Latest / Bleacher Report / Thunder NBA Finals Media Day_ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren

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Thunder NBA Finals Media Day_ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren · Bleacher Report

0:00
Speaker 1: The beginning of the rebuild to now, you and Sam
0:02
Speaker 1: always seem to be sort of on the same page
0:05
Speaker 1: with with what the plan was. Can you just explain
0:08
Speaker 1: what maybe how that level of understanding between you guys
0:11
Speaker 1: got your team here.
0:16
Speaker 2: This an upfront with me from from day one. I
0:20
Speaker 2: think that helped the relationship right away. You don't get
0:22
Speaker 2: that that very often, especially that early. He seemed like
0:28
Speaker 2: a guy I can trust, and he's been that, and
0:32
Speaker 2: I just try to be the same back to him.
0:37
Speaker 2: Nothing more than just two guys with good character, trusting
0:39
Speaker 2: each other and have one common goal in mind.
0:44
Speaker 3: Over here, standing on the left.
0:46
Speaker 4: Jereed McCain, I'm the NBA player correspondent. I'm big into
0:50
Speaker 4: the mental side of basketball, sports of life and visualization,
0:53
Speaker 4: meditation and stuff I do every day, and I just
0:56
Speaker 4: want to know, like, what do you do on the
0:58
Speaker 4: mental side of it to stay prepared focus in these
1:00
Speaker 4: high pressure situations.
1:03
Speaker 5: Good question.
1:04
Speaker 2: I honestly, I completely plug out. Like I turned my
1:10
Speaker 2: TV off so there's no like basketball highlight's going. I
1:12
Speaker 2: don't watch basketball. I like I just spend time with
1:16
Speaker 2: my family, my friends, and I try to like remove
1:19
Speaker 2: myself completely from basketball because it just consumes so much
1:22
Speaker 2: in my life in my day, and then like when
1:26
Speaker 2: it's time to plug back into it, I'm eager to
1:27
Speaker 2: get back into it like I missed it. So Yeah,
1:30
Speaker 2: I just try to find like a balance of plugging
1:31
Speaker 2: it in and out of it.
1:33
Speaker 6: Over in the right second row, Shay Tim Reynolds with
1:36
Speaker 6: the AP. You guys have obviously handled your business very
1:40
Speaker 6: professionally this year, but you also have a lot of
1:42
Speaker 6: fun the way you guys play, the way you guys
1:44
Speaker 6: play for one another. Do you think it's going to
1:47
Speaker 6: be difficult to keep that sense of fun even though
1:51
Speaker 6: you're now playing for the title. It's the finals, it's
1:54
Speaker 6: the big stage. How will you guys stay true to
1:57
Speaker 6: who you are in this huge environment?
2:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think we have a choice. Staying true
2:04
Speaker 2: to who we are is the reason why we're here,
2:07
Speaker 2: and we'd be we'd be doing ourselves a disservice if
2:10
Speaker 2: we if we change or try to be something we're not.
2:13
Speaker 2: Once we got here, we've had success doing so, and
2:18
Speaker 2: if we want to keep having success, we we have
2:20
Speaker 2: to be who we are. And it's organic, So it's
2:22
Speaker 2: nothing like we have to think about our force. It
2:24
Speaker 2: just is who we are no matter the moment.
2:27
Speaker 7: Michael upfront, say, Michael Grange from Roger Sportsnet, congratulations on
2:32
Speaker 7: the v You know, I go, there's four of you
2:36
Speaker 7: guys here this week, you know yourself, Lou, Andrew, Ben
2:40
Speaker 7: and and maybe just briefly, what it something kind of
2:42
Speaker 7: says about Canadian basketball, What it's going to be like
2:45
Speaker 7: battling against you know, friends, teammates and uh, you know,
2:52
Speaker 7: just when you look at the your season and Steve
2:55
Speaker 7: Nash's legacy, where do you think what you've done builds
2:58
Speaker 7: on that?
2:59
Speaker 5: Sorry, Mike, the first question was was.
3:01
Speaker 7: Just what it's like going to be battling against yes,
3:04
Speaker 7: and with friends at a stage like this.
3:06
Speaker 5: Yeah, it'll be fun.
3:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like you said, like playing with those guys like
3:14
Speaker 2: I've played against Andrew when I was nine years old.
3:19
Speaker 5: Like it's it's been an amazing journey.
3:20
Speaker 2: And to see him having success my own success obviously
3:24
Speaker 2: lose success been success like it's special. It's hard to
3:29
Speaker 2: even wrap your head around just kids that. Like, there's
3:33
Speaker 2: so many kids that played in the same games that
3:35
Speaker 2: we played and for us to make it to the
3:37
Speaker 2: stage is attestament to our hard work, our character. People
3:40
Speaker 2: around us that help us get here, and it's and
3:43
Speaker 2: it's been a blessing, It's it's been super fun.
3:47
Speaker 5: And then what do you say about Steve.
3:49
Speaker 7: I know he's been a real supporter of yours. We're
3:52
Speaker 7: not going to get into a goat debate, but you know,
3:55
Speaker 7: what would it mean to to take it to the
3:57
Speaker 7: next level, to win a title and on top of
3:59
Speaker 7: NBC season, NBA MVP.
4:01
Speaker 5: Season, Yeah, it would be. It would be amazing Steve.
