Chris Eversley, Landon Drew and Chris McNealy share the love of the game with their NBA fathers.
Story by Olivia Phelps
Their names have already graced professional rosters.
The NBA knows their fathers by their numbers on the court, but they simply know them as “Dad”.
Cal Poly’s Chris Eversley, Cal State Northridge’s Landon Drew and UC Irvine’s Chris McNealy have inherited professional athletic genes.
With fathers who played and excelled in the game themselves, basketball has lived in their homes for as long as they can remember.
Eversley, who leads the Mustangs with 14 points per game after scoring a season-high 25 points over Stanford on Dec. 29, remembers sharing his crib with a giant orange object. “[I remember] having this ginormous ball in the crib and I couldn’t even hold it yet,” said the Cal Poly senior. “I remember looking at it like, ‘What is this huge object that they’ve given me?’ But I would soon find out.”
As the son of Michael Eversley, who played for the Chicago Bulls in the 1979 season, and Nina Leonard, who played for Long Beach State from 1980-1984, Eversley shared, “My parents left some big shoes for me to fill. They’ve always wanted me to strive to be better than them. They understand that they set the bar high and they say, ‘You’ve got to beat us’.
“[My father’s success] played a huge part in just growing up and playing because he’s always been the largest influence, he and my mom. But him specifically, just being able to learn from him. The mindset you have to have to be successful and what you need to be doing on and off the court.”
Drew, whose father Larry Drew played 12 seasons in the NBA with a variety of clubs including the Pistons, the Kings, the Clippers and the Lakers, used his family’s house as a training facility with his older and younger brothers when he was growing up, with his father’s permission of course.
“Our family room has a wood floor so there would be times where [my brothers and I would be] dribbling the ball around the house.
“My dad would show us VCR tapes of certain players,” said Drew. “Me and my brother would stand in front of the T.V. and would have little sessions where we were dribbling the ball in front of the T.V. and that was for my dad. He never forced it upon us, but the love of the game was always there because of him.”
After his twelfth season playing professionally, Larry Drew began his coaching career in 1989, the same year he entered fatherhood with the birth of his eldest son, Larry Drew II. From that day forward for Larry, it was basketball and his boys.
Growing up in a world that revolved around basketball, it’s almost as if basketball claimed Landon long before he claimed the sport himself.
“I used to grow up watching [my dad] play as a kid. Growing up it was just about basketball. Seeing him coach and just being around the players, being fortunate enough to surround myself with the players, it was a huge influence on my life.”
Anteater senior McNealy, whose father played for the New York Knicks from 1985-1987 said of his sad, “He’s like my mini coach. A built in one.”
For McNealy, the road to basketball wasn’t as obvious, as his “built-in” coach encouraged a love for all sports. McNealy played recreational soccer before playing the sport his father loved; however, soccer was short-lived and basketball soon became his game of choice.
When asked if his desire to play originated with him or his father, McNealy responded, “Solely me. I really loved to play so I just wanted to keep playing and see how far I could go.”
Senior Chris McNealy, who is four inches taller than his son, is now an international scout for the New Orleans Pelicans. While most of his year is spent abroad, McNealy senior still actively takes part in his son’s career, calling before and after every game.
“Stay aggressive,” McNealy senior will say. “Look for [your] shot, play within the offense.”
While “funny, passionate and charming” as his son describes him, the international scout and his son will always bond over their shared love of the game.
Just as McNealy spends the majority of his time away from home, Larry Drew, the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, has also found creative ways to coach Landon from afar.
Larry Drew shared with “Wisconsin Tonight”, “We’ve even gone as far as sticking the DVD in at the same time while we’re on the phone and we’re going over clip after clip after clip and me critiquing them and you just try to find what works."
“He finds a way to be a father even when he’s on the road,” said Landon.
“Usually before games he’ll give me tips. He’ll let me know, stay aggressive on offense. After the games, I know if I played well or not but he’s always positive. He’s never been the type to shoot me down or scold me for doing something wrong. He’ll just give me helpful tips and I’m really appreciative of that.”
When Larry can make it to the game, one might find him sitting with a bag of sunflower seeds quietly observing the play below, often sending one of his sons to deliver a message to his player on the court.
