WEBVTT
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Welcome into another edition nets Pot that sarahcuse Stock presented
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by Ticketmaster. I am Syracusetock, and I'm so excited because
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I am joined by one of the five rookies of
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this Brooklyn nets drat class standing wolf. And also we've
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got not from the same area, but your Cargo Land area.
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So I was very excited when you got a chance
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to come here to Brooklyn.
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Could not be happy to be here. Thanks for having
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me on.
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All right, so We've got some more serious questions to ask,
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but I'm starting with a tough one.
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Describe to us what.
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It feels like the moment after you just absolutely posterize someone.
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Uh, you've had You've had some good ones, I know,
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which is shocking. That was not my calling card. But
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I would say it's like, uh, I don't want to
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say at the moment of relief, but it's like, I'm
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not one to like over celebrate or like over exaggerate
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my motions on the court, so I let my teammates
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do that. But it's a pretty good feeling when you
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see your teammates kind of going crazy on the bench
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and hyping you up. But yeah, I would say it's
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definitely one of the top feelings in terms of like
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when you're in the air, it's more decide Yeah, it's
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it's like it's a it's a complete mindset, is like
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you're going to go up to dunk on somebody. And
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it's something that I've been working on because, uh, I
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think it's something that I can continue to do it
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just with my size and kind of my my my
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play styles. Try to try guys at the room a
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little bit more. And I would say this year, I've
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had an uptick in that, but I think I can
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still kind of do a little better than that.
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When did you first dunk on someone?
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Like officially I would say that, I mean, like a
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true poster, I would say it was this year, So
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not even I mean in college, definitely, not in high
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school and college. At Michigan, I had like a poster,
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but it was it was it was more of like
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a guy that was like in the way, but not
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in the way like but I mean, I would say
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at Michigan I had a poster took but the one
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this year was for sure my first.
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I liked it. Before we get to some of the
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other special moments, I know you've talked about a lot
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We've seen a lot, but can you take us back
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to draft night, just the culmination of a moment that
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I imagine you had probably been visualizing, dreaming of for a
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very long time. When you think back at it now
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and here at this point, if you're a rookie year,
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what stands out most?
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Yeah, I mean, I'll see memories on my phone of
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just the pre draft process because it started about a
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month from now, a year ago, and it was an
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exciting time, right. You finish your college season on a high,
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and all of a sudden, you're getting ready for what's next,
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and there's just this big unknown that looms over your head,
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and it's three months of just hard work and it
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all culminates to that one night in June and you did.
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It was more of a feeling like I've done everything
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I could and there's really not much else I can control,
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and that's my work and whatever team takes me, I
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could not be more happy or thrilled. And then it
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was definitely a very emotional night. And for those that
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don't know, it's a long I would say from the
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time I sat down, I think it was like a
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four and a half five hour You get to the area.
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I want to say, at four o'clock and I heard
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my name called at ten thirty, I want to say,
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so it's a lot of waiting, and more waiting than
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I thought, And but it was it was a special night.
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What would you tell yourself then that you didn't know
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that now I better understanding.
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I mean, I would say that I honestly didn't like
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I would say, I don't want to say emotionless, but
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those few hours that I was sitting at the table
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just waiting, it's there's really not much you can do.
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And I wouldn't say I got too high or too low.
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And so I would honestly say I handled it pretty well.
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And but if I were to tell someone of my
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same shoes, it would just be like, it's out of
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your control at this point, and whatever happens happens, And
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you could not be luckier, more honored, or privileged or
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blessed to be at that table.
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We saw your brother, of course, how thrill and emotionally
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it was for you, your parents, we've seen it. It
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gained throughout the course of the season, kind of characterized
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for us what it means to have had the family
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you did to help bring.
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You to this point, Yeah, I could not be luckier.
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I have an unbelievable sports system and my parents, my sister,
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my two brothers, and I'm definitely lucky, to say the least.
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And we grew up super close and we're still all
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very close to this day, and they're able to come
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to a lot of my games and travel and could
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not be luckier for that and to be able to
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share that moment with them. And I had a lot
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of extended family and friends that were in the stands
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and coaches who've helped me get to that point. And
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so it was definitely a very exciting night. And I
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would say it was a culmination of a lot of
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hard work, but it was just the president. It's just
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at a president for hopefully very successful career.
