Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on choosing the Magic, leading by example and playing in … 2033?

It's beyond appropriate that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's new apparel line is called Never Give Up.

Just as Russell Westbrook has Why Not? and has made a brand out of it, the 31-year-old has carved out a pro career through an indefatigable belief in himself, allowing him to move past his limitations early in his career. Caldwell-Pope was a 2014 lottery pick out of Georgia, the No. 8 pick who the Detroit Pistons hoped would help restore their defense-first persona, which had slipped since the franchise's championship days a decade earlier. But most scouts had Caldwell-Pope rated third among shooting guards coming out that year, behind Victor Oladipo and Ben McLemore. There were concerns about his jumper. Additionally, Georgia didn't make the NCAAs in either of his two seasons with the team.

Fast forward, and KCP has two NBA rings and is the quintessential indispensable role player and good teammate. He's become a reliable shooter — at least 38.5 percent from deep in each of his last five seasons — while retaining his status as one of the league's elite wing defenders.

In Los Angeles, where he signed with the Lakers in 2017, he was part of the glue that helped LeBron James and Anthony Davis capture a title in 2020 in the bubble, amid COVID-19. (As Caldwell-Pope and James are represented by super-agent Rich Paul, there always has been speculation that Caldwell-Pope's arrival in 2017 heralded James' in L.A. a year later.) Caldwell-Pope helped keep Denver 's Jamal Murray in check during the 2020 Western Conference finals while shooting 44 percent on 3s.

Three years later, Caldwell-Pope went from Washington to Denver, which desperately needed a two-guard who could help Murray from gassing himself out at the defensive end. And Caldwell-Pope again shot 44 percent from deep in the Western Conference finals, this time against his former Lakers teammates in a Denver sweep. In the NBA Finals against the Heat , he delivered the series' coup de grace, a steal of a Jimmy Butler pass in the waning seconds of the Nuggets' title-clinching win in Game 5.

Eleven years into his NBA career, Caldwell-Pope entered this past summer as one of the top free agents in the league. Staying in Denver was not likely, given that the Nuggets would almost certainly have become a second-apron team had they kept him. But he had his choice among multiple suitors. Rather than play with a proven playoff squad, he opted to sign with the up-and-coming Orlando Magic for three years and $66 million. In doing so, he validated Orlando's plans for building its team through length and defense, with Orlando learning at a geometric rate, going from 22 wins to 47 in three seasons. KCP chose them as much as the other way around.

"Music to our ears," Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. "You talk about someone who represents everything we stand for and how, organizationally, you want to do things? You want to defend. You want to be a good human being. You want to be a family man. You want to take care of home. You want to knock down shots. You want to be selfless. Professional. How can I teach guys to be professional? He doesn't have to say a word. He just shows up and does it — with no complaints, figures it out — and he can do it with these guys by just that alone. I've got two of 'em."

Caldwell-Pope has two rings — and counting. Not bad for a kid from Greenville, Ga.

"Hope creates dreams," KCP said in his Instagram announcing his Never Give Up line, "and dreams become reality."

(The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

How did you tell "him" you were leaving Denver?

Tell who?

The big man.

Usually when I'm in free agency, my representation, my agent always advises me not to talk to anyone, to keep myself away from that so he can handle that side. I didn't get a chance to really talk to nobody in the process of making my decision. But after I did, everybody congratulated me. We're still brothers.

When it's your life, everything matters. How did you prioritize?

For me, I prioritized my family, first. That's the main thing, putting me and my family in a great position. Also, just talking to my agent, getting all the numbers, that side of that. And the team and the organization, where I feel I fit in best, where I think I can make an immediate impact. A lot of that goes into choosing where I want to be. The relationship: Who wants me? I don't want to go underlooked. Orlando, they saw my value. And me, just looking at their organization, their coaching staff, I know some of their coaching staff. Some of the players, I know; I've played against for a while. Just watching them throughout the whole season, a lot of that came into play about picking where I wanted to land.

Were they at your door at 6:01 on the 30th (of June, the first minute of free agency)?