“There have been times when I’ve been playing when my little brother came over to the bench and he’ll give me a tip and I’ll look over to my dad and there are little signals that he would give us in the stands where if he would put up one finger and then two he was telling us to do a one-two dribble move or something,” said Landon.
While McNealy and Eversley have never seen footage of their fathers from the NBA, Drew watches as much as he can.
“There are some old VCR tapes that we have in storage at our house from the ’80s when he was playing with the Kings,” said Landon. “There would be sometimes that he wouldn’t even know. I would find a VCR and just watch it in my room, just watch him play. I didn’t even watch anybody else.”
While the Mustang and Anteater might not have seen their dad’s in their prime on film, they have all logged plenty of hours playing pick-up games in the front yard.
When asked who would win in a one-on-one today, they all responded identically: the outcome would be in their favor.
“Thirty years ago, my dad,” said Eversley. “Today I’d have to take him down.”
At six-foot-seven, the forward stands two inches above his father, who was known as “Mike-Tank” in his playing days, and notes that his athleticism would give him the edge over his old man.
“Speed. Quickness,” said the Cal Poly senior. “He was more physical, he was a bigger body.”
Eversley shared that although he could take him down, the two haven’t played competitively in a few years.
“He stopped playing me one-on-one in eighth grade. I crossed him over and hit him with a shoulder step back jump shot, and he said, ‘Ok, that’s it.’”
McNealy responded with just as much confidence: “I would [win], easily.
“He’s been saying that he can beat me until he’s about 55 and I’ve been saying otherwise. Every time he comes home and we play basketball it’s always competitive.”
Drew was no exception.
“I would beat him without a doubt,” said the sophomore Matador.
It looks like there will be a few father-son games in the near future between the Big West athletes and their built-in NBA dad.
With the “built-in” coach and ever-present support also comes expectations and pressure as the son of someone that’s proven their talent.
Said Eversley, “You become more cerebral.”
Drew noted, “Coming from a basketball family in general there’s always expectations. Regardless of the expectations, I always set them aside and just make the most of my situation right now.”
While expectations come with the territory, perhaps they do have an edge.
Their fathers not only taught them how to be a force on the court, but also taught them how to dream and how to dream big.
Eversley, who began his collegiate basketball career at Rice University, transferred to San Luis Obispo after the 2009-2010 season and sat out the following year in compliance with NCAA regulations. With his parents’ encouragement and support, the starter earned Big West All-First Team honors after his junior season and was named to the six-player Preseason All-Big West Team heading into his final campaign after leading his team to a program-best 12 conference victories in 2012-2013.
When deciding to transfer from Rice Eversley’s parents said, “Somebody’s out there, somebody’s looking for a player like you and they’re going to be happy once they’ve got you.”
Now in his senior season, Eversley was named one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award that recognizes student athletes in the areas of community, classroom, character and competition. His parents were right.
Landon Drew graduated from Fairfax High School where he averaged 14.5 points, 7.2 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. When it came time to pursue collegiate athletics, Drew shared that Cal State Northridge was “really my only offer.”
His father offered some guidance, “The one thing that’s always a relief is him telling me to have fun and a lot of people tend to forget that,” said Landon. “At times it can be such a serious game because there’s so much on the line, you know the stakes are high. If I hear from my father to have fun, there’s really no other choice but to have fun.”
In his freshman campaign last season Drew produced eight double-digit scoring games, including a season-high 19 points, and dished out 114 assists to lead the team and rank ninth for his 3.8 assists-per-game in league.
McNealy, Irvine’s lone senior, scored a career-high 27 points in the 2013-2014 season opener against Fresno State and became the 23rd Anteater to record 1,000 points on Jan. 4 after netting 12 points in route to a 91-56 victory over San Diego Christian.
“Never take a game off,” McNealy said, reiterating advice from his father who was a two-time was All-PCAA (Big West Conference) player at San Jose State in 1982 and 1983. “You don’t really know who’s watching. There could be scouts at any game and you’ve basically got to play at your best all the time.”
With professional advice, recognizable statures, and familiar names, it’s the next generation’s time and the three are honoring their fathers by dreaming big in the Big West.
“For any kid, for any boy you just want to make your family proud,” said Drew. “You want to make your father proud.”