Benn Mathurin Dime Cover Page

"When I come in the game, I just hoop," Mathurin says. "Like I'm not gonna go out there and be like, 'Oh, I gotta make this play or do that.' Nah, just go out there hooping. Make sure I do things just to help my team win." While ultra-confident, Mathurin possesses a rare humility for a young, budding star to accept and embrace criticism. Those two things would seem to contrast with one another, but they really work in synchronicity — he's confident enough in himself and his abilities to seek out criticism and coaching, believing that with the right amount of work, he can turn them into strengths. It's an attribute he's had since he was at the NBA Academy Latin America in Mexico City. He started as a point guard and ended up on the wing, but in between, he was moved to the four, which Jennifer reveals he "hated" but begrudgingly embraced. As those inside the NBA's Elite Basketball team who watched and coached him throughout his time in the program recall, Mathurin was always seeking ways to get better and didn't shy away from making major changes if it could help him reach his ultimate goal. "He was one of the most, if not the most, proactive in terms of seeking out areas for improvement and coaching of anyplayer we've had in the NBA Academy," says Chris Ebersole, the NBA's Head of Elite Basketball. "I remember Benn going to [Senior Manager of Elite Basketball Coaching] Greg [Collucci] specifically and actually getting tips from Greg at some of our events when he was reworking his mechanics. Greg mentioned that at Basketball Without Borders Americas Camp in 2019 in Columbia, I remember watching Benn shoot free throws with Greg and they're working on getting his alignment right and changing where his left hand was on the ball, and he was willing to kind of just rework his shot. And it's something that not most players are comfortable with, because there usually is a dip in performance at the beginning, as you get used to changed mechanics. But he was willing to take that risk and take that long term view."

Bennedict Mathurin was not the headliner at the NBA Basketball Without Borders Global Camp in 2020 as a four-star recruit who just committed to Arizona. That title belonged to the then-top prospect in the Class of 2020, Jonathan Kuminga, as NBA scouts and executives in Chicago were excited to see a potential No. 1 overall pick in person. However, Kuminga dropped out of the camp at the last minute. While there was plenty of talent at the camp, the opportunity was there for someone to use it as a chance to generate buzz. "I might as well become the guy," Mathurin tells Dime of his mindset going into that camp. "Everywhere I go, I'm gonna make sure everybody knows me."

He still bristles at being "robbed" of camp MVP by German center Ariel Hukporti — "I was supposed to get it," he says — but Mathurin achieved his goal of being the guy who created the most buzz in the stands. He spent the weekend in Chicago taking it upon himself to try and dunk on every single big man that dared to step in front of him during 5-on-5 scrimmages. While Mathurin's athleticism and raw talent were obvious, nothing was more impressive than the confidence and fearlessness with which he played, a defining trait he's carried with him into his first NBA season in Indiana. This has made him a favorite in the Pacers gym. Mathurin is navigating life as a rookie in the league, but through it all, his teammates cannot help but be impressed with his mentality. "Just his confidence. I think that's what separates him from a lot of guys," Tyrese Haliburton explains. "Because we have a lot of guys in this league who are skilled and other things like that, but his confidence is through the roof. He believes he belongs on the floor, believes he can play with anybody in the world — which is true — but he truly has a deep belief in that and that helps separate him.

When I come in the game, I just hoop, Like I'm not gonna go out there and be like, 'Oh, I gotta make this play or do that.' Nah, just go out there hooping. Make sure I do things just to help my team win.