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You still got some time left in your rookie season. Yeah,
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but when you think about it at this point, how
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would how would you put in perspective what it's been
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like going through this first year.
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It's been It's been awesome. You hear all the stories
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when you come in about just how crazy it is
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and in terms of just the travel and the amount
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of games, and you're in a new city every day,
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every other day, and when you hear those stories, you don't.
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They'll tell you that you sometimes won't know where you
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wake up, and you're like, no way, that can't be true.
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And then you're kind of in the nuts and bolts
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of the season, and it seems as if that definitely
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holds true. And I think we still I don't know,
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sixteen fifteen games left, and which it's from my perspective,
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it's still like more than half of a college season,
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which is crazy to even think about it. And I
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don't know, I think we have less than we have
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three or four weeks left in the season, but it's
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been so exciting. We have a young team, so a
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lot of guys are going through similar experiences and definitely
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up and down, but I definitely I am pretty.
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Happy with how it's going physically or mentally more taxing.
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I would say mentally, like obviously physically you're going to
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be banged up, especially playing as much as we play,
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but everyone's going through the same exact thing, and the
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best players in the world can do it. Anyone can
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do it. And I shouldn't say that, I think I
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phrased that pretty but the best players in the world
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are able to do it. All guys in the league
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are able to do it, so it's kind of on
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you mentally to kind of push through it, which I
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think honestly helps physically. But you've got to find your routine.
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You got to find what words for you.
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To kind of stay take us some of those moments
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you spend time with a Long Island nets and it
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came out strong and what is it like? What was
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it like for you individually to be able to have
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that experience and maybe some of the challenges too. For
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sure they came at the ups and downs.
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Yeah, I mean, I think when you go to the Jili,
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like you hear that there's this negative connotation that's surrounding it,
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especially at the start of your career, and I think
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that I kind of didn't have that outlook, and I
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kind of looked at it as a positive and I
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realized that at the time, I was probably not going
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to play much at the start of the year, and
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it was definitely an opportunity for me to go and
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get better at the things that the coaching staff wanted
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me to get better at. And there was a lot
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of minutes for me to have played in Long Island,
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And I think I played six I don't know, maybe five,
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six or seven games down there, and it's a great experience.
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You get to play and it's a bunch of guys
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that are hungry, and so I would say it was
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great and I think it definitely set me up for
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just kind of I had a pretty good few games
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to start my NBA career officially and kind of use
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that as a as a jumping pad kind of to
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use it. But I would say is great.
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This coaching staff under Jordy Fernandez has been a special
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one for as long as we've been around, and obviously
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they're in their second year. What is it about Jordie
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that has been unique or maybe something that you have
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experienced with him as a head coach that has helped
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you get to this point and.
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You feel like helped this gl for sure. Yeah. I
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mean I've been able. I've been lucky enough to play
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for a lot of different coaches in high school, college
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both Yelle Michigan and just kind of seeing a few
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different types of coaching styles. And I would say that
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that makes Jordy's so special. It's just his culmination of
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all of them, and he knows when to be tough
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on you he knows want to be friendly, and he's
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a brilliant basketball mind, and I think he kind of
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is able to use all of his experiences, whether that
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be overseas or in the g or different stops along
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the way to Brooklyn. But I know I speak for
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the guys. He's just he's he's really really good at
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bringing guys together. And then I think the product speaks
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for itself in terms of obviously, yeah, we're one of
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the youngest teams, but we haven't won as much as
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we would have liked to. But I think that night
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and night out, for the most part, we've been playing
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extremely hard and we give ourselves a lot of chances
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in a lot of games. And we're definitely all lucky
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to be able to play for as good of a
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coach as him. And and also it speaks volume to
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just the staff that he surrounds himself with, because everyone
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builds off of their energy. And I said it earlier,
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but they never with how with how crazy our schedule is,
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they never make two days feel the same with just
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their energy. So we're lucky and I could not be
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happy to play for him.