4:06
Speaker 2: Obviously, it's a pioneer for Canadian basketball. He started the
4:14
Speaker 2: whole thing. I guess you can say from the way
4:17
Speaker 2: he plays, to the way he carries himself, to his
4:22
Speaker 2: approach to the game. Like I learned so much from
4:25
Speaker 2: Steve being a seventeen year old kid in two weeks
4:28
Speaker 2: of time. That helped me get here, for sure. So
4:31
Speaker 2: the things he's done with Canada basketball and a whole
4:33
Speaker 2: and just push the culture for it has been amazing.
4:36
Speaker 2: And then to win a title on top of everything
4:38
Speaker 2: that's happened this year would be special. I said this
4:41
Speaker 2: so many times, but I don't play for the individual stuff.
4:44
Speaker 2: I don't play for anything else besides winning. And I
4:47
Speaker 2: never had my whole life when I was nine years old,
4:49
Speaker 2: I played to win an OBA championship.
4:51
Speaker 5: When I was.
4:53
Speaker 2: Twenty years old, I played to win the SEC championship.
4:55
Speaker 2: And now I'm twenty six, I want to win the
4:57
Speaker 2: NBA Championship. Like it's always about winning for me.
5:00
Speaker 3: On your left over here at Joelle.
5:02
Speaker 8: Joel Lorenzi with the Oklahoma Shade, you told us after
5:05
Speaker 8: Game seven of the Denver series that you had been
5:08
Speaker 8: nervous in the day or two leading up to What
5:10
Speaker 8: are you sort of feeling as a series approaches and
5:13
Speaker 8: how difficult is it to, as you say, sort of
5:16
Speaker 8: plug in and plug out this week.
5:18
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's been.
5:21
Speaker 2: A little bit different in that situation, situation I've never
5:26
Speaker 2: been in before, obviously, but it's been it's been fun.
5:32
Speaker 2: As these playoffs go on, you get better and controlling
5:36
Speaker 2: the situations, controlling your emotions, you understand what's coming. But
5:40
Speaker 2: it's been it's been fun. Like the opportunities here, It's
5:44
Speaker 2: been a long week to wait. Feels like the days
5:47
Speaker 2: have gone slow. But yeah, I just like I figured
5:52
Speaker 2: out how to like navigate through all the emotions and
5:55
Speaker 2: the nerves and the waiting process, which is just plug
5:59
Speaker 2: into my loved ones, try to not think about it
6:03
Speaker 2: so much, dress about it so much, and just enjoy
6:05
Speaker 2: life and stay.
6:06
Speaker 5: In the moment.
6:08
Speaker 3: Fourth row on the right, Vinnie.
6:11
Speaker 9: Shay, Vince Goodwill, y'all, sports. You guys have had a
6:14
Speaker 9: historic season so far, sixty eight wins, the double digit wins,
6:18
Speaker 9: the role to the finals. Have you had a moment
6:21
Speaker 9: to reflect on being on the doorstep of history in
6:24
Speaker 9: this time since the conference finals have been it, there's
6:27
Speaker 9: a lot of idle time, a lot of time to
6:28
Speaker 9: sit with your thoughts. Do you have a chance to
6:31
Speaker 9: even appreciate getting here? I appreciate how dominant this team
6:34
Speaker 9: has been this season.
6:36
Speaker 5: Honestly, not not really. I've been been so focused on, like.
6:42
Speaker 2: Just game one, trying to be the best version of
6:47
Speaker 2: myself for this group and trying to make sure that
6:50
Speaker 2: we're clicking on all cylinders on the biggest stage of
6:52
Speaker 2: our careers. Has been the front of my mind and
6:55
Speaker 2: all I've been really worried about when I do worry
6:57
Speaker 2: about basketball. So you have answer your question. I haven't
7:00
Speaker 2: really taking the time to look back see all the
7:05
Speaker 2: things we've done, but I will when it's all over,
7:07
Speaker 2: for sure.
7:08
Speaker 10: Dan last question here on the left side, Chay Dan
7:11
Speaker 10: devonn Yahoo Sports. You guys have faced some fantastic offenses
7:14
Speaker 10: in your road through the Western Conference.
7:16
Speaker 11: Now you deal with the Pacers. What makes them different?
7:18
Speaker 10: What kind of challenges did they pose that will maybe
7:20
Speaker 10: a little bit different from what you've seen so far.
7:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like you said, every team has their their strengths
7:29
Speaker 2: and their weaknesses.
7:31
Speaker 5: They're a very fast team.
7:33
Speaker 2: I think, like above all, they they understand how they're
7:39
Speaker 2: how they're playing, and they're very like stubborn in their approach,
7:42
Speaker 2: and they kind of like grind you with the way
7:45
Speaker 2: they play and they like wear you down, and you
7:51
Speaker 2: don't get here without being a really good team on
7:53
Speaker 2: both ends.
7:53
Speaker 5: And they're that.
7:54
Speaker 2: We know that coming into the game. But yeah, they're
7:57
Speaker 2: they're very they know their identity and they to it
8:00
Speaker 2: no matter what.
8:02
Speaker 12: Jay being such a young team, there were some questions
8:07
Speaker 12: about how inexperience might play against you. How you guys
8:12
Speaker 12: handled that and how was Mark role? How Mark play
8:19
Speaker 12: against those concerns.
