76ers’ Michael Carter-Williams’ upbringing prepared him for success

Phildelphia 76ers’ point guard Michael Carter-Williams has been one of the biggest stories of the young NBA season.

In his regular season debut, Carter-Williams scored 22 points, dished out 12 assists, recorded nine steals and grabbed seven rebounds as the 76ers upset the two-time defending champion Miami Heat.

Gordie Jones of CSN Philly has an excellent piece on Carter-Williams and how his family prepared him for his future.

Both of Carter-Williams’ parents were college basketball players and his stepfather was a high school basketball coach.

He used to work with his step-father and mother every day, preparing for his future basketball career.

Every time he’s been in any kind of trouble, his family has been there to say the right hings.

"Michael committed to Syracuse as a high school sophomore, but scarcely played his first year on campus, trapped behind the perimeter triumvirate of Scoop Jardine, Dion Waiters and Brandon Triche. Carter-Williams called that season “really hard.” Mandy went so far as to say it was “probably the toughest year for Michael in his life.”“Michael wanted to transfer,” she added, “and we talked him out of it.”Actually, that’s not entirely true, she then admitted. It was more a case of she and Zach listening to their son’s complaints and giving their blessing to a transfer, and Michael doing an abrupt about-face. No way, he told them, was he going to cut and run."

On the season, Carter-Williams is averaging 20.0 points, 7.8 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game for the 3-1 76ers.