Chicago · Preparing for the interviews that could shape his future employment, Darryn Peterson braced himself for a grilling about health.

After all, it was the Kansas Jayhawks star’s health that caused him to drop, however slightly, on mock draft boards this season.

It was health, as Peterson perplexingly sat out of games, that garnered the most headlines, the most hot takes. He dealt with an ankle injury, a hamstring injury, illness and mysterious cramps.

But at the NBA Draft Combine last week, Peterson was shocked that his medical history barely came up.

“Surprisingly, not a lot,” he said. “I haven’t got a lot of questions about it at all.”

Peterson, who could very well end up in Salt Lake City when the Jazz draft second overall, is one of the most intriguing and polarizing prospects in this year’s draft.

Nobody doubts the talent, or the jump shot that has been compared to some of the game’s greats. But his availability, and curious explanations for it, have given teams pause.

Peterson became known for scoring a flurry of points and abruptly subbing himself out. He’d have 18 in 20 minutes, then park it on the bench for the second half. In a marquee matchup against Arizona, he just sat out altogether.

Since then, he explained it away as a cramping issue. He told ESPN that creatine was to blame for his problems.

Peterson hopes that’s enough to put the questions to bed.

“I think what I did with ESPN kind of gave people some answers,” Peterson said. “None of it being said [about me] was true.”

But NBA general managers will be the final arbiter of truth on draft night.

Jazz President of Basketball Operations Austin Ainge is one of those folks looking for answers.

With the second overall pick, he’s putting together his top two prospects and Peterson is in the mix. One of the curiosities about the former Kansas guard is why his explanation for sitting out took so long to materialize.

Was it really cramps, or was it a case of a player wanting to preserve himself for the NBA? If it was cramps, why did they keep occurring as he continued sitting out of games?

For Peterson’s part, he said doctors couldn’t find the source of the cramping issue.

“Obviously, I didn’t know what was going on,” Peterson said. “Creatine was something that was just provided for us in smoothies before and after weights. I didn’t think they’d give me anything that wouldn’t be beneficial. They gave them to everybody on the team. And I figured it out after the season [that it caused cramps] just getting a baseline on myself, taking more tests, and figured it out.”

He added that when he was told it was creatine, which aids in muscle growth, he was as surprised as everyone else.

“Super surprised, because during the year I was doing everything I could to figure out what it was,” he said. “Figuring out what it was helped my mental as well. Because something’s wrong. You don’t know what it is.”

In interviews with team officials, including with Jazz executives, Peterson tried to turn the page on his health. He became a lightning rod, with people saying he brought NBA-style load management to college basketball. He also received flak for comparing his personality to that of a “loner.”

“Obviously I was seeing the stuff during the year, what other people were saying about me,” he said. “But I think [the interviews] gave teams an opportunity to learn the real me. I think I’m a pretty cool guy, so they probably threw that out.”

He regretted his comments about being a “loner.” He felt it gave the wrong impression.

“I mentioned in an interview last year that I’m an ‘anti-social loner.’ I think I used the wrong words with that. People took that and ran with it, but I meant I was super introverted,” he said.

The Jazz are also looking at Peterson’s basketball production. After an explosive start to the season, Peterson’s numbers tailed off as he sat in second halves. The athleticism he was known for, including dunking over several BYU defenders on national television, wasn’t as visible as Kansas transitioned him off the ball.

Peterson attributed it to cramping and taking a diminished role offensively.

“I feel like I’m back at that level now. Obviously, I wasn’t where I wanted to be, just with what I had going on. But I’m back at it now,” he said.

And being back, he’s only focused on where he fits in with a new organization. He doesn’t care about going first in the draft, which is good news for the Jazz.

Out of Washington and Utah, the Jazz are the ones who need a dynamic guard who can buoy the offense when things lag. Pairing Peterson with current guard Keyonte George would give Utah a dynamic attack.

“Being No. 1 [in the draft] is cool,” Peterson said. “But I’m more worried about the best fit for me.”

The Jazz just need to see if he’s the right fit for them, and put their own doubts about his health to rest.