8:24
Speaker 13: We try not to feed too much into what the
8:28
Speaker 13: media has to say in regards to inexperience, and I
8:35
Speaker 13: guess the thing earlier in the year was like being
8:37
Speaker 13: too young. When you're young, I feel like we just
8:43
Speaker 13: kind of use it to our advantage, like we try
8:45
Speaker 13: not to look at what we can't do and just
8:47
Speaker 13: focus on what we can do and be.
8:49
Speaker 14: Really good at that.
8:50
Speaker 13: And I think Mark has done a really good job
8:52
Speaker 13: of instilling that in us since I've been here for
8:54
Speaker 13: the past three years.
8:55
Speaker 14: And it's just.
8:56
Speaker 13: Something that we get harped on a lot in the
8:59
Speaker 13: thing and as we grow through these experiences, young or not,
9:02
Speaker 13: you know, when you can learn from whatever situation you're
9:05
Speaker 13: thrown in, it makes you better. And I think that's
9:08
Speaker 13: why we're here right now at this.
9:09
Speaker 3: Moment again, same Rosan Center.
9:11
Speaker 15: Hey, Dylan Raftels from Spain. I was gonna ask you
9:14
Speaker 15: about that too, because we talk a lot with a
9:17
Speaker 15: Spanish x NBA player and he always says that character
9:22
Speaker 15: means more than experience in the playoffs, and I think
9:25
Speaker 15: you guys, being such a young group, really embodied that.
9:28
Speaker 15: So how do you feel about that statement?
9:31
Speaker 14: No, I think it's true.
9:32
Speaker 13: I think honestly, if you look at both teams, you
9:34
Speaker 13: look at Indiana and you do like a closer look
9:37
Speaker 13: on them, they're they're like us, Like you can see
9:39
Speaker 13: the team chemistry they have, you can see what They
9:41
Speaker 13: love playing with each other, and they enjoy being these
9:44
Speaker 13: moments together. And I think that's that's starting to look
9:48
Speaker 13: like what the blueprint of the NBA is. When you
9:51
Speaker 13: get a group of guys that like playing with each
9:53
Speaker 13: other and like doing stuff for each other, and just
9:56
Speaker 13: are constantly willing to, like make the extra sacrifices, extra
9:58
Speaker 13: place for each other while we go through these ups
10:01
Speaker 13: and downs of the season. I think that's what makes
10:02
Speaker 13: you a good team.
10:04
Speaker 16: Steve Honey, right, Hi, Steve Ashburner, NBA dot com. You
10:08
Speaker 16: draw duty defensively where you're asked to guard smaller, guard bigger.
10:13
Speaker 16: I'm just wondering what prepared you to be able to
10:16
Speaker 16: handle those type of demands and any key ingredients to
10:20
Speaker 16: actually being successful at that.
10:25
Speaker 13: God had me grow at the right time in college.
10:28
Speaker 13: So I was short for a long time, so I
10:29
Speaker 13: was guarding little guards, and then obviously I grew, and
10:34
Speaker 13: I think that kind of helped. Obviously, the taller you are,
10:36
Speaker 13: you can guard more positions. I would like the Thunder
10:40
Speaker 13: did a really good job I think grooming me into
10:43
Speaker 13: that just throughout my first year. They just put me
10:47
Speaker 13: in so many different situations and I was able to
10:50
Speaker 13: learn from them and get better through the situations. And
10:53
Speaker 13: I just I think I was in a really good
10:55
Speaker 13: position where like as a rookie, I was able to
10:57
Speaker 13: do like trial and error and do a bunch of
10:59
Speaker 13: stuff like that.
11:00
Speaker 14: So when I get to these moments.
11:01
Speaker 13: Now, I've had more years under my belt to like
11:04
Speaker 13: learn how to guard bigger guys, learn how to guard
11:06
Speaker 13: smaller guards. So I've been able to like grow through
11:08
Speaker 13: the process of doing that. And then defense is a
11:11
Speaker 13: mentality too, Like regardless of who your guardening, if you
11:14
Speaker 13: go out there and compete, you know, you could be
11:15
Speaker 13: pretty good defensively.
11:17
Speaker 3: Over here on the left, Joel.
11:19
Speaker 8: Pull Lorenzi to Oklahoma and dub you said after the
11:22
Speaker 8: Denver series, I believe that you hadn't really slept leading
11:25
Speaker 8: up to Game seven. How have you sort of handled
11:28
Speaker 8: the emotions leading up to the series. How have you
11:30
Speaker 8: digested this and have you had time to sort of
11:33
Speaker 8: put into perspective you know what it means for you
11:35
Speaker 8: to be in the finals in year three.
11:39
Speaker 13: I haven't really wrapped my head around the fact that
11:42
Speaker 13: I'm in the finals. I did, like the correspondence thing
11:46
Speaker 13: two years ago, or I guess like a year ago no,
11:49
Speaker 13: two years ago, right, Yeah, two years ago, and it
11:52
Speaker 13: feels like life has been such a blur since that.
11:56
Speaker 13: I'm still trying to like get over the fact that
11:58
Speaker 13: my brother's in the NBA. Like there's so many like
12:00
Speaker 13: things that have happened since then then I'm still trying
12:02
Speaker 13: to take in. So it's very it's definitely a blessing
12:05
Speaker 13: that we're here. And I try not to get too
12:09
Speaker 13: caught up in it because they still have a job
12:10
Speaker 13: to do and I and I'm trying to like really
12:13
Speaker 13: focus on that, but it is whenever I can like
12:15
Speaker 13: get a couple of days off to like really look
12:17
Speaker 13: at it. In this past week, like I've been able
12:19
Speaker 13: to like really just be able to take a step
12:21
Speaker 13: back and just look at how far.
