Reaching the NBA requires a basketball player to have help along their path to achieve their goal. For Warriors guard Ty Jerome, it was his parents, primarily his mother.
Jerome was born into a basketball family as his mom, Melanie Walker, played basketball at Brandeis University and helped fuel his NBA ambition. Furthermore, the 25-year-old was coached by his father, Mark Jerome, growing up.
The Virginia product noted on the latest episode of "Point Forward" that having a mother who understands basketball was a good fit to pair alongside his dad's coaching.
"She was the craziest parent," Jerome told Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner last week. "Like family dynamic, insane; dad was a crazy coach, like an insane coach and mom used to be in the crowd, like white lady in the crowd. Probably two white ladies in the whole crowd. She's going crazy, like, yelling at the ref, getting into fights with fans. I'm just looking like, 'You got to relax because I'm seven and nobody's ready to fight my mom ...'
"But it was just like, dad was a crazy hard coach, and mom knowing the game and being a supportive parent made it a lot easier for me because it wasn't just mom. A lot of moms are supportive, but a lot of moms aren't able to talk about basketball with you as well. That dynamic was really helpful."
While Jerome's parents played a part early in his basketball journey, he believes their ultimate separation likely was a benefit for his basketball career.
Golden State Warriors
"My dad coached me, he taught me the game, but the way he coached me, it kind of made our relationship strictly basketball, you know what I mean?" Jerome said. "Because it was tough, especially me as a young kid, looking back on it now, I'm thankful for it, but I don't think mentally I'm as tough as I am without it. But when I'm a young kid, I'm not able to remove myself from the situation, you know what I mean?
"So it was like my dad was my coach, and that was pretty much it. He put his hands on me [and] games will get ugly, you know what I mean? I'll go home with my mom, and they split when I was six years old, which at the time was probably good for me because, after the game, I did not want to see my dad."
RELATED: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson's playing time convinced Ty Jerome to join Warriors
Jerome's parents laid the foundation for his NBA career, which now sees him learning from Steph Curry and playing a vital role off the bench for a Warriors team looking to repeat as champions.