Utah rookie Ace Bailey isn’t who you think he is. That’s why the Jazz might have a future star.

On one of the first road trips of his young NBA career, the 6-foot-9 future of the Utah Jazz climbed onto the team plane with his favorite meal: McDonald’s.

Ace Bailey, a 19-year-old phenom with a silky smooth shot, has a vice. “All that fast food,” he said. He once admitted that Waffle House and the Golden Arches were his go-to spots. When you’re his age, with his athleticism, diet tends not to be a concern.

But on the plane full of veterans, someone finally set him straight.

“They’re like, ‘No, eating that stuff is not gonna help you,” Bailey said. “Honestly, coming into the NBA, it’s more than I expected, mostly off the court adjustments. Because all eyes are on you, everywhere you go.”

Food is hardly the only life lesson he’s learned recently.

This summer — when Utah drafted Bailey fifth overall and heaped its hopes onto a teenager — everything Bailey knew seemingly shifted.

For as long as he could remember, he was the can’t-miss prospect. By 14, he was 6-foot-4 and the best player in the youth circuit. Out of high school, his gangly frame and scoring prowess already drew Kevin Durant comparisons. He torched the nets at some of college basketball’s most vaunted cathedrals, scoring 39 at Indiana’s Assembly Hall and 37 against Northwestern.

But days before he was set to cash in at the draft, controversy hit. Reports surfaced that he didn’t want to play for certain teams in the lottery, including the Jazz, and he fell on draft boards. Fans rushed to their own assumptions — good and bad. Some thought he was a diva or a ball hog. People called him “entitled.” Others said he’d be an immediate All-Star.

“Having that responsibility is amazing, but it also can be a lot,” Bailey said.

Ever since, he’s been caught in the middle of those expectations — not fitting neatly into any. On the floor, he’s been good but not great — averaging 11 points as mostly a third option. Off the floor, teammates swear by him — but it takes time to rewire public perception.

So who is the real Ace Bailey? Well, like his diet, he’s trying to figure that out. But he’s definitely not who everyone thinks he is.

“People shouldn’t make assumptions, but that’s hard to do in the world we live in,” his teammate Kevin Love said. “Just get to know him. Ace Bailey is great.”

Into the chaos

Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell developed his own rule coaching Bailey last year.

“If anybody calls about Ace Bailey, I f---ing call back right away,” he said. “I’ve been coaching 42 years, and he’s as good of a kid I’ve had.”

Pikiell loved talking about his star. But those calls became more contentious days before the draft. Pikiell started hearing Bailey was plummeting, thanks to alleged threats made by his management that he didn’t want to play for certain teams picking in the top five. ESPN reported Bailey might not report if an unfavored franchise selected him.

“No one had any issues with this kid the whole draft, all of a sudden, three days before, it was like, ‘What’s wrong with this guy?’” Pikiell said. “It always puzzled me.”

The speculation reportedly stemmed from Bailey’s agent, Omar Cooper, pulling strings behind the scenes.

For most of the year, Bailey was projected to be picked third behind Duke star Cooper Flagg and fellow Rutgers teammate Dylan Harper. But Cooper, according to ESPN, wanted his client to wind up in Washington, New Orleans or Brooklyn where he could be a major contributor immediately. None of those teams were picking in the top five. Instead, they lined up at six, seven or eight.

In response, Cooper strategically canceled Bailey’s workouts with teams inside the top five to dissuade them from drafting him. The 76ers were drafting third, and Bailey called off his flight to Philadelphia the day before. He also didn’t visit Salt Lake City, where the Jazz picked fifth.

Cooper, who wasn’t a registered agent, received plenty of blowback for trying to manipulate the draft process. But Bailey also caught flak, with some NBA players calling him “entitled.”

“You’re not in a position to be making those demands,” NBA all-star Paul George said on his podcast. “Make it to the league first.”

Golden State’s Draymond Green added Bailey had a “question mark on character.”

But for people who knew Bailey, the criticisms were far off. Harper, who went No. 2 to the Spurs in the draft, traveled with Bailey all throughout high school, visiting him in Atlanta for basketball camps. He was partly committed to Rutgers to play alongside him.

“He’s funny and goofy. Never runs out of energy,” Harper said.

