Exclusive: Kingston Flemings talks NBA Draft, USAA partnership, his best skillset, weirdest draft questions, and more

Jun 23, 2026 - 17:30

Before he gets selected in the lottery of the 2026 NBA Draft, projected top 10 pick Kingston Flemings spent the week back in his hometown of San Antonio. The reason? A look back at his family’s history of service in partnership with USAA.

Flemings comes from a family full of service members, from his dad in the Army to his mom as a nurse manager at the VA. Aside from that, three of his four grandparents served in the Army and the last one served in the Air Force. The history of service goes all the way back to the great grandparents serving in World War II.

“It means a lot,” Kingston Flemings told ClutchPoints of his family’s history of service and how it prepared him for life. “What they instilled in me, just everything. I have a deep respect for all service members. My family’s been with them a long time. I want to thank USAA especially for this partnership, but growing up in the household, discipline was a big thing and I carry it in my whole life. Basketball and obviously at home. Yes, sir. No, sir. Yes, ma’am. No, ma’am. I carry all of that. Aligning myself with people who believe and think the same way is a thing I’m definitely going to do.”

Prior to the 2026 NBA Draft, Kingston Flemings sat down with ClutchPoints to talk about what service has meant to his family and about the upcoming NBA Draft.

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Tomer Azarly: Before we get started, how are you doing and holding up throughout what I’m sure has been an incredible pre-draft process?

Kingston Flemings: I’m doing great. I mean it’s definitely exciting. it’s exciting being here. All my friends, people I grew up playing against. People in my college that I played against. So, it’s amazing being here and it’s definitely surreal. I’m excited.

Tomer Azarly: What does it mean to have a history of service so deep and so dedicated?

Kingston Flemings: It means a lot. What they instilled in me, just everything. I have a deep respect for all service members. My family’s been with them a long time. I want to thank USAA especially for this partnership, but I mean growing up in a household, discipline was a big thing and I carry it in my whole life. Basketball and obviously at home. Yes, sir. No, sir. Yes, ma’am. No, ma’am. I carry all of that. Aligning myself with people who believe and think the same way is a thing I’m definitely going to do.

Tomer Azarly: What kind of impact did your mom have on you growing up and who you are today?

Kingston Flemings: Yeah, she played a great role. Obviously she wasn’t a basketball player growing up, but she’s learned a lot. Her talking to me sometimes before games, positive affirmations were her thing. So, you know, kind of envisioning yourself doing good. That’s just something that I really believe in now, for sure. I think she instilled in us. Just everything she’s sacrificed. Her and my dad. just the work they put in. It’s not easy flying us across the country, having to pay for all these things, so knowing that they have their own jobs, being a nurse, being a firefighter. And then they still pour back so much into us. It’s definitely great level of selflessness.

Tomer Azarly: What about your father, how did he shape who you are today?

Kingston Flemings: He definitely did, definitely played a bigger role on the court, I’d say. I mean obviously, he’s more into basketball, teaching me, being my coach, for sure. But the same way, they both instilled great things into us while growing up. He was a little more stern in the house, teaching us things like that, so it was kind of two sides of the coin, so it fit perfectly, but I mean, again, everything he sacrificed, coming off 24-hour shifts and then getting in the gym with us at 5AM whenever he got off or being in the gym all day so I mean everything that he’s sacrificed, him and my mom, I’m definitely grateful.

Tomer Azarly: You’ve gone from being a highly regarded recruit to a projected top-10 NBA pick in a very short time. What’s gone into that and how have you balanced growing as a player while the NBA gets to learn who you are?

Kingston Flemings: Yeah, I definitely grew as a player in high school and college, but i think it’s all about opportunity. I mean opportunity and being seen. In high school, we played tough teams but we weren’t on the highest circuits all the time, so teams and people didn’t see me as much. In college, everyone’s going to see you when you play. So I was trying to go out there and show people the competitor I am and I did that by getting wins. You know, if you get wins, people watch. Consistently getting wins, being at Houston with great players around me. Consistently doing that, so it was definitely a great feeling just feeling myself get better.

Tomer Azarly: You’re a pretty low turnover guard for a guy who plays as much and handles the ball as much as he does. Why do you think that is and how did you get there?

Kingston Flemings: I think for me, it was something that was instilled in my in high school by Coach Cody. He used to always say 3-1. Whenever I turn the ball over, 3-1. Assist-to-turnover ratio. So he was always talking about that. And then Milo Suzanne helped me a lot with that. I mean, when I first got there, I was trying to make too many passes that I felt like I could make, but sometimes it was harder to catch. And he was like just make 100 percent passes. Make easy passes like that. So kind of following after him as the year went on, I consistently got better and didn’t turn the ball over as much so it was definitely great.

Tomer Azarly: You’ve been described as one of the best guards in this class. Do you regard yourself as a true point guard and why is that important to you?

Kingston Flemings: It means a lot. I think today, there’s not really a lot of “true” point guards or just pure point guard because the game changed a lot. You’ve got to be able to shoot or people aren’t going to respect you. But I think for me, I think just getting downhill. I mean getting downhill, getting two feet in the paint. I can consistently do that. It’s the best thing I do. I have two sides of my game. I can go out there and score and I can go out there and have a bunch of assists or a lot of things. Even get rebounds. So just being adaptable and being a great player like that is definitely something I’ve gotten better at, consistently doing that. I’m going to continue doing that going forward.

Tomer Azarly: What facet of your game is your favorite?

Kingston Flemings: My favorite? I’ll be probably my speed, you know, my ability to see the floor to I’m at think coming off ball screens, you know, getting off, you know, like just handling the ball getting downhill seeing my teammates as best thing I always came natural for me. So I think that’s my my best ability for sure getting two feet in the paint.