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Talk about energy in the staff Dutch Gaily, you work
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very closely with Dutch, and I think about that when
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I watch him at practices or shoot around. So how
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would you describe Dutch?
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Yeah, that's just awesome. He's my PD coach, so I
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spend a ton of time with him, and he's, uh,
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he's a pop culture junkie and he'll always give you
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a little jokes here and there and oh, yeah.
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Are you are you big with pop culture?
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No, but like he'll he'll always throw in just like
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analogies referencing movies or songs or all these things. And
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it's he's a little bit older than me, so it's
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some of the stuff that I don't know from his childhood.
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But he's great. His energy is enthusiastic and it's it's contagious.
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And from a basketball perspective, he's awesome. And uh, similar jority.
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He's had a lot of stops, and he's coached a
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lot of different players, and I think those past experiences
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have kind of helped him kind of just know what
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he knows now. And he does an unbelievable job, not
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just coaching me but our team. And I'm lucky to
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be able to work for him.
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Is there anyone been anyone you talk about having a
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young team, But is there been any one player wise
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that has helped you most to the course of this
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season or you've been able to lean on lean with
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in ways that you have gotten along.
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Yeah, I mean I would say that like Michael Porter Jr.
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For as successful as he's been and for as long
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as he's been in the league, I say that as
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if he's not only twenty seven, but he does an
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unbe little job, but not just for me, but all
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the rookies, just kind of giving us a sounding board
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for past experiences, for what to expect for just little
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things both on and off the court. And I don't
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want to say play the same position as him, but
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we're kind of bunching that forward group and I'm able
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to learn a lot from him, and he does a
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great job kind of helping all of us.
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Have you always been You've got such a unique skill
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set at your size. Where did that come from? How
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did that evolve?
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Yeah? So I grew up pretty tall, but I was
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never the tallest. And credit to my coaches and trainers
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growing up, they always kind of emphasize that I work
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on in Honah and all my skills, not just one.
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And as I grew taller, I was luckily enough to
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play for coaches that still trusted me with the ball
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in my hands in more of a guard position, so
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to speak. And I would say that kind of blossomed
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when I was at Michigan last year and coach made
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and the staff kind of had this unique idea for
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me and what it could look like and kind of
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use that. And there were definitely some ups and downs
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with this. It was the first time I'd ever played
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like I had played last year. But credit to all
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my coaches and trainers growing up.
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What if you could feel every pass, every shot, every
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moment of the game. One Court Devices help fans who
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00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:41.600
are blind or low vision follow live NBA action through
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00:12:41.639 --> 00:12:47.240
trackable vibrations and audio commentary. Ticketmasters teamed belt with One
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00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:51.240
Court to provide devices at Brooklyn Nets games at Barclay Center.
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When you're coming to the game, devices can be found
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at Guest Services located just outside Section twelve on the
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main concourse.
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Your Wolverine's going to make a run this year, I think,
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so I'm excited to watch it. Okay, A couple of
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quick things. What stands out most when you think about
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you've had some great moments to the course of your
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season so far. What stands out most to you when
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you think about your breakout game in Milwaukee, how you
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played not too far from home in that one. You
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had a poster dunk in that game. When you think
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back to that one, what was the trigger point that
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you feel like helped you really just have such a
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successful outing.
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Yeah, So the game before was Philly. That was my
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first actual NBA minutes in real action and not at
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the end of the game, and it was my first
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ever back to back and obviously I didn't play much
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the night before, but still just the traveling. But I
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would say that I just went into the game, which
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is it's easy to say it was just like a
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free mind and just knowing that it's my first ever game,
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so there's not a lot of expectations for anything that
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I do, and I felt that I played as such.
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My teammates found me and I made my first one,
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and then the basket always looks bigger, and I just
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kind of just felt like I was playing free. And
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when I look back at all my best games, so
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to speak, I kind of have that same mindset of
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just playing with the free mind and something I continuously
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work on to kind of be able to play like
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that no matter the circumstances or how I start the
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game or how I finish the game. It's just kind
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of always playing with that.
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Easier said than done, helps you to tap into that.
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Yeah, there's a lot of different things that you can do.
