Kingston Flemings Credits Hawks Veterans for Helping Prepare Him for NBA Debut

Nickeil Alexander-Walker and CJ McCollum are the Atlanta Hawks veterans Kingston Flemings has worked out with most since he arrived as the eighth overall pick in June.

Flemings makes his NBA regular-season debut Wednesday at the Orlando Magic. Tip-off at Kia Center is 7 p.m. ET.

Flemings calls them good vets.

"Honestly, all of them," Flemings said Monday. "I've worked out with, obviously, you've seen Nickeil over there. I've worked out with Nickeil and CJ a lot. Those are probably the main guys I've been working out with."

"But everyone's giving me different advice, whether that's Wig, whether that's Lu, whether that's JJ," Flemings added. "Everyone is giving me bits and pieces of their game and just their mind. So, it's helped me a lot."

Alexander-Walker won Most Improved Player last season. He led Atlanta with 25 points in Friday's 135-111 preseason win at the Dallas Mavericks, going 6-of-10 from 3-point range with 5 assists in 27 minutes.

Washington traded McCollum and Corey Kispert to Atlanta on Jan. 9 for Trae Young. McCollum holds a career average of 19.5 points per game.

He missed the Oct. 5 preseason opener against the Memphis Grizzlies with a nose contusion, and Flemings started in his place. McCollum rested Oct. 12, and Flemings started again.

Wig, Lu, and JJ are Aaron Wiggins, Luguentz Dort, and Jalen Johnson.

Oklahoma City traded Wiggins to Atlanta in June for two second-round picks. Wiggins scored 19 points with 7 rebounds off the bench Friday and went 4-of-9 from 3-point range.

Dort arrived July 19 in a three-team trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas. Dort spent seven seasons in Oklahoma City. He made the All-Defensive First Team in 2025, the season the Thunder won the championship, and finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

Atlanta drafted Johnson 20th overall out of Duke in 2021.

Johnson had 20 points and 14 rebounds in 25 minutes Friday, his second double-double of the preseason.

Flemings is a great teammate, with the character, work ethic, and selflessness that show up in his play, Hawks coach Quin Snyder said Monday.

"Earlier in the summer, Jalen, he's out in Los Angeles, where he was training at that point in the summer, invited both Zuby and Kingston out to work out with him," Snyder said. "So we've seen a lot of that, whether it's CJ, early morning workouts on the court, and Kingston's out there with him."

"All our guys are really, I think it's a group that has a good feel for that, supporting one another, particularly with the young guys," Snyder continued.

Zuby Ejiofor, the No. 23 pick in June, is the other first-round rookie. He had 19 points and 15 rebounds against Oklahoma City on Oct. 12.

Flemings and Ejiofor also worked out with LeBron James during the offseason before reporting to camp at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

At Houston, Flemings averaged 16.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 5.2 assists as a freshman and became the first freshman in program history to earn All-America honors.

He started twice in the preseason and came off the bench in the other three games, including Friday, when he had 10 points and 6 assists.

After Orlando, the Hawks host the Houston Rockets in their home opener Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET at State Farm Arena.