"Told me they would take me at 7": CJ McCollum reveals secret to why he's torched Kings in every encounter

The New Orleans Pelicans picked up a 33-point blowout victory over the Sacramento Kings with CJ McCollum leading the charge, tallying over 30 points. Following the win, the former Lehigh Mountain Hawk opened up on his extra motivation to beat the Kings.

Aside from the 30-point tally, McCollum also had seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks in the 133-100 win. He also shot an accurate 11-of-16 from the field and seven of those made baskets came from beyond the three-point line.

During the post-game interview, McCollum was asked why he always has a good game whenever his team is up against the Kings. No holds barred, the 2016 NBA Most Improved Player shared why and it was rooted way back in 2013 when he was still entering the league.

“Sacramento was supposed to draft me, they had me come back for a second work out. They actually told me they would take me at 7 and didn’t… I enjoy playing here," said McCollum.

In the victory, the Pelicans played without Zion Williamson. McCollum had help from six other players tallying double-digit figures. Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas each had 15 while Dyson Daniels had 12 points coming off the bench to name a few.

CJ McCollum in the 2013 NBA draft

Following CJ McCollum's post-game interview revelations, we look back on what transpired in the 2013 NBA draft where he came in as a rookie.

The Sacramento Kings were supposed to pick 7th in the 2023 NBA draft and decided to go with Ben McLemore. With that, McCollum fell to 10th and played for the Portland Trail Blazers for eight full seasons.

CJ McCollum averaged 19.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists for the Trail Blazers in 688 games. He also shot 45.3% from the field and 39.6% from the three-point line.

On the other hand, Ben McLemore spent five seasons with the Kings providing 9.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He was waived by the team on Feb. 7, 2019. He last played in the NBA for the Portland Trail Blazers back in the 2021-22 season. The former Kansas Jayhawks now play overseas having short stints in Spain, Greece and China.

At 32 years old, CJ McCollum's career is still going strong. He has been averaging 19.5 points, 5.0 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 23 games this season.

Following the recent win, the New Orleans Pelicans have improved to 22-25 for the season and are placed 7th in the NBA Western Conference standings. They are set to take on the Golden State Warriors next on Jan. 10 at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California.