My agent knows more of the details, but as soon as I hit free agency, Orlando was one of the first teams to reach out, which I respect so much. I really thank them for giving me the opportunity, to bring my value over here and my championship mentality that I have, and just be a leader for the young guys.

You could have gone pretty much anywhere. What stuck out for Orlando?

The young core. These are most of the guys that they had last year, just adding new pieces. But that core they have, they already believe in each other, trust each other. Just watching them, the way they played, it was not 'me, I.' Everybody took sacrifices. For a young team to be able to grow up that fast says a lot about them and their organization. That made my decision easy. They were one of the best defensive teams last year, and that's what I like to do — defend. Natural fit. It was easy for me to just come in and fit right in and not try to step on anyone's toes. When I talk to most of the young guys, it's about defense, them helping me and what I see and they don't see, and I'm telling them. Everybody is eager to learn, I would say.

Do they know what they don't know?

That's a hard question. Everyone listens. Everyone is always entitled to their opinion, but most of the young guys here, they listen. They're coachable. A lot of young guys aren't coachable, think they know everything, but I like that everybody listens to everybody. We have a dialogue with each other. One thing we wrote down at the start of training camp is communication. There's always room for improvement, but seeing everybody talk to each other, that's going to help us out more on the court and off the court, just hanging around each other.

What do you try to pour into Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner ?

For me, just try to get them easier shots where they don't have to waste as much energy offensively. Down the stretch, the ball's going to be in their hands. For us, as their teammates, (our job is) to find them easier shots throughout the game. ... I'm trying to get (Banchero) to see his window. It's a small window that he has. That can turn into big windows.

Just playing with two championship teams, LeBron, Jokić, A.D., (Rajon) Rondo, all them guys, Jamal ... it's spacing. They made an emphasis on that. The better our spacing is, the better the offense will be. The more we can space the ball, it's harder to defend when the ball is moving. That's the hardest thing.

Most of what I talk to him about, pretty much everybody about, is defense. Offensively, I know they can hoop. They can play basketball. They can put it in the basket. But a lot of players don't like to defend. This is one team (where) everyone loves to defend. Everyone wants to get out there.

They've been talking about Game 7 against Cleveland all summer.

I like that they have that mental in their head, that bad taste. In my opinion, (they) should have won. Down the stretch, they made shots, and a lot of mistakes started to happen. That's what this year, in training camp, we've been talking about — communicating at both ends and focusing, locking down. Being able to trust each other, knowing my teammate is in the right spot. We can go as far as we can take ourselves if we just talk to each other and communicate, stay together.

I remember when Detroit drafted you and how much Joe (Dumars) thought you fit their mentality.

I haven't talked to him in a minute. I saw JD, saw his son, and we chopped it up. Detroit gave me my opportunity. I'll never forget that. I'll always give props to Detroit. They started my career off, made me who I am, made me humble. The love. And going into a team like that, the Bad Boys era, knowing that history, getting an opportunity to play in The Palace before they changed it. I had Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince. I had a piece of the Bad Boys that I played with. Rasheed (Wallace) was on our coaching staff. So, some of that was still in there, that mentality. That kind of shaped me to this day, that hustle mentality, that grit, just being hungry.

When you talk with a young guy, what do you tell him about how he can still be here in 10 years?

I try not to preach to them. Just tell them the more you can simplify this game, the better it's going to be. Coaches, they throw a lot of stuff at you. For me, I'm a great defender. If I know that's going to be a long run for me, how can I simplify it while I'm here, but it's a shorter run? How can I break this down where it will be simple for everybody? There's a lot of confusion when coaches throw a lot of stuff at you. The more you can simplify it, being patient and just staying after it ... everybody wants to work, everyone wants to be here, and that's always good.

What are you gonna do after you're done playing?

Golf. I don't even want to think about it. My wife , she wants me to play 20 years.

Twenty?

That's what she's seen. She says I've got it in me. She must see something I don't see. I told her we'll reconvene in Year 15. We'll see how I feel then.

(Photo of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: Julio Aguilar / )