The Tyson brothers will be 315 miles apart at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday night. And they each know exactly where the other will be at the moment the clock strikes eight. For Jaylon Tyson, his Cleveland Cavaliers will be on the court in Toronto for the opening tip of Game 3 in their playoff series against the Raptors. Jordyn Tyson, the Arizona State receiver and top NFL Draft prospect, will be with the rest of their family in the green room in Pittsburgh watching NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell take the stage to declare the 2026 draft open. It seems like bad luck that these events start at the same moment. But Jaylon sees a silver lining. “There\u2019s a teaching moment within this, because you have to understand it’s a business that you’re about to walk into,” he told me by phone on Wednesday. “It’s your job; it’s your livelihood. So I got to take care of my job.” That’s the big brother talking \u2014 and always looking to impart wisdom in his little bro. In terms of following where Jordyn lands, Jaylon said he thinks he\u2019ll wait until halftime, when a Cavs staffer will inform him. It\u2019s one of the things Jordyn admires most about his brother: his professionalism. A month ago, not knowing what the NBA playoff schedule would look like, Jordyn told me that it would be “really special” if Jaylon could be there on draft night. Because Jordyn had been there for Jaylon in 2024 when the Cavaliers selected the 6-foot-6 shooting guard in Round 1 at 20th overall. “It was amazing,” Jordyn said, then growing somber. “But just to be honest, like it was messed up, because [on the TV graphics] it was like, \u2018Next 15: Best available.\u2019 He wasn’t on the next 15 when he was drafted. So just seeing people continue to just sleep on everything he’s done, everything he’s endured, everything he’s been grinding for and just people keep continuing to sleep on him. It\u2019s just about him just continuing to prevail and prevail.” It didn\u2019t matter that the draft broadcast wasn\u2019t listing Jaylon when Cleveland selected him. All that mattered was that Cleveland selected him. And once all the excitement had settled down, Jaylon spoke to his little brother. “You\u2019re up next,” Jaylon remembered saying. “Yeah, if it\u2019s in God\u2019s plan,” Jordyn responded. “No,” Jaylon said. “It\u2019s going to happen.” At that time, Jordyn had yet to emerge on the college scene. He suffered a knee injury (ACL, MCL, PCL) in 2022 at Colorado. And then in 2023, after transferring to ASU, Jordyn went without a single catch in three appearances. So on Jaylon\u2019s draft night, Jordyn’s future was uncertain. He had no real sense of what 2024 would bring. That was when Jordyn felt like he needed his brother the most. “I feel like without him, I wouldn’t be here,” Jordyn told me. “I wasn’t on the field, wasn’t competing. It was him continually just calling me to say, \u2018You’re gonna be fine. You’re gonna be fine. Just keep going. Just keep working. That’s all you got to do.\u2019 So just him constantly being in my ear, repeating kind of the same stuff.” They talk about more than just ball. In fact, those were the conversations Jordyn valued as much as the ones about sports. Because when they talked about life \u2014 from clothes to video games to something important that happened to them that day \u2014 it took Jordyn\u2019s mind off his knee. In 2024 at ASU, Jordyn had a breakout season with 75 catches for 1,101 yards and 10 touchdowns. But then, it was Jaylon who was struggling. His first NBA season didn\u2019t go as he had hoped. He wasn\u2019t getting minutes with the Cavs and spent a lot of time in the G League with the Cleveland Charge. That’s when there was a role reversal that wasn’t always comfortable. “It was one of the hardest times in my athletic career \u2014 not being able to play, wanting to be out there,” Jaylon said. “[Jordyn] was there for me. He challenged me, and as big bro, I didn’t really like it at first, but I understood where it was coming from. It’s coming from a good place, and my goal was just, don’t show him any weakness, because if I showed him weakness, then how would he do when adversity came to him?” Doubt crept into Jaylon\u2019s mind. Jordyn, who had enjoyed his breakout season at ASU, knew exactly how to tackle that feeling. “I don’t know if it helped him or not, or I don’t know how he really took it, because he’s big bro. He got to stay strong for me,” Jordyn told me. “I was like, \u2018Just keep going.\u2019 Kind of the same thing he was telling me. \u2018Just keep going.\u2019 He was doubting his play. And I was like, \u2018Bro, you’re a good player. You’re a great player. And shoot, let it all play out. Just keep being you. Keep being yourself, and don’t crash out about something that you can’t control.\u2019” Jaylon had his breakout season this year, playing in 66 games for the Cavaliers and averaging 13.2 points. As good as these brothers are to one another, they are fiercely competitive with one another. So I wondered: How will Jaylon respond if Jordyn gets picked earlier than No. 20? “That\u2019s already done. He\u2019s already beat me on that one,” Jaylon told me. It\u2019s true: Everyone expects Tyson to go in the top 10 picks. But! “I always got the edge because I was the first to do everything. I was the first to go D-I, and I was the first to be a first-round pick,” Jaylon said. [Ranking and Evaluating the Top 10 Wide Receivers] There are two more things you should know about these brothers. First, if they\u2019re competing against each other, steer clear. You might catch a stray. “Everything we did was competing. If our parents gave us $5, I\u2019m getting $3 and you\u2019re getting $2,” Jaylon said. “When we started getting older and we started getting stronger, our parents couldn’t let us keep fighting like we used to, because we were trying to kill each other.” And when they played football together, especially. “We were trying to tear each other’s head off.” Then there\u2019s the second thing. If they\u2019re competing against you, get out of the way. They\u2019re coming for you. “It\u2019s us versus the world,” Jaylon said. “It was always like that.” It makes sense that Jordyn doesn\u2019t need Jaylon on Thursday night. And Jaylon doesn\u2019t need Jordan. Sure, it\u2019s always better when they\u2019re together. But given all they\u2019ve been through \u2014 and the way they\u2019ve come out, they are both in prime positions to enjoy their night. The Cavaliers are up 2-0 in the series, with Jaylon playing a key rotational role. Jordyn seems to have won over the hearts of multiple teams picking in the top 10 \u2014 and certainly in the top half of the first round. He\u2019ll hear his name early in the night. They owe their success to each other. And when they do finally connect on Thursday night, and they\u2019re both first-round picks, here\u2019s what Jaylon will tell Jordyn. “Don\u2019t let nobody change you,” Jaylon said. “In this world and this industry, there\u2019s going to be a lot of people who have something to say about you. There\u2019s always going to be critics. But never change who you are. Remember what got you to this moment. Stay true to yourself.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Tyson brothers will be 315 miles apart at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday night. And they each know exactly where the other will be at the moment the clock strikes eight. For Jaylon Tyson, his Cleveland Cavaliers will be on the court in Toronto for the opening tip of Game 3 in their playoff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32612"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32612\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}