Evan Rising

Editor’s Note: Please welcome Chris Lyden to the authorial side of the CtB wall.

It’s coming up on Christmas, 2019, but you wouldn’t know it standing outside of Chaparral High School in arid Scottsdale, Arizona. Tonight, ESPN has rigged the high school’s gymnasium for the nationally broadcast High School Basketball Showcase, a production of the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Hoophall West. As the camera cuts from a close-up of several smiling, awkward teenaged denizens of that high desert to the players on the court, one young man stands a head above his already formidably sized teammates. It’s a young Evan Mobley, fresh off a commitment to the University of Southern California and the number one ranked High School player in the country, all almost seven feet of him, debuting on national television at 18 years old.

For now, Evan Mobley is still sharing the stage with others. The broadcast mentions his older brother Isaiah, already enrolled at USC, and another teammate, Dominick Harris, himself highly ranked and headed to Gonzaga. Mobley’s team, the evidently Californian Rancho Christian, will tonight play Christ the King – not the man, but a High School assumedly named after him – the best New York team playing in the showcase schedule.

The broadcast announcer has a prescient summary of Mobley’s game as introduction to the national audience. “He’s a seven-footer, but with guard, small forward skills… obviously he can dunk, obviously he can block shots, but he can also run the floor, he’s got a lot of skill to his game” the announcer explains, a sentiment that sports pundits will parrot over the coming months and years.

Within a few plays, a guard feeds Mobley near the elbow (a distance away that Mobley could cover with a simply shuffle, though may very well be two steps for any regular person) as Christ the King’s three-two zone strong side defender already enters the paint to double him. Mobley catches the pass, puts the ball on the ground, leaps, turns, and makes the pass to the now-open wing in the far corner for an easy three. Mobley’s effortless and selfless assist against high quality High School opponents reminds one of another King all together.

“This guy could play in the league now,” I think to myself, as Mobley calmly make short work of Gotham’s finest, striding across the court like an elk, a calm, largely expressionless look on his face as he knocks an opponent to the ground in the post only to dunk over the opponent’s prostrate form. This is the performance of a man who requires a higher altar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH4PaMcvkiY

Mobley would find such a station at USC, where his college debut would find him facing off against the Western Athletic Conference’s California Baptist. Mobley would turn in a 21 point, nine rebound performance on the way to an overtime win that likely had many USC fans convinced that his High School scouting report had already easily translated to the next level. As the competition ratcheted up, so did the performance of the young star, culminating in a 26 point, nine rebound, five block exclamation point against Utah in the Pac-12 tournament. That performance would stand as his best college scouting tape as the COVID-19 pandemic would forced the cancelation of several college showcases usually enjoyed by draft eligible stars. Before long, intrepid Wikipedia editors were arguing over which rewards were notable enough to list in the “College Career” section of Mobley’s page, consensus built for Mobley to be the second best prospect in the upcoming 2021 draft, and Cavs fans across the world were wondering if Mobley could end up falling to them.

Although Mobley was born into a basketball family – his father was a college star who played several seasons professionally overseas – he describes his early time with the sport as one of fun. He sort of got better, he has explained several times, as others just sort of fell off. Back in Scottsdale, Mobley finished the Hoophall West contest vs. Christ the King with 22 points on seven for seven shooting and 15 rebounds, a box score wholly reflective of his performance at Rancho Christian and similar to his USC debut. Mobley made his NBA debut for Cleveland Cavaliers in late October of 2021, and put up a line of 17 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, good for the second-best statistical rookie debut in NBA history.

One has to wonder how high this stairway goes. Evan Mobley is an NBA player now, and Evan Mobley is good at basketball because Evan Mobley has been good at basketball almost from the start. As the rise continues, the previous tier of opponents are sort of shrugged off only to be replaced by yet better adversaries, as the season goes long and the competition builds, as the post-seasons begin, as the lights get brighter, we will all find out just how good Evan Mobley will be. It feels preposterous, but if one squints, one can see a glint in the distance of the clouds parting and rays reflecting off the the lofty heights of the Hall of Fame that first brought Mobley to national attention. It’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun to watch the ascension.