Joe Young discusses D-League debut, treating practice like game day

Rookie Joe Young hasn’t gotten a lot of opportunities yet — about 42 minutes total through 22 games — so his agent recently suggested that he go play in a few games in the NBA’s Developmental League. So, this past weekend, Young was assigned to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the franchise Pacers owner Herb Simon bought in September.

Young, 23, joined the Mad Ants for games on Saturday and Sunday and he scored a team-high 27 points and 17 points, respectively. On Saturday up in Fort Wayne, Larry Bird and Kevin Pritchard were both courtside to see their three players (Young, Shayne Whittington, and Rakeem Christmas).

[Young scores 27 in D-League debut on Saturday]

“Just got to keep working,” the eager rookie said. “I know I can play at this level up here and I just have to wait for my turn, wait for my opportunity.”

Then, he played for the third straight day — checking in for the final 1:30 in the Pacers’ 106-90 win Monday evening over the Toronto Raptors.

[VIDEO: Young appears in Gatorade commercial with his cousin Paul George]

Young rode up north with Pacers Pro Personnel Scout Vance Catlin, who is a frequent visitor to Fort Wayne. He doesn’t expect a trip back there anytime soon “unless I want to go play some more games.”

(On the road up in Michigan Sunday, Young said the Mad Ants stayed at a Holiday Inn Express — which is quite different than the Four Seasons type of hotels where NBA teams frequent.

Watch Young’s full comments in the video above.