The Spurs rookie believed the early narrative around his old teammate was unfair. “You get put in that position, it is obviously going to be frustrating. He handled it better than anybody else. We talked a lot in the draft process.”

Pikiell was equally confused, speculating teams down in the draft lottery — who wanted Bailey — were behind the reports. A team like the Washington Wizards, for example, thought they’d be drafting in the top five all year. But they fell in the draft lottery to sixth late in the process.

“I think the top three teams that were projected for the lottery, all of a sudden, now were picking fifth, sixth, seventh. They were the teams that saw him play the most,” Pikiell said. “I know those teams really wanted him. I found out after the draft they were putting stuff out there. I think that was part of it.”

It led to an awkward draft night. The 76ers passed on Bailey with the third pick and Charlotte opted for Duke guard Kon Knueppel at four. Right when you thought Bailey might nosedive, Utah selected him without seeing a workout.

ESPN immediately reported Utah was “not one of his preferred destinations.” But the Jazz didn’t care.

“We do a lot of background calls and work on guys, and everyone loves being around Ace,” Jazz President of Basketball Operations Austin Ainge said.

Bailey parted ways with Cooper in September, opting for a more experienced agent. Months later, Bailey said he didn’t regret any part of the draft process.

“The goal was to be here,” he insisted.

Now he just had to convince everyone else.

Back on stable ground

Back when Bailey was at Rutgers, Pikiell used to see his star player get up at 6 a.m. for his own shooting workouts.

Depending on class schedules and the day of the week, there would be different managers assisting Bailey ply his craft.

“I’m almost embarrassed to say this, but sometimes I’m like, ‘What’s his name?” Pikiell said. “We have 27 managers. Ace knew every freaking one of them by name. He’s a great kid, great work ethic.”

When he arrived in Utah, Bailey took a similar approach to win over his organization. He wasn’t going to tell them he wanted to be in Utah; he’d show them.

“You can only do so much. But just be who you are,” Bailey said. “Every day give your best effort and it shouldn’t be a problem.”

It worked.

Love, a former No. 5 pick himself who came into the league with some negative perceptions, saw him slowly assuage the doubts.

“I’ve been a victim of that as well. But I always think you just have to go to Ace first. Because when you go to Ace, you realize he’s just amazing,” Love said. “Somebody said he didn’t want to play for Utah. Well, let’s get him here and see. He’s going to love it here, and I think that he really has.”

And from a basketball perspective, his new head coach also wanted Bailey to ease into his new surroundings. Will Hardy wanted fewer threes, more focus on making the right reads and building habits off the court. Bailey hasn’t been the Jazz’s primary scorer on purpose, allowing him to develop a more well-rounded attack for the future.

“We want to help him get through this season and be a way better player than when he started,” Hardy said. “I’m not pro Ace just bombing away to get stats and clicks.”

Love wished he had that approach as a younger player.

“I got that a little when Kevin McHale became the coach,” he said. “This organization allows guys to grow. I use that word grace a lot, having the grace to allow them to do that.”

It’s let Bailey finally get some stability back in his life. And he’s rewarded the Jazz with better play, averaging 15.5 points per game since early February. He poured in 20 points at Atlanta and followed it up with 16 in a win over Miami.

“He’s such a great kid, man. Off the court, he’s such a joy. On the court, he’s putting it together,” former Jazz forward Kyle Anderson said. “I didn’t pay attention to the noise during the draft process, but I’m glad to see that really hasn’t surfaced.”

Figuring it out

On the final day before the All-Star break, Bailey was at his locker packing up to board a plane to Los Angeles.

He was a late addition to the Rising Stars Challenge, replacing an injured player.

And in many ways, that fits with who Bailey is right now.

He wasn’t invited to All-Star Weekend, and then he was a rising star. Sometimes he scores 25 points, as he did against the Spurs in January; other times, he goes quiet. He eats right some days, but fast food is still a crutch.

Like most teenagers, he’s still figuring out who he is — a book unfinished.

“He wasn’t even 18 yet when he signed in college. We got 17-year-olds with these expectations,” Pikiell said. “He’ll end up being the best player in this draft. In the end, 10 years from now, people will say, ‘Boy, this guy can do a lot of things.”

But after the draft chaos, there is finally some calm. At least now, Bailey can write his story himself — free from everyone’s expectations.