QJ Peterson is an overseas player for the Nanjing Tongxi Monkey Kings of the Chinese Basketball Association. Peterson received an unexpected offer to compete with the New York Knicks in this year’s Summer League and ended up thriving when given extended playing time.
Following the conclusion of Summer League, he then outlined what the journey was like for him, via a post on Instagram.
Peterson first spoke about how he joined a New York Knicks minicamp and got the chance to meet Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau. Peterson said that Thibodeau then gave him some advice on how to make the NBA:
“He says, ‘At your height, being 6 feet, you need to be a pest on defense, guard the full length of the court, dive on the floor, be everywhere on the court. Your offense is your strong suit, but your defense will get you in and you need to be seen more.’"
Peterson then spoke about how after his minicamp experience with New York, he got an invite to join the Knicks’ Summer League team. The guard said that he was told that he would likely not get much playing time, if any.
“Now, I could have had an ego trip, and said, ‘Nah I'm better than this, not accepted’ and just kept it moving. It took me less than 10 minutes to decide if I wanted to do it.
"I told my agent, ‘Look, let's do it! I've come this far, let's see it through, I'm just going to have to force their hand and make it extremely hard for them not to play me.'
"However, I'm here to do whatever they need me to do, whether I play zero minutes or 40 minutes, they will have the hardest worker, best leader on and off the court, and I'll do whatever I can to help develop the young guys and encourage them out there. Whatever my role is, I will do it.”
Peterson added that he always made sure to show up early and to be the hardest worker among all of the Knicks’ Summer League participants. This was to ensure that he left a strong impact on the team’s coaching staff.
Peterson then broke down his Summer League experience game by game, starting with him being benched for Game 1 and barely playing in Game 2. The point guard then slowly started getting more playing time in Games 3 to 5 before finishing Summer League with a bang. This came as he finished with a game-high 25 points on 47.1% shooting in Game 5 against the Denver Nuggets.
“After Game 2, coach Thibs meets with the Summer League head coach, coach Dice and says, ‘Yes, you have to play these guys, but at some point winning has to take hold and matter.’ Coach Dice comes up to me the next day and says, ‘Hey, be ready, I don't know how much you're going to play, but just be ready,’ and of course, my response is, ‘I'm always ready, coach!’
“Game 3 comes, we start the game off losing, he subs me in with four minutes to go in the first quarter until mid-second quarter, and immediately I make a positive impact on the game.
"We come out in the second and get down by 13 and puts me in and immediately I make a positive impact again and don't come out the rest of the game! We end up coming back and winning this game, without having a great shooting night, solely off of ENERGY AND EFFORT!
“Fourth game comes and my message to the team was simple, ‘Let last game's energy and effort transfer to this game. You guys now know what energy and effort you need to play with in order to win games in the NBA.’
"Needless to say, these boys came out hot playing together, everyone on the floor and bench all talking being positive with everyone, everyone is in tune with the game.
"I didn't have a great scoring night, but I did all the small things out there and made the correct plays and brought ENERGY AND EFFORT once again and leadership. We win that game by 10 or so!
“Fifth game comes, we start the game off very slow, 15-1 actually. Didn't have it going early on, only had seven or eight guys playing, and everyone is tired. I told guys, ‘Playoffs or no playoffs, everything matters! This matters! You get very few chances in the NBA Take advantage of it!'
“We continue to fight all game, not giving up. Heading into the fourth quarter with only eight points and down 13, I said to myself, ‘It's time to step up, now. Remember who you are truly.’ I tell coach Dice, the head coach, ‘I'm about to take this game over!’
“The coaching staff and players all were on board with letting me do what I've been doing, which is score. I tell guys, ‘Score, stop, score, stop, score, stop, we will be good! One possession at a time, value it, finish every defensive possession with a rebound! ENERGY AND EFFORT will help us come back and win this game!’
"Everyone said to me after the game, ‘We all wanted you to take those shots. You worked hard every day, you had it going, and you weren't afraid of the moment. There's nothing to hang your head about.’ To hear that from a group of guys who I've only known for two weeks means a lot to me.”
QJ Peterson on his biggest takeaway from NBA Summer League
Later in his Instagram post, QJ Peterson spoke about how grateful he was for his entire Summer League experience. Peterson said that it was an opportunity that he will never forget and that he’s glad that he was able to give it his all, regardless of what happens next:
“I had chances where I could have quit, could have had an ego, could have said I'm better than this, yet I choose to think about everyone back home, every kid in the stands, my family how it'd make them look. I made it BIGGER than MYSELF. No matter what I may have been feeling, I made it bigger than myself."
“I turned a lot of eyes with different NBA teams at Summer League solely off my ENERGY and EFFORT and affecting the game in a positive way by just playing hard, showing a great attitude, and being a great teammate and leader.
"All the feedback received had nothing to do with me being able to score, it was all because of the things listed above, playing like my life depended on it."
Peterson added that he hopes that his Summer League experience can serve as an inspiration for other overlooked players looking to prove themselves:
“What I want you all to take from this is no matter where you come from, no matter your height, whether you're a five-star athlete or no-star athlete, always bet on yourself.
“Always be ready so you don't have to get ready, and be a great teammate and person! Do all of the little things because the little things matter!! Find your WHY that makes things bigger than just yourself, to help you keep going when things get tough.”
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for QJ Peterson, as he left a great impression on many players and coaches in the Summer League.