Tomer Azarly: Touched on it a bit earlier, but what’s this draft process been like for you as you go from workout to workout, talk to one team and another. What’s just the process been like as you navigate this?

Kingston Flemings: Yeah, it’s been great. I’m blessed enough to not have done that many workouts. I’ve done five or six workouts. So I’m blessed to that’s all I had to do. I’ve talked to a lot of teams for sure. But I mean just the opportunity that I’ve been given, you know, not everyone can go out here and even put be at the combine everyone talks to the NBA team. So I’m definitely grateful for that and then even more grateful that I’m most likely going to be in the lottery. So that’s a that’s a great opportunity for sure too. I know these teams can be found funny with the questions.

Tomer Azarly: What’s maybe the weirdest question you’ve gotten at some of these meetings?

Kingston Flemings: Someone asked me if I could punch anyone in the face. Who would it be? Yeah, that was a wild question for sure.

Tomer Azarly: How do you even answer that?

Kingston Flemings: Yeah, at first I was sitting there thinking, ‘like who would it actually be?’ I was thinking and I could not find an answer. I was like, I just I don’t have animosity for someone that bad. I just don’t but yeah, that was probably the weirdest question I got asked for sure.

Tomer Azarly: That’s hilarious. Obviously, you’re very efficient score from the field from three. What’s a facet of your game that in four or five years in the league you want to say like, “I’ve mastered it or close to mastered it?”

Kingston Flemings: I think I would say a ball screen reads on offense. I mean, I want to be able to make reads like Chris Paul. You know, Chris Paul comes off a screen and he reads the whole the whole defense. Tyrese Haliburton comes off screens and reads the whole defense. Both of those guys are great assist-to-turnover ratio guys. So I want to be like, ‘that’s something I mastered.’ Obviously, I can get consistently better at the three ball. I can get consistently better at getting to the rim, getting better at the floater, but I think a thing I can really master are ball screens for sure.

Tomer Azarly: Have you met or talked to either of them before at all?

Kingston Flemings: I talked to Chris Paul. I went I went to a CP3 camp and I talked to him there. I haven’t talked to Haliburton, but we did texted him. I’ve talked about them before.

Tomer Azarly: Is there any player that you’re looking forward to playing against in the league most?

Kingston Flemings: There’s a ton. I mean, there’s Stephen Curry, you’ve got Kyrie [Irving]. I mean if I don’t go to the Mavs at No. 9, then Kyrie. You’ve got a lot of these players. I mean Tyrese Halliburton, Tyrese Maxey, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Cade Cunningham. Guys I watched growing up, you know, being on the same court with them being able to go out there and compete is going to be great.

Tomer Azarly: I think what makes a lot of players really good in NBA nowadays or at least the Stars that they’re coachable. They’re extremely coachable. They want to learn their sponge. What’s your level of coachability? Like do you do you like to be coached hard? Do you like to learn a lot? Like what do you like as a player?

Kingston Flemings: Yeah, definitely like to be coached. You don’t you don’t choose Houston and not like to be coached for sure. I think coach Sam’s one-on-one, but I had the same coach in high school. I mean coach Coty was hard on me. I grew up with him a lot. My dad was hard on me. So I’ve always been used to that type of coaching. So I’m always used to hard coaching and direct coaching and that’s the way I learned best. So I’m definitely ready for whatever culture I have in the next level.

Tomer Azarly: What’s something that fans doesn’t matter who drives you, but what some of the fans may not know about you that they should know about Kingston Flemings?

Kingston Flemings: That’s my adaptability the way I see the court. I mean, I think people see me on one scope because how I put in college, but I went to a different college. I could play a completely different way. So I think any team I go to they’re going to see the player I am I’m going to fit whatever that team needs. So that’s what I want the team the team and the fans to know.

Tomer Azarly: Basketball is going to take a big part of your life. But what do you like to do for fun on your own when you’re away from the court? How do you unwind? What do you like to do for fun?

Kingston Flemings: Yeah, I mean definitely video games. I mean hanging out with friends and family. I’m down in San Antonio. So hanging out with family whenever I can, hanging out my friends whenever I can. So those are definitely things. I’m going to like pickleball like escape rooms, obviously video games for sure.

Tomer Azarly: What console?

Kingston Flemings: Oh, PS5 or PC.

Tomer Azarly: What are you playing?

Kingston Flemings: Okay on ps5. I play 2K recently started, playing this game called VV: Ultimatum. It’s tough. People got to tap in on that to the game for sure. I play Madden when I can, my friends don’t really like playing because I be messing them up for sure, but I like a Rainbow Six Siege Valorant.

Tomer Azarly: So okay, that’s one a couple quick hitters for you. What’s your favorite meal?

Kingston Flemings: Favorite meal is probably pizza.

Tomer Azarly: Okay, might have to give that up in the NBA.

Kingston Flemings: I don’t know, who knows.

Tomer Azarly: What’s your first or favorite NBA memory that you have?

Kingston Flemings: NBA memory first NBA memory. Let me think. Maybe. I don’t know. Maybe maybe a highlight reel watching Derrick Rose is highlight real maybe that or my favorite memory when I think OG Anunoby hit a three against LeBron and they tied the game up and LeBron came down on the left like left low like hash. It’s not like a running little floater off the back of the running floater. Yeah.

Tomer Azarly: East Coast or West Coast?

Kingston Flemings: East Coast.

Tomer Azarly: Early bird or night owl?

Kingston Flemings: Early bird.

Tomer Azarly: Favorite sport outside of basketball?

Kingston Flemings: Football.

Tomer Azarly: Your favorite off the activity?

Kingston Flemings: Off the activity? Video games.