321 points. Last season, he averaged 15.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 30.6 minutes. He was named first-team All-Big 12.
Prince gained national notoriety after Baylor lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in March, a 79-75 defeat to Yale. In answering a reporter’s question on how Baylor got outrebounded, Prince simply explained how to gather in the basketball. The video went viral.
Prince acknowledges he was asked about his answer by team officials and media during the draft process, but it wasn’t given much weight in evaluating his NBA prospects.
“Taurean has many of the qualities that we value in our program,” Hawks general manager Wes Wilcox said. “We are excited to add his competitiveness, toughness, versatility and desire to improve.”
So here he is. An NBA rookie who will soon step on a basketball court as a professional. There are many more lessons to be learned.
Taurean Prince is ready.
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