Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum Among Highest-IQ Players NBA Skills Coach Worked With

NBA skills coach Drew Hanlon has named the three players he worked with whom he considers to have the highest basketball IQ.

Also the CEO of training company Pure Sweat Basketball, many NBA players, particularly the younger ones, are clients of Hanlon as he helps them refine areas of their game and ultimately become better overall players.

Among his many clients are the likes of Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, Mo Bamba, Markelle Fultz and more. Speaking as a guest on "The HoopsHype Podcast" recently, Hanlon revealed who he thought were ahead of the pack when it comes to their intelligence.

"For me, I would like to think, that all of my guys have high IQs," he said. "If not, I’m not doing my job very well! But Joel Embiid has a very high IQ. There are times where I’ll be showing him some clips and he’ll stop me and talk about how he remembers Patrick Ewing using that in the playoffs in a certain year and I’m just like, ‘Dang.’ He’s a really big film junkie."

Philly center Embiid is one of the most exciting young players in the league today, whom many believe could be a future NBA champion. He is followed by a Rookie of the Year finalist in Tatum, who spearheaded the Boston Celtics to an Eastern Conference Finals finish last season — particularly in the absence of Kyrie Irving.

"Jayson Tatum is definitely up there," Hanlon added. "We just recently put out a clip of the similarities between him and Kobe Bryant. That’s no accident; he loves Kobe and he’s been studying Kobe since he was 13 years old. But we’ve done a ton of film work with him, making sure he’s stealing from just about every player you can imagine. I’d definitely say Jayson is on the list."

Coincidentally, Tatum was training and working out with Bryant last week.

Lastly, Hanlon went with Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal, who was notably one of his first clients.

"Then, Brad Beal. I always joke around and tell people, ‘Brad knows everything that I know.’ Brad and I have so many conversations about basketball and we’ll bounce ideas back and forth off each other, and I’ve learned so much from him too," Hanlon explained. "[Since he was one of my first NBA clients], he was kind of my guinea pig. ... Brad is one of the highest IQ guys I’ve ever worked with and I’ve stolen so much from him, just because we’ve been together so long and built this thing together."

As for a player Hanlon wishes he could work with? He'd go with Milwuakee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who he believes would be unstoppable if he refined his shooting game.

"I get this question all the time, so I have an answer prepared: It’d be Giannis [Antetokounmpo], the Greek Freak," Hanlon said. "The biggest reason is that I feel like if we worked together in the summer, he’d have a knock-down three-point shot and mid-range shot. And he’s already one of the best players in the NBA, I just think this would make him literally unstoppable."

"Giannis is the only guy I don’t currently work with that I think would be a really fun project, just because I think I could really help him in the shooting category, which would really open everything up," he said.