“I couldn’t wait to get to the NBA. I’d been planning on it my whole life and it was time to make it happen.” including: Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Wilt Chamberlain, Kevin Durant, Amare Stoudemire, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Shaq, Larry Bird, Allen Iverson and Vince Carter. With his steadfast pre-season play, Evans earned the starting point guard position for the Kings. The team’s leading scorer, Kevin Martin, broke his wrist in the home opener. The next game against Utah, he filled the void by exploding for 32 points. At 20 years old, Evans helped turn the slumping club around. By the All-Star break, the Kings had equaled the number of wins from the entire previous year. Earning $3.6 million in his first year with the Kings, Evans bought a new black Mercedes-Benz S550 and added customized 22-inch Asanti AF151 wheels, with his nickname “Reke Havoc” spelled out in chrome and layered with a triple-clear finish. The 6-foot-6-inch guard listens to Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Drake, Ludacris and Carlos Santana while rolling in his S550. And he’s got his eye on getting a Challenger, too. Curious about how his new whip would respond at high speeds, Evans opened it up on the freeway while on his way to a public park to shoot hoops earlier this summer. But the thrill of the rev didn’t come without a price. The CHP clocked the speed at more than 100 mph, and a helicopter followed from above until the car stopped. Cops couldn’t see inside the tinted windows and performed a felony stop with guns drawn. A major incident was averted when the police discovered the driver was not a hardened criminal, but a pro basketball player.
108 DUB MAG NOV / DEC 2010
Evans later apologized on Twitter for his “bad decision making” and told the Sacramento Bee newspaper, “I’ve learned my lesson…I have a bright future in front of me and don’t want to mess it up by having a car accident.” Tyreke Jamir Evans grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania and was raised mainly by his three older brothers. Compared to Tracy McGrady in high school, Evans averaged 32 points in his senior year and won the McDonald’s All-American game MVP. In 2008, Evans chose to attend the University of Memphis, where he transitioned from small forward to guard. He struggled at first, but was eventually allowed to start a game as point guard, where he scored a triple double. In all, Evans was named Conference USA Rookie of the Week eight times during his year in college. On March 31, 2009, Evans put off his final three years of college and announced his eligibility for the 2009 NBA draft. It seemed like the Kings were going to miss out on the best picks. But it played out fatefully. The number one pick Blake Griffin suffered a knee injury and never played for the Clippers. He was selected fourth overall pick by the Sacramento Kings. Evans, who was inspired by the play of Penny Hardaway as a youth, adjusted easily to the NBA. “I couldn’t wait to get to the NBA,” he said. “I’d been planning on it my whole life and it was time to make it happen. I love NBA-style ball. It fits me fine. The players are bigger, but the lanes are more open than in college.” To get ready for the 2010-20111 NBA season, Evans shot a thousand jump