That started with his very first visit to Indiana for a pre-Draft workout. Once that ended, Mathurin impressed Carlisle by going through another workout. "He had a really good workout and he was leaving the following day," Carlisle recalls. "And he asked if the gym was open that night, because he wanted to come back in and shoot. So I actually came back in with him and spent an hour with him on footwork and stuff because he was interested in learning. And that showed me a lot about his desire to achieve beyond simply just being in the NBA, and being a good player. You know, he has an inner drive that is rare for a 20-year-old player." Mathurin appreciated that a Hall of Fame coach was willing to come back to the gym and work with him on shooting. It was the foundation of a coach-player bond that has allowed the two to navigate his rookie season with an understanding of where each other is coming from — Mathurin is a willing recipient of Carlisle's tough love approach because he believes Carlisle has his best interests in mind. Their relationship has helped the pair avoid some potential pitfalls, such as the conversation about Mathurin's role as a rookie. Mathurin has primarily come off the bench this year. Instead of sulking, Carlisle has been impressed with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2022 Draft's willingness to accept a Sixth Man role in an effort to make the team better. It's not the role Mathurin envisioned for himself, but it's one he's thrived in and made the most of during his rookie year. He hopes next year the starting lineup may be in play, but he also knows what's expected of him to get to that point, namely making strides as a defender and playmaker. "Rick talked to me about playmaking and he said, 'You gotta be ready,' because as I've been aggressive on the offensive end, scoring the ball, defenses are gonna like try and get the ball away from me," Mathurin says. "So I just gotta be ready and try to make the easy pass and also make the simple play every time I get it. "Defense is one thing I'm really trying to improve on," Mathurin continues. "I know I'm great on ball. Sometimes I gotta adjust to the next man has to be there. It's not like college, you know? So, I just got to adjust to being a better off-ball defender. The thing I've noticed about the last couple of games it's just about knowing who you're guarding. That was one of my biggest mistakes when I got to the league. I was like, man, everybody's hot. Everybody can shoot the ball. I mean, it's true, but everybody shoots the ball differently. Like, I know if P.J. Tucker's in the corner, I got to close out hard cause he shoots [so well from there], but if he's on top that's like, he's not going to shoot that. So it starts with knowing who you're guarding."

Creative Direction: Martin Rickman Design: Daisy James & Ralph Ordaz

Writer – Robby Kalland | Associate Editor – Bill DiFilippo | Creative Director – Martin Rickman Designers – Joe Petrolis, Carlos Sotelo Olivas, Daisy James | Photographer - Jay Goldz | Product Coordinator - Jason Tabrys

Creative Direction: Martin Rickman Design: Daisy James & Ralph Ordaz

By Katie Heindl / Contributor / Dime And Uproxx Sports

Bennedict Mathurin won’t back down on his journey to NBA stardom

Allow Me to REIntroduce Myself

Allow Me TO introduce Myself

Fearless

"You just really don't see rookies with the poise, confidence, and just the skill set that he has," T.J. McConnell echoes. "And he never looks rattled. It's just really impressive. For someone at his age and what he's doing right now, he's only going to get better. So that's really scary to think about." It's a mindset that was forged growing up in Montréal-Nord. Bennedict used to head to the courts with his older sister, Jennifer, and his late brother, Dominique, always playing against their friends who were older, bigger, and stronger. "I used to kick their ass," he recalls with a slight grin. "I was like, if I can beat them, I can beat all my friends, because they're older." The lessons learned on those courts and the skills gained playing against bigger competition have paid off immediately in the NBA, as Mathurin attacks the opposition relentlessly and never shies away from contact, boasting a rather outrageous .465 free throw rate as a rookie. Part of Mathurin's appeal is the freeness with which he appears to play, even if there's a rawness to his game that is common among rookies.

I was like, man, I'm going to change the narrative, I'm going to make sure Coach Carlisle knows I'm serious about what I do and when I come, I want to show something different.

Mathurin has never been afraid to take a longer view if it helps him become a better player. There was enough first-round buzz after Mathurin's freshman year at Arizona that he could have easily justified making the jump to the NBA, particularly on the heels of a coaching change that saw Sean Miller leave Tucson and first-time head coach Tommy Lloyd come to town. As Mathurin explains, he believed that returning to Arizona and working on his game would pay off. "I wasn't gonna be as high [a pick] as I always wanted to be," he recalls. "And I feel like going back would just help me. It's a lot of things I wanted to improve on that I did. Everything I wanted to do, I did, and it really helped me into not only the Draft, but also myself, making sure I'm ready. Because, it's easy to get to league, but it's even harder to stay. So, I wanted to make sure I was to my fullest when I got to the league." Now in his first year in the league, Mathurin's work ethic and internal desire to get better has endeared him to Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, who is notoriously hesitant to trust rookies. Prior to entering the league, Mathurin was warned this is the case by Jason Terry, who coached him at Arizona and played for Carlisle in Dallas. Instead of accepting this as an inevitability, Mathurin took it as a challenge to prove to Carlisle that he wasn't like most rookies. "I was like, man, I'm going to change the narrative," he says. "I'm going to make sure he knows I'm serious about what I do and when I come, I want to show something different."

