FEATURE STORY
Achievement in the NBA Personified: Talen Horton-Tucker IN JUST 28 MONTHS, BROTHER HORTON-TUCKER GRADUATED FROM THE LEGENDARY SIMEON CAREER ACADEMY IN CHICAGO AND BECAME THE YOUNGEST AMERICAN-BORN NBA CHAMPION IN HISTORY
Talen Horton-Tucker (Omega 2019) is the youngest American-born NBA Champion in history.
By Clarence Tucker
O ne would be hard-pressed to find a more eventful 28-month span in the life of a person than the 28 months in the life of Brother Talen J. Horton-Tucker: between June 2018 when he graduated from the legendary Simeon Career Academy in Chicago, Illinois after leading the Wolverines to three consecutive city championships, then culminating on October 11, 2020, when he became —at 19 years and 322 days—the youngest American-born NBA ® Champion in history when his Lebron James led Los Angeles Lakers team defeated the Miami Heat in the Orlando Bubble to win the franchise’s
17 th title. In the interim, Brother Horton-Tucker accepted a basketball scholarship to Iowa State University, becoming the fourth-youngest player in Division I basketball as a rookie. The Cyclone played guard his freshman year, starting 34 out of 35 games. He averaged 11.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.3 steals in 27 minutes per game. He then declared for the 2019 NBA draft after his freshman season. Brother Horton-Tucker was drafted in the second round as the 46th overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft by the Or- lando Magic and subsequently included in a draft-night trade to the Los Angeles
Lakers. He was then assigned to the Lakers’ G league affiliate “South Bay Lakers” team, and finally called up to join the Los Angeles Lakers full time. To say this Nupe’s life has been a whirl- wind would be an understatement. As he prepares for the start of his second NBA season, Brother Horton-Tucker took time out of his hectic schedule to interview with The Journal. After interviewing him, one thing is clear; this Nupe is all business. The Journal acknowledges Samuel Rilan Betts (Alpha Theta 2007) for his assistance in facilitating this interview.
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