12:22
Speaker 10: It came standing on the right Dan Jalen Dan Devine,
12:26
Speaker 10: Yahoo Sports. As you've had this sort of longer layoff
12:29
Speaker 10: and opportunity to get a closer look at Indiana, look
12:32
Speaker 10: at them, what sort of leapt off the screen about
12:35
Speaker 10: the way they operate offensively, you know, what makes them
12:37
Speaker 10: maybe a different challenge than some of the other offenses
12:39
Speaker 10: that you've dealt with so far.
12:41
Speaker 14: I think everybody's seen it.
12:44
Speaker 13: I don't want to give too much away, but they
12:46
Speaker 13: obviously play fast, that's their thing, and so you kind
12:49
Speaker 13: of got to tip your hat to them. The playoffs
12:51
Speaker 13: is just historically something that really slows down pace.
12:54
Speaker 14: So for them to be able to.
12:55
Speaker 13: Impose their will on that, and obviously when the last
12:58
Speaker 13: when the last three series, they played doing how they
13:01
Speaker 13: want to do it, I think is really impressive. So
13:03
Speaker 13: that's what we've kind of like seen, and I don't
13:06
Speaker 13: think that's really like a big secret, but that that's
13:09
Speaker 13: where they're unique.
13:10
Speaker 9: Fourth row Vince Jalin no fence, good Will y'allow sports.
13:15
Speaker 9: It wasn't like you guys are just sort of coming
13:16
Speaker 9: out of nowhere. You were a pretty good team last year,
13:19
Speaker 9: but you're so much more dominant this year with the
13:21
Speaker 9: net rating, the point differential and everything else. Was there
13:25
Speaker 9: a moment or have you taken a moment to appreciate
13:29
Speaker 9: how dominant you guys have been. You've had a lot
13:32
Speaker 9: of blowouts, It's been a lot of instances where you've
13:34
Speaker 9: sat the fourth quarter. Has there been a moment of
13:37
Speaker 9: even reflection through this in the locker room saying, guys,
13:39
Speaker 9: this is different than last year.
13:41
Speaker 14: I think maybe like middle of the year.
13:44
Speaker 13: I think not having bigs like you remember like heart
13:46
Speaker 13: and chat route for like a good majority of the
13:48
Speaker 13: season too. I think for us to be as successful
13:50
Speaker 13: as we were during that I think was a big
13:53
Speaker 13: moment for us. But at the same time, it's a
13:56
Speaker 13: very like weird position you get put in because you
13:59
Speaker 13: want to look back at the record season, but you
14:00
Speaker 13: really don't get any regular season awards, you know what
14:02
Speaker 13: I mean. So, and I think just the playoffs come
14:06
Speaker 13: up so fast you can't really.
14:08
Speaker 14: Look back at it.
14:08
Speaker 13: So hopefully you know with you know, we're trying to
14:11
Speaker 13: win the finals. That's where we're like where our focus
14:15
Speaker 13: is and we can look back on this later on.
14:16
Speaker 13: But I would just say the middle of the year
14:19
Speaker 13: was more like where our confidence.
14:21
Speaker 14: Got going from that third row on.
14:23
Speaker 3: You're right, hey, Joeen Scott cancel from the score.
14:26
Speaker 10: I'm just curious playing alongside Shay as long as you
14:29
Speaker 10: have you know, what's the biggest thing you've learned from
14:32
Speaker 10: from even being around him, playing with him anything like that?
14:37
Speaker 13: His mentality, it's just a winner, Like he just has
14:43
Speaker 13: a I'm gonna get it done mentality, And I think
14:46
Speaker 13: that's kind of rubbed off on the rest of the team.
14:48
Speaker 13: You can obviously he doesn't make excuses, and I think
14:51
Speaker 13: that just bleeds over into the team. So I would
14:52
Speaker 13: say I've probably taken that from him, and I think
14:56
Speaker 13: he just as I think that's where he's grown up too,
14:58
Speaker 13: just as a leader, and not saying that he wasn't
15:00
Speaker 13: early on in his career, but I think just for
15:01
Speaker 13: our team, he's been really good leading us that way,
15:03
Speaker 13: and he's a good like lead by example.
15:07
Speaker 17: David Aldridge is the back right, Okay, told you who
15:10
Speaker 17: I am. The success on the court obviously expresses itself
15:16
Speaker 17: in terms of bringing you guys closer. But I wonder
15:19
Speaker 17: how has the city and the region kind of gotten
15:23
Speaker 17: into everybody's skin to feel like this is a great
15:25
Speaker 17: place to be, this is a great place to operate.
15:29
Speaker 13: I've honestly felt like the energy from the city since
15:32
Speaker 13: I've been drafted, Like when I got here, there was
15:34
Speaker 13: a ton of people outside the hotel like waiting to
15:37
Speaker 13: see us and congratulate us. I always compare it to
15:41
Speaker 13: like a small local like high school football team being
15:46
Speaker 13: really good, and like the like the city around them
15:49
Speaker 13: kind of like gathers around him. Like that's how Oklahoma
15:51
Speaker 13: is but it's with that, with like the whole state,
15:53
Speaker 13: Like everywhere we go, I've been met with like love
15:55
Speaker 13: since I've been out here, and it's been it's been
15:57
Speaker 13: a really cool experience. So I'm really happy that I
15:59
Speaker 13: get to be a part even the past two years,
16:01
Speaker 13: I get to be a part of two really good teams,
16:03
Speaker 13: and I think it just brings a city more and
16:06
Speaker 13: more life, and it's I'm happy that we get to
16:08
Speaker 13: like bring that back to here.
