All Business: G League Ignite Prospect Dink Pate Possesses Mindset and Skillset to Continue Making History

Dink Pate already made history as the youngest US-born basketball player to go pro, but now has two years in the Ignite system to make the next leap to the NBA.

“I just got a passion for hooping.” G League Ignite guard Dink Pate told Draft Digest. “If we get to do that 24/7 every day, why not take that route?”

While most 17-year-old athletes are still years away from playing professionally, Pate was making history at that age. After reclassifying to the 2023 class and signing a contract with the G League Ignite, the four-star prospect became the youngest American professional basketball player in history.

The bulk of players that make it to the NBA come from the college ranks, which is still the most traditional method of making it to the league, even with the alternate routes that exist today. To Pate, the opportunity to become a professional as soon as possible was important.

“My plan is to be a pro. So I think this was the best route for me,” Pate told Draft Digest in a recent interview. “In my personal case — and I think everybody's different, not to put it down — but I'm not I'm not really a school kid.”

Given his age, Pate won’t be eligible to make the next jump until the 2025 NBA Draft. As such, he is now following in the footsteps of Scoot Henderson and London Johnson as young guards who joined the G League system with two years of work before making it to the NBA.

“Everybody got their own journey, but I came here to be a pro. If I want to do this for the next 10 to 15 years, I gotta get my early experience right now. This is my first year, which is my developing year, before I get into the real action,” the Ignite guard would go on to say.

At the NBA level, jumbo guards have become one of the most attractive pieces in the modern era. The ability to make plays and create mismatches while providing positional versatility has become the name of the game. He fits this mold — standing at almost 6-foot-8 now according the Pate himself — as an oversized playmaking guard that can score or facilitate.

“I want to score but mostly I can be pass-first and get my teammates involved,” Pate said. “Even if they’re having a bad game I’m still trying to get them involved."

The Ignite prospect is extremely old school, both on and off the court. When he’s not hooping, Pate indicated he is still on the Playstation 3 and almost exclusively listens to artists like Tupac. On the court, his game is modeled after a former top-three pick in the 1993 NBA Draft, Penny Hardaway, who is his favorite NBA point guard of all time. When comparing the games of Pate and Hardaway, there certainly are some similarities. In fact, that’s one of the reasons Hardaway — now the head coach at Memphis University — recruited Pate.

“When he [Hardaway] offered me at Memphis, he said he saw a little bit of himself in me and that was a shocking moment,” said Pate, who mentioned the process of being recruited by one of his idols was a surreal experience.

Pate was 5-foot-10 in seventh grade, but grew to 6-foot-5 by the time eighth grade rolled around. This was around the time he dunked a basketball for the first time, and also when he really began to emerge as this modern jumbo guard.

“I’ve always been able to handle the ball, but when I got in high school my freshman year, my coach put the ball in my hands and said I ain’t strong enough to play down low,” said Pate when thinking back to his early high school days.

Rather than being slotted in as a frontcourt player given he was a taller freshman, his coach understood how important it was for Pate to maintain the guard skills and reach his basketball ceiling.

Not only does Pate have the size and skillset to thrive on the court, but he also has the right mindset and approach to the game. He’s all about hoops, which stems from his upbringing.

“When it comes to my story, a lot of people don’t know. I’m a local Dallas kid that went to a hood school so nothing was ever handed to me. I worked hard for everything I’ve ever gotten so far. I don’t like stuff handed to me — I wanna earn my stuff,” Pate told Draft Digest.

When he’s not at practice or traveling for games, the 17-year-old mentioned he’s at home hanging out, sleeping, resting and recovering. He isn’t the type of guy who wants to spend his time going out and prefers to stay lowkey. Pate’s world revolves around the game of basketball, and what is ultimately most important to him — becoming a professional and winning.

“Well, I just want to win,” Pate said when asked to describe his own game. “I’m gonna give 100% every time I’m playing — I only want to win. I wanna get the win first before anything.”

With the perfect build and skillset to make an impact in the NBA, combined with a win-first mentality and hoop-centric lifestyle, the youngest US-born professional basketball player in history is paving the way for a special career.

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