CHICAGO — Darryn Peterson has been a bit surprised by the things team executives have been asking in interviews this week at the pre-draft combine.
The Kansas product, who will be in play for the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, along with BYU’s A.J. Dybantsa, figured that there would be a lot of questions about his health, but that hasn’t really been the case.
“Actually, surprisingly, not a lot,” Peterson said when asked if teams were interested in the topic. “I think what I did with ESPN kind of gave people some answers. I haven’t got a lot of questions about it all.”
Last week, in an [interview with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48710416/darryn-peterson-says-high-doses-creatine-led-cramping), Peterson revealed that following the college basketball season, continued blood work led doctors to believe that Peterson was experiencing cramping due to high usage of creatine supplements. Peterson said that since he stopped taking creatine as a supplement, he hasn’t had any issues.
Throughout his lone season at Kansas, Peterson missed 11 games, asked to be subbed out a number of times and played fewer than 25 minutes in a handful of games — all because of what he described as mysterious cramping that was sometimes so severe it was debilitating.
The missed games, inconsistent playing time and lack of clarity surrounding the reasons for cramping were causes for a lot of conversation and concern as the collegiate basketball season progressed and the calendar turned toward the NBA pre-draft process.
Even after the interview with ESPN and Peterson’s explanation of how things played out in Kansas, he still expected his health to be a topic of conversation with NBA teams. But he said team executives were more interested in getting to know what Peterson was like away from basketball.
“Most of the interviews right now, they’re just asking me about my upbringing and what things I can bring to the team, just kind of telling my story,” Peterson said.
Combine interviews are usually about executives and coaches trying to get a feel for the kind of person a player is away from the court. Teams already know a prospects’ on-court game, often more than the player himself does. And the prospects will go through medical evaluations this week, with full reports sent to team executives.
So, although there weren’t questions about Peterson’s health brought up in the interview rooms, it doesn’t mean those questions don’t exist. There are still NBA front-office executives across the league that think there must be more to Peterson’s story and are looking forward to further investigation into the situation.
It’s not that people don’t believe Peterson’s account of things. Rather, there are many NBA decision makers who want to make sure that there isn’t an underlying condition that could cause future concerns for Peterson.
That said, the concerns about Peterson’s health are minor ones and aren’t deterring anyone from believing that Peterson is a top prospect and even worth being the No. 1 overall pick. And the things he’s trying to show teams in the interviews are giving a great impression to front office personnel.
“I’m a big brother to my little siblings, a younger brother to my older brother,” Peterson said when describing himself. I’m a cool guy. Like to be around friends, somebody that people can rely on, and high energy, high character."
He loves movies and music he and wants people to know that he prides himself on being a good teammate. He’s ready to play and ready to put the messiness of the last year behind him.
In [a story earlier this week with Andscape](https://andscape.com/features/nba-draft-lottery-darius-acuff-aj-dybantsa-darryn-peterson/), Peterson caused a bit of a stir by with a quote that insinuated that he would prefer playing point guard, rather than shooting guard as he did at Kansas.
“I am a point guard. I’m the best when I have the ball in my hands. Off the court, I’m going to be the best pro,” Peterson said in the article.
He walked back that idea a little bit on Wednesday when asked if he would eliminate a team from consideration if they wanted him to play at the two spot.
“No, sir,” Peterson said emphatically. “Whoever wants to pick you is probably gonna pick you. So I mean, they come in and say I’m a two guard, well I’m familiar with it now.”
He also didn’t hold back from revealing which NBA players he looks up to. Peterson said that while he doesn’t try to model his game after any one player, he definitely steals things from players across the league, including Anthony Edwards, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Devin Booker and former Jazzman Donovan Mitchell.
Peterson wants teams to know that although he is sometimes quiet and sometimes more reserved, it doesn’t mean he’s not vocal on the court and that he can be a lead-by-example player even if he isn’t the loudest one in the locker room.
As the next few weeks unfold, teams will pore over Peterson’s medical reports and go through the intel and data they’ve already collected over the years.
Peterson will be setting up pre-draft workouts with prospective teams, a process he said he’s excited about. He has already had interviews with a number of NBA teams at the combine this week, including the Washington Wizards and Utah Jazz, who will pick No.1 and No. 2, respectively, in the upcoming draft.
Then everything will come down to what the Wizards and Jazz decide to do on draft night, June 23.