16:11
Speaker 3: Over here in the fourth row, third seed.
16:14
Speaker 18: In there you go, Hey, jayen Esper Hinting from NBA Daily,
16:21
Speaker 18: we wanted to ask you, obviously, the playoffs have their
16:23
Speaker 18: ebbs and flows, and that could be long in its
16:26
Speaker 18: own way. What have you learned about your game over
16:28
Speaker 18: the last couple of months.
16:32
Speaker 13: I wouldn't say I've learned anything new about my game,
16:34
Speaker 13: but I think what I've learned is there's highs and
16:38
Speaker 13: lows with every series. There's highs and lows.
16:41
Speaker 14: With every game, and the more that you.
16:44
Speaker 13: Can stay even throughout it all, the better off you'll be.
16:47
Speaker 13: And I think that's where I found a lot of
16:48
Speaker 13: my success.
16:50
Speaker 19: Rough Dallas from Spain, Alex Caruso won the championship five
16:55
Speaker 19: years ago when you were eighteen, and now is your
16:58
Speaker 19: teammate here. Can you tell us was the most important
17:02
Speaker 19: thing that you'll learn from Carusa this year?
17:05
Speaker 20: Uh, One of the most important things that he's come
17:11
Speaker 20: in here and taught us is the importance of executing
17:14
Speaker 20: the details. You know, you'll see so many times he
17:18
Speaker 20: makes a huge play out there, and you know, it
17:21
Speaker 20: really comes down to inches. Was he in the right
17:23
Speaker 20: spot by a few inches? Was he able to reach
17:26
Speaker 20: the ball and poke it away by a few inches?
17:28
Speaker 20: And that comes down to knowing where you need to
17:30
Speaker 20: be and when you need to be there, what you
17:32
Speaker 20: need to do, and how to execute it. And he's
17:35
Speaker 20: really come in and preached the importance of that and
17:37
Speaker 20: and kind of showed us, shown us, uh firsthand what
17:41
Speaker 20: that looks like. And uh, you know it's been big.
17:44
Speaker 20: It's it's helped all of us. And uh, you know
17:47
Speaker 20: it's been big having.
17:48
Speaker 3: Him Joe here in the second row.
17:51
Speaker 11: Hey check Joe Varden from the athletic nice see you.
17:55
Speaker 9: What is the pressure that the pacers put on opposing
18:00
Speaker 9: bigs with just having five guys who.
18:02
Speaker 11: Can shoot threes?
18:04
Speaker 5: Yeah?
18:04
Speaker 20: Uh, I think I can speak firsthand on this as
18:12
Speaker 20: you know, we can do similar things at times with
18:14
Speaker 20: some of the ways that we play. Uh, you know,
18:16
Speaker 20: it really opens up the floor, you know. And it's
18:19
Speaker 20: not even so much about opening up the floor and
18:25
Speaker 20: being able to attack just the five. It comes down
18:27
Speaker 20: to opening up the floor for everybody else to be
18:29
Speaker 20: able to attack as well. So you know, it really
18:33
Speaker 20: comes down to being able to play solid h and
18:38
Speaker 20: uh kind of defeat the point of attack.
18:42
Speaker 21: Scott up here on the left, Scott Agnes field House
18:45
Speaker 21: files over here. Chet Curious, were you aware that Donnie
18:48
Speaker 21: got his start in the league as a Pacers ball boy?
18:50
Speaker 5: Yes, I was. Yeah.
18:53
Speaker 21: What kind of impact has he had on you, especially
18:55
Speaker 21: this year trying to rehab and staying with it?
18:58
Speaker 20: Yeah, I couldn't couldn't say enough. You know, I've spent respectfully,
19:03
Speaker 20: a lot more time with Donnie than I'd ever wish to. Uh,
19:09
Speaker 20: not because Donnie's not a great dude or one of
19:11
Speaker 20: the best at his job in the NBA, just because
19:14
Speaker 20: you know, if you're with him that means you're hurt,
19:16
Speaker 20: so you know, try trying to avoid that. But he's been, uh,
19:20
Speaker 20: he's been amazing.
19:22
Speaker 2: Uh.
19:24
Speaker 20: I don't think there's been any hiccups in any of
19:27
Speaker 20: my kind of healing processes, and you know he's a
19:33
Speaker 20: big part of that. So it's much appreciating, Nick Child.
19:37
Speaker 20: I just wonder what these last few days have been
19:40
Speaker 20: like for you. Mark has always talked about sort of
19:41
Speaker 20: your insatiable, you know, insatiable and wavering hunger for more
19:48
Speaker 20: information and you know, to dig into this matchup and
19:51
Speaker 20: some of the fundamentals and the point of attech stuff
19:53
Speaker 20: that you were talking about earlier. What's this been like
19:55
Speaker 20: for you as you know, a competitor that's preparing mentally.
19:58
Speaker 5: I mean, it's been great.