Carlisle likewise highlights those two areas of Mathurin's game as the places where strides need to be made, noting that the defensive end always creates a steep learning curve in the NBA. The playmaking, he believes, will come with more reps, both in game and in practice with read-and-react drills. Still, the Hall of Fame inductee speaks glowingly of his rookie forward, particularly with how he's held up physically and mentally well beyond the midway point of the season. In particular, Carlisle points to a stretch in January where Mathurin needed to shoulder a heavier workload with Haliburton sidelined due to an injury. "One of the defining characteristics about Benn is that while most rookies are hitting the wall right now, in the NBA season eight games before the All-Star break, he's actually gaining momentum," Carlisle says. "He's actually getting stronger. His mind is very strong and very tough. And he just has the capacity to take on the kind of responsibility that we're going to need to give him with this team over the next several years. When you have a guy like Tyrese out, guys like Benn need to step up and produce more, and he has."

I’m a huge dreamer. I dream big, really big. I dream so big that sometimes I’ve got to let my expectations just die down a little bit.

Tragedy played a role in forging the mental toughness and maturity that has come to define Mathurin. When Benn was 12 years old, Dominique died in a bicycle accident while Jennifer was playing college basketball at N.C. State. Bennedict turned to his older sister for guidance, and she used her journey to playing D1 ball to provide a roadmap for him to find similar success and stay on the right pathway. "She's the reason why I play basketball, and she's the reason why I stayed focused," Bennedict says. "Because I remember when I lost my brother, it was a hard thing for me to really stay locked in on, but she pretty much guided me to stay locked in on basketball. She wanted me to stay out of trouble, so she gave me everything I needed for me to succeed, basically. To this day, she helps me a lot by just keeping life simple for me. She's like my best friend. She's been helping me throughout my whole career." Seeing Benn get to the NBA by staying on the path she helped pave is a point of pride for Jennifer, who recalls debating whether she needed to leave school and go back home after Dominique's passing. Ultimately, she decided to stay in Raleigh to set the example of how to be the best possible basketball player, student, and person, even in the face of tragedy. Now, she helps keep her high-flying brother grounded as he navigates life as a pro, on and off the court. Jennifer still stakes her claim as the best shooter in the family, no matter Benn's improvements in that regard. She does marvel at his unshakeable fearlessness, noting how he attacks stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kristaps Porzingis with the same defiance that he did older kids at the park in Montreal. She's also pushing him to trust his mental aptitude as much as his athletic ability, knowing that once he trusts his IQ the same way he does his vertical and strength, he'll make another leap, particularly as an off-ball defender — during her college days, Jennifer was great at sliding in and drawing charges, and her "life would be complete" if Benn did the same in the NBA.

"He's got all the athleticism and I think sometimes he relies on that, on the physical being able to catch up," Jennifer says. "So, if someone starts running, but you know you can catch them, you're gonna give him an advantage, right? But sometimes playing off the ball is all about anticipating before [the play]. Knowing who's in the corner. Is this person super athletic? Does this person have a quick first step? Well, I can't be ball watching, because if he has one step on me, I'm fried. So I think as time progresses, he'll be able to trust his IQ, trust the scouting report a little bit more, and the mental side of the game in order to improve his off-ball defense." Part of that just comes with time, as Haliburton notes the game didn't really slow down for him until the middle of his second year, which is when he felt he took another leap. He expects to see the same from Mathurin, who will go from just hooping to really understanding his spots, where he likes the ball, and where his teammates like it as well. The reason Haliburton and others on the Pacers are so bullish on Mathurin's development curve is because they also know that basketball IQ is already there, it's just about fully unlocking it, which comes with experience. "I think experience is your best teacher," Haliburton says. "So just understanding, I mean, he gets to the foul line at such a high rate, especially for a rookie, and you don't do that without having an IQ and a knack for drawing fouls and how to attack the right way, what guys to attack. He's starting to learn that. And the game's slowing down, but there's still a lot of room for it to slow down more for him so, I'm really excited for that for him." Mathurin's intelligence shines through when you get him talking about his game and the work that goes into it. He's a naturally quiet person, but when asked about his footwork and balance — both are incredibly advanced for a 20-year-old and are big factors in what allows him to get to the rim and the foul line — Mathurin provides a peek into how his brain operates and processes information on the court. "I'm pretty much just taking what the defense gives me," Mathurin says of how he approaches defenders who attack when he has the ball. "If I see his left foot up, I know I'm gonna attack over it. If I see his right foot up, I know I'm gonna jab, try to get him off-balance. If I have a shot, it's just about shooting, but pretty much it's just working on that. I remember like two summers ago, I used to work on my footwork and stuff. Just knowing what the defense gives me also taking advantage of like, if the defense has the wrong foot up and stuff like that."

