What Did Kai Jones Do? From Top-20 Pick to a Team Hopper, Details on Controversial Clippers Starlet

Despite the expectations that certain NBA franchises or enthusiasts may place upon a particular player during the draft process, it’s hard to predict how the latter may eventually turn out to be in the future. The same can be said for current Los Angeles Clippers player Kai Jones. Coming into the 2021 Draft, he had established himself as a desirable prospect thanks to his college career with the Texas Longhorns. However, in the three years that he has been a part of the NBA, Jones has reportedly become one of the most controversial figures of modern basketball. A series of recent unforeseen mishaps led to the player exiting the Charlotte Hornets and aligning himself with the Clippers.

What led to Kai Jones’ exit from the team that drafted him? Let’s find out.

Kai Jones’ Career with the Charlotte Hornets

Kai Jones’ Rookie Run

Kai Jones was initially drafted as the 19 overall pick by the New York Knicks during the 2021 NBA draft. However, as part of a common practice, it didn’t take long for them to trade him to the Charlotte Hornets. The team hoped to reportedly make use of the player’s leaping ability and enticing athleticism to give their offensive play the edge it required. Even if that was a part of their strategy, however, the same was never seen to come to fruition.

Kai Jones appeared in only 21 of the Hornets’ 82 games during his rookie season. In those matchups, the center barely managed to accumulate an average score of 1 point, 0.5 rebounds, and 0.2 assists. Furthermore, his average time on the court amounted to 3 minutes per game. The situation improved slightly during the next season with him playing 46 games for 12 minutes on average. However, the aftermath of that season later brought with it a different set of challenges.

The Social Media Posts

Back in September 2023, the Hornets announced that the then 22-year-old player would not be participating in the team’s pre-season training camp due to ‘personal reasons’. Furthermore, this was followed up by no details on the date of return. Even before the reason was officially specified, many people started to connect this action with Jones’ recent behavior.

Prior to the announcement, Jones would often be found engaging in unusual behavior on social media. On one occasion, he appeared on Instagram Live and spoke in an unintelligible manner while sweating quite profusely. Fans were able to understand one sentence from the rant, in which the player denied that he would be traded by the Hornets and stated, “I think the Hornets are very high on me. I get that call on my phone, I will have my bye, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen anytime soon.” Amidst rumors that the player was on substance while making the video, a keen social media observer later noticed that each of Jones’ Hornets teammates unfollowed him after the incident.

Unfortunately, the above event was just the beginning. Jones would later make use of his X account to state that he was better than Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball, two of the Hornets’ highest-average scorers. He took his unusual thinking even further to claim that facing a prime Shaquille O’Neal and a 1 on 1 faceoff against LeBron James would not be a big deal for him.

Sports columnist Scott Fowler later reported that alongside the social media posts, the player has refused to come in for optional team drills. The tipping point for the Hornets came after Jones criticized his teammates, most prominently Mark Williams, for not performing well during games and insulting their overall playing skills.

The relations between Jones and the Hornets soon started to deteriorate rapidly. After taking to X and publicly requesting a trade in October, the team obliged and his contract was waived.

Kai Jones cited ‘mental problems’ and a string of personal loss for his unusual behavior

Following his exit, Jones signed with the 76ers to a 10-day contract in March who were missing their centre, Joel Embiid. Upon completion without much yielding, it didn’t take long for the Los Angeles Clippers to acquire Kai, a free agent in April; further providing him an opportunity to compete in the playoffs. While the centre missed the entire season, the absence provided the player room to rehabilitate his image and talk about what went wrong.

During an interview with reporter Shams Charania back in March, Jones highlighted his difficulties in coping with the “NBA lifestyle” and how the same had an adverse mental effect on him. Furthermore, it didn’t help that the player ended up losing both his grandparents during the time when he was trying to make sense of things.

“I didn’t wanna die” said Jones during the statement. “That (grandmother) was one of the first people in my family that I’ve seen die… It was just a lot of confusion for me. I pushed a lot of people away”.

With his NBA career still in it’s early stages, the Clippers center will be presented with various opportunities to leave the past behind and create a new image for himself in the minds of the people. Only the future will tell whether he will make use of the same.