20:00
Speaker 20: I love the playoffs personally because in the regular season
20:05
Speaker 20: you'll run into situations where the schedule is really beating
20:09
Speaker 20: another team down and they'll kind of take a game
20:14
Speaker 20: to you know, reload and everything, and then you know,
20:18
Speaker 20: towards the end of the season, some teams are playing
20:20
Speaker 20: for certain things or playing for have different I guess
20:26
Speaker 20: you say intentions. But in the playoffs you get everybody's
20:30
Speaker 20: best shot every single night, which you know is the
20:33
Speaker 20: way you want it to be. And you know, it's
20:38
Speaker 20: been great to be able to learn from every single
20:39
Speaker 20: night and try and figure out how to be better
20:42
Speaker 20: for the next one. And you're also seeing the same
20:45
Speaker 20: team for two weeks rather than playing a new team
20:47
Speaker 20: every single night, So you're really able to take a
20:50
Speaker 20: deep dive get into things and you know, really try to.
20:54
Speaker 20: It's really like a puzzle. You know, you got to
20:56
Speaker 20: take the time to figure it out. Rather than in
20:59
Speaker 20: the regular season, I feel like you're just working on
21:01
Speaker 20: your own stuff and trying to build build yourself throughout
21:06
Speaker 20: the whole season. In the playoffs, it's it's then taking
21:08
Speaker 20: that and also trying to kind of figure out the
21:11
Speaker 20: other team.
21:12
Speaker 3: Standing in the front. Right.
21:13
Speaker 20: Where do you feel over here on You're right, better
21:17
Speaker 20: or more evolved as a player than you mentioned the
21:19
Speaker 20: playoffs last year's run.
21:22
Speaker 5: Where have you gotten better?
21:23
Speaker 20: Yeah, I feel like I see the game better in
21:32
Speaker 20: different ways. Obviously, last year we had a very defined
21:36
Speaker 20: play style and we kind of lived or died with it,
21:40
Speaker 20: and this year we have a lot of different looks
21:42
Speaker 20: that we can throw at teams, And you know, I
21:46
Speaker 20: feel like I still have a long ways to go
21:47
Speaker 20: and I can improve in in so many different things
21:50
Speaker 20: on both ends of the ball. But you know, being
21:53
Speaker 20: able to kind of see those situations and work on them.
21:56
Speaker 20: I feel like I've been able to improve on them.
21:59
Speaker 6: Second round of the right chet Tim Reynolds with the
22:02
Speaker 6: AP your team, obviously, you're all young, Chase the MVP,
22:08
Speaker 6: You're an enormous talent, Dubs enormous talent, Los an enormous town.
22:11
Speaker 5: You can keep going down the line. And yet you
22:14
Speaker 5: guys don't seem.
22:15
Speaker 6: Bothered at all by who the guy is at any
22:18
Speaker 6: given time. As long as you guys are winning, You
22:20
Speaker 6: guys are cool with that, and that's not common for
22:22
Speaker 6: young teams. Why do you guys make it all work?
22:28
Speaker 20: I'd say the biggest thing is playing for each other
22:33
Speaker 20: one and two. The type of type of guys that
22:36
Speaker 20: we have here. You know, if you ask anybody that
22:38
Speaker 20: everybody's going to tell you that they're a winner. And
22:42
Speaker 20: everybody is a winner until it's inconvenient for them. You
22:46
Speaker 20: know what I'm saying. I feel like we have a
22:49
Speaker 20: team with seventeen winners that you know are gonna put
22:54
Speaker 20: winning at the top of the totem pole over any
22:57
Speaker 20: other any over anything else. Really, And does that mean
23:03
Speaker 20: that you're guaranteed to win every single night? No, But
23:08
Speaker 20: you know, when that's the main focus and you're not,
23:12
Speaker 20: you know, working towards anything else you're able to to,
23:16
Speaker 20: you know, kind of chase that better than if you
23:20
Speaker 20: had a different perspective on it.
23:22
Speaker 10: Standing on the right, Dan Dan Devine, Yahoo Sports CHET,
23:26
Speaker 10: we're back here. You mentioned earlier viewing these series as
23:29
Speaker 10: sort of like a puzzle. You got to put together
23:31
Speaker 10: teams that you got to try to solve. When you
23:33
Speaker 10: look at this Indiana team, what's the most important puzzle
23:36
Speaker 10: piece you got to try to figure out to try
23:37
Speaker 10: to solve them?
23:40
Speaker 20: Uh, that puzzle is also a secret, you know.
23:49
Speaker 3: That's that's my answer.
23:50
Speaker 20: Sorry, I wish i'd give you more, but you can't.
23:53
Speaker 6: Really tell anything from that thirty minutes of open shooting.
23:56
Speaker 6: Obviously good you didn't give anything away, but it just
24:01
Speaker 6: seemed like the group is very loose as you'd expect
24:04
Speaker 6: them to be, even though you have you know, most
24:07
Speaker 6: of your guys have not been on this stage obviously.
24:09
Speaker 6: How have they handled the build up to this and
24:11
Speaker 6: how do you think they'll handle the different feeling that
24:14
Speaker 6: you know is coming even though they're at home tomorrow night,
24:16
Speaker 6: it's just going to feel different.
24:17
Speaker 5: How will this group? How is this group wired to
24:19
Speaker 5: handle that?
24:20
Speaker 7: Well?
24:20
Speaker 22: The first thing is we have to be who we
24:22
Speaker 22: are and we enjoy coming to work every day.
24:25
Speaker 11: That's how our facility is.