I'm overly competitive sometimes, I feel like it's why I'm like really misunderstood. People who know me understand where I'm coming from with this, but I just want to be the best at everything I do. And I feel like it has really become who I am as a person.

Brian Scheall, director of basketball at IMG

when I lost my brother, it was a hard thing for me to really stay locked in on, but Jennifer pretty much guided me to stay locked in on basketball. She wanted me to stay out of trouble, so she gave me everything I needed for me to succeed, basically..

You just really don't see rookies with the poise, confidence, and just the skill set that he has, And he never looks rattled. It's just really impressive. For someone at his age and what he's doing right now, he's only going to get better.

T.J. McConnell, Pacers TEAMMATE

Robby Kalland

He's actually getting stronger. His mind is very strong and very tough. And he just has the capacity to take on the kind of responsibility that we're going to need to give him with this team over the next several years.

That's not something that comes only from just reps on the court. Putting in the work off of it, both on the practice court and in the film room, are necessary to learn tendencies and understand how to create the small advantages needed to thrive at the NBA level. It's the same in how he's learned how to function off the ball and still make an impact. Like many ultra-talented young players, Mathurin spent a whole lot of time with the ball in his hands, but moved around and needed to understand different positions on the court. Even then, Mathurin watched plenty of film to get a grasp of how to create space for himself and others by looking at how other stars move without the ball. "Point guards most of the time have the ball or a superstar on posts and stuff," he says. "So, I just had to learn and put myself in a position where I could be able to get the ball in my hands by cutting, doing blurs, chase screens, some stuff like that. So, pretty much just watching a lot of film while also just being aggressive. When I come off the bench and I give a boost to the team and score a lot of like points, the defense is overly aggressive on me. So, like, if I set up a chase screen, both of the guys go with me, so someone has a shot." Mathurin is determined to be a star, and while he has the physical tools to get there, the reason the Pacers believe so strongly in his ability to reach that goal is what he possesses the mental side. And of course, he possesses the humility to seek out criticism while remaining endlessly confident in his ability, although projecting that second thing can be confused for unearned cockiness. Prior to the season, Mathurin made waves when he was asked about going up against LeBron James in his first game and said "he's going to have to show me he's better than me." Benn smirks when it's brought up, explaining how that competitive nature is just part of his DNA. "I'm overly competitive sometimes," Mathurin says. "I feel like it's why I'm like really misunderstood. People who know me understand where I'm coming from with this, but I just want to be the best at everything I do. And I feel like it has really become who I am as a person." Mathurin wants to earn his place among the league's best and understands the work that goes into it. As his rookie year has progressed, those in Indiana have come to understand just how serious he is about his pursuit of greatness and desire not to skip steps. It's why he left Montreal for Mexico City as a teen, seeking out ways to improve his game from an early age. It's why he stayed a second year at Arizona rather than entering the Draft as a freshman, believing he wasn't quite ready to thrive at the pro level. It's why he's embraced a Sixth Man role after being the sixth overall pick, embracing the opportunity to have a leading role with the second unit. As Mathurin moves forward in his career, experience will build the bridge between the mental and physical, all while opening up new avenues for him to improve every facet of his game. Guiding it all, though, will be the fearlessness that's carried him throughout his career, always attacking and seeking out the next challenge to summit.

I’m a huge dreamer. I dream big, really big. I dream so big that sometimes I’ve got to let my expectations just die down a little bit.

I’m focusing on what I need to do better at and what I need to do to reach my potential. There’s still levels I need to reach.

RICK Carlisle, Pacers head coach

Fearless

I was like, man, I'm going to change the narrative, I'm going to make sure Coach Carlisle knows I'm serious about what I do and when I come, I want to show something different.

Brian Scheall, director of basketball at IMG

T.J. McConnell, Pacers TEAMMATE