24:27
Speaker 22: Regardless of whether or not it's the finals, or regardless
24:30
Speaker 22: of whether or not anybody else is there.
24:33
Speaker 11: And I encourage them to be that.
24:35
Speaker 22: We have to stay true to who we are and
24:37
Speaker 22: this whole experience, and then we have to acknowledge the
24:39
Speaker 22: things that are different. There's a lot of different elements
24:42
Speaker 22: around the game, and we also have to understand the
24:44
Speaker 22: things that are the same. And when the ball goes
24:46
Speaker 22: up in the air, the game's going to come down
24:47
Speaker 22: to the same things. Whether or not you win or
24:50
Speaker 22: lose is going to come down to the same things.
24:52
Speaker 22: And it's okay to acknowledge that it's going to feel
24:54
Speaker 22: a little different outside of the lines, but we have
24:57
Speaker 22: to understand it's going to be the same inside the lines,
24:59
Speaker 22: and that needs to be our focus.
25:01
Speaker 3: On your right, Simon in the front.
25:03
Speaker 23: Oklahoma City is a unique NBA market. Can you talk
25:06
Speaker 23: about the impact of the thunder on the city and
25:09
Speaker 23: vice versa, The impact on the fan base which is
25:11
Speaker 23: obviously a great fans base, on the club, well.
25:14
Speaker 22: The people that have been here since the beginning, can
25:16
Speaker 22: speak better to what the team has meant for the
25:20
Speaker 22: growth of the city. The city is a lot different
25:23
Speaker 22: than it was when the team first moved here, which
25:25
Speaker 22: is a credit to mister Bennett and the vision that
25:29
Speaker 22: he had for what this team could mean to the community.
25:31
Speaker 22: And the community and the team have just a very
25:35
Speaker 22: unique relationship. It's the only professional sports team in town.
25:40
Speaker 22: The fans are unbelievably enthusiastic about the team. And I've
25:44
Speaker 22: said this many times before, but when we were rebuilding
25:48
Speaker 22: and we were winning a lot less than we were losing,
25:52
Speaker 22: the support and encouragement we got from our fans was
25:56
Speaker 22: really telling. And I think it's had a lot to
25:58
Speaker 22: do with our ability to develop young players, because when
26:00
Speaker 22: you're a young player in the NBA, you're trying to
26:02
Speaker 22: find your footing, you're trying to establish yourself. There's a
26:06
Speaker 22: lot of you could be uneasy about that process. And
26:10
Speaker 22: to be in a market where everybody is rooting for you,
26:13
Speaker 22: everybody's supporting you, everybody's encouraging you, and you feel that
26:16
Speaker 22: at the games and in the community, I honestly think
26:18
Speaker 22: that has an impact on our player development. I think
26:22
Speaker 22: our young players have grown up faster and have performed
26:25
Speaker 22: better because they exist in this market.
26:28
Speaker 3: On your left fourth row.
26:30
Speaker 12: Mark Adia Gaff from ESPN Brazil. You've been here for
26:34
Speaker 12: five years and early years were certainly challenged, like you
26:38
Speaker 12: just said, and this roster was built piece by piece.
26:43
Speaker 12: I would like to know when and what point did
26:47
Speaker 12: you realize that this team was really competing for the title.
26:54
Speaker 22: There were very early flickers, you know, even in those
26:56
Speaker 22: early years. Those were challenging years at different times, and
27:00
Speaker 22: cerly they look like challenging years on paper. They didn't
27:02
Speaker 22: feel they were not how it felt every day was
27:07
Speaker 22: not a reflection of our record or where our standing
27:10
Speaker 22: was in the league. You could feel that something was
27:13
Speaker 22: starting to simmer. You could feel that some of the
27:17
Speaker 22: seeds we were planting were going to be flowering at
27:20
Speaker 22: some point. There were very early indications of that, even
27:23
Speaker 22: in those seasons, and so we were confident even back then,
27:28
Speaker 22: not necessarily that we'd be in the finals right now.
27:31
Speaker 22: You know, you never know the timing of when things
27:33
Speaker 22: come together. But we were confident that we were building
27:36
Speaker 22: something special and something that had the ability to sustain.
27:40
Speaker 22: And then as time went on, there were just more
27:44
Speaker 22: and more experiences that gave us more and more confidence
27:46
Speaker 22: in that.
27:47
Speaker 11: But that belief existed at the earliest point in time.
27:51
Speaker 22: A lot of that had to do with the way
27:52
Speaker 22: the guys were approaching every day, independent of the outcomes
27:56
Speaker 22: of the games and the way the guys were competing together,
27:59
Speaker 22: you know, regards list of what the final score was
28:02
Speaker 22: in some of the games. There was an uncommon approach
28:05
Speaker 22: that our team was taking and it gave us a
28:08
Speaker 22: lot of confidence early on.
28:10
Speaker 10: All the way back on the right, Jeff Silget USA Today,
28:13
Speaker 10: Mark Rick Carlisle has had a pretty solid two and
28:16
Speaker 10: a half decade run as a coach.
28:18
Speaker 5: In this league.
28:20
Speaker 3: What a stood out to.
28:22
Speaker 17: Stood out to you about him in terms of his longevity,
28:25
Speaker 17: ability to adapt to different teams, personnel, and eras.
28:30
Speaker 22: I mean, I can't say enough about him and the
28:33
Speaker 22: respect I have for him. I think the whole is
28:36
Speaker 22: better than the sum of the parts. Almost consistently across
28:40
Speaker 22: every year he's ever coached, the team is better than
28:44
Speaker 22: there's some I think that's a reflection of him. His
28:47
Speaker 22: teams play with a very clear identity. They stay in
28:49
Speaker 22: character through all the ups and downs. That identity has
28:52
Speaker 22: changed over the years based on his teams, based on
28:55
Speaker 22: the league trends, but his teams are always in character
28:58
Speaker 22: and this year is certainly no except and his players
29:01
Speaker 22: play with a lot of confidence. His best players play
29:04
Speaker 22: with a lot of confidence, and role players play with
29:05
Speaker 22: a lot of confidence, and they all seem to operate
29:09
Speaker 22: on the high end of their capacity when they're playing
29:11
Speaker 22: with him. So you know, he's got unbelievable endurance in
29:15
Speaker 22: the league. And what I'd also say is like he's
29:19
Speaker 22: he's kind of out in front of some trends in
29:21
Speaker 22: the NBA right now, and to be somebody that has
29:24
Speaker 22: the experiences that he has, that's very impressive that that
29:28
Speaker 22: he's been able to evolve and be a trendsetter, even
29:32
Speaker 22: as he's been one of the longest tenured people in
29:34
Speaker 22: the NBA.
29:35
Speaker 24: On your left, Nick Mark, Obviously, turnovers have been a
29:39
Speaker 24: huge storyline for your defense all year, but also you've
29:41
Speaker 24: forced teams into shooting really low percentages throughout the season.
29:45
Speaker 24: As you go up against the team that's shot it
29:47
Speaker 24: extremely well all year, including here in the playoffs, what
29:50
Speaker 24: are some of the key you know, fundamentals defensively that
29:53
Speaker 24: you all are going to need to lean into to
29:55
Speaker 24: kind of combat that battle.
29:57
Speaker 22: I mean, it's there. They're a tall task. The fundamentals
30:01
Speaker 22: are not complicated, you know, it's like we're out here
30:04
Speaker 22: emphasizing new things. You know, we're not inventing anything this week.
30:08
Speaker 22: And you know, their attack is very simple. The theoretical
30:13
Speaker 22: way to stop it is is simple, and in reality
30:16
Speaker 22: it's very difficult to do, as you can see from
30:19
Speaker 22: the way that they've really had their way with everybody
30:23
Speaker 22: they are. It's one thing to understand what they're doing
30:25
Speaker 22: and one thing to understand what you need to do.
30:28
Speaker 11: It's quite another to execute it.
30:29
Speaker 22: And that's what makes them really hard to play against.
30:33
Speaker 22: I mean, they pump a ninety nine mile an hour
30:36
Speaker 22: fastball at you, and you can, you know, prepare all
30:39
Speaker 22: you want for that, but when you're in the batter's box,
30:41
Speaker 22: it's different when it's time to hit it. So it's
30:42
Speaker 22: gonna be a very tall challenge.
30:44
Speaker 3: Second row over.
30:45
Speaker 25: Here, coach, I know you spent over a decade in
30:49
Speaker 25: Oklahoma City, but from a kid from Lemister, Massachusetts to
30:53
Speaker 25: the NBA Finals, how surreal is it? You know, coming
30:57
Speaker 25: from all the way from Liministers to hear to the finals.
31:00
Speaker 11: It's awesome.
31:00
Speaker 22: You know, it's awesome for everybody. There's every single person
31:05
Speaker 22: that's participating in this, whether it's coaches, players, staff, there
31:08
Speaker 22: was a time in their life when this was just
31:10
Speaker 22: a dream. This wasn't a foregone conclusion for them. And
31:13
Speaker 22: that's every player that's participating. There's a time where they
31:16
Speaker 22: were in their driveway shooting one on zero with a
31:20
Speaker 22: basket counting down the end of a game. And so
31:23
Speaker 22: that's what makes it so special to participate in. That's
31:25
Speaker 22: why it's such a great opportunity for everybody. We're all
31:28
Speaker 22: very humbled and grateful to be a part of it.
31:30
Speaker 7: Last question on You're right, Michael Mark Michael Grainchure, I
31:35
Speaker 7: just want to ask you about Pascal Siakam and what
31:37
Speaker 7: he lends to Indiana in terms of a half court option,
31:41
Speaker 7: and do you feel you are well suited to kind
31:44
Speaker 7: of countering that Defensively.
31:45
Speaker 22: Easier said than done, just like I talked about their team,
31:48
Speaker 22: but you know, great versatility on both ends of the floor. Offensively,
31:52
Speaker 22: he can play in the pick and roll game as
31:54
Speaker 22: a handler or setter. He's an isolation player that can
31:57
Speaker 22: go get them a high quality shot. He can get fouled,
32:00
Speaker 22: he can post smaller matchups. He's kind of a matchup problem,
32:06
Speaker 22: quite frankly on that end, and then defensively, he's one
32:08
Speaker 22: of their best help defenders. He's always eating space like
32:11
Speaker 22: all the great help defenders, got great length, he can
32:13
Speaker 22: also play on the ball.
32:14
Speaker 11: He can play outside and inside. He's about as.
32:17
Speaker 22: Rangy and versatile of a player as you can get
32:20
Speaker 22: at that position. So somebody would have high respect for
32:24
Speaker 22: and obviously a huge part of the series.