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For me, I would say the biggest one is just
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kind of I'm big on the word process, and everyone's
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process looks differently, but mine it's just doing the little
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things that I know kind of make me feel as
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if I've prepared well enough to perform. And there are
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certain things to focus on during the games, and just
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controlling what you can control and playing hard and just
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playing to win and then everything else will kind of
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fall in life and take care of itself. And I've
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seen huge growth this year and that, And I would
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say the next thing for me is just being able
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to consistently put games together and consistent good games together.
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What about playing in front of your hometown in Chicago,
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That first moment of stepping out the United Center floor,
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a place I imagined you had been at many times before,
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but not that capacity.
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Yeah, it was pretty special. I mean I had a
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lot of family and friends there and way more than
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I even thought or knew or imagined, and I grew
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up going to games there, and I would say that
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was one of the moments of this of my young
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career thus far that I would say is pretty remarkable
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and special and something that I look back on for
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a while.
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Is there any when you modeled your game at after
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when you were younger or looked up.
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To her favorite My favorite player I would say growing
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up was probably Dirknovitski, just kind of how savvy and
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skeilty was and is that kind of grew older and
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kind of studied more film seriously and really took bits
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and pieces. I look at all the European bigs and
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just kind of how they all have different skill sets,
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but they're all uniquely skilled, and just try to take
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little bits and pieces from a lot of those guys games.
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Brooklyn, what have you? What has helped you adapt yourself
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to the community, to the lifestyle, to being around the
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New York area.
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Yeah, I mean playing in the biggest city in the
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country is definitely it's an awesome feeling. And even though
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we haven't had the most successful season as we've hoped,
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As I said, I think our fans have still been great,
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and it seems as if every night in Barclay's it's
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sold out and it's loud, and Brooklyn itself is awesome
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and the people are great and it's bustling, and they
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say that it's They say that New York is the
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city that never sleeps, and it's definitely serves true. But
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I'm definitely in an unbelievable spot and i couldnt be happening.
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Do you have favorite spots like coffee spots, restaurants, food places?
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Do you have any go.
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Tos in Brooklyn?
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Share with the people, Well.
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It's my favorite restaurants a Manhattan like I usually go.
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What's the favorites? Unless you have too many?
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I have way too many. I'll create a list and
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we'll we're gonna do.
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We're gonna lock that in content team, create a list.
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You could give yourself one piece of advice as you
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move forward in your NBA career. What would that be?
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So much? Uh? I would say, just continuously find ways
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to stay level headed, and games keep coming, travel keeps coming.
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Good performances, bad performance are inevitable. And I think again,
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as I've grown this rookie ear, I think I've done
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a better job and continue to improve, but just continuing
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to stay level headed, just with everything that's done your way.
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All right, Well, we appreciate you. We're so thrilled to
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have you here quick Brooklyn, and a lot of a
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lot of many more memories come, hopefully s more posters too.
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Thank you.
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This has been another episode of nith Pod with Sarah Custock,
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presented by Ticketmaster. Don't forget. You can catch any past
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00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:13.759
episodes on that YouTube channel and of course anywhere you
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00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:15.880
get your podcast until next time. We'll see you then
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Welcome into another edition nets Pot that sarahcuse Stock presented
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00:00:02.919 --> 00:00:06.040
by Ticketmaster. I am Syracusetock, and I'm so excited because
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I am joined by one of the five rookies of
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this Brooklyn nets drat class standing wolf. And also we've
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got not from the same area, but your Cargo Land area.
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So I was very excited when you got a chance
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to come here to Brooklyn.
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Could not be happy to be here. Thanks for having
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me on.
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All right, so We've got some more serious questions to ask,
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but I'm starting with a tough one.
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Describe to us what.
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It feels like the moment after you just absolutely posterize someone.
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Uh, you've had You've had some good ones, I know,
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which is shocking. That was not my calling card. But
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I would say it's like, uh, I don't want to
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say at the moment of relief, but it's like, I'm
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not one to like over celebrate or like over exaggerate
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my motions on the court, so I let my teammates
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do that. But it's a pretty good feeling when you
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see your teammates kind of going crazy on the bench
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and hyping you up. But yeah, I would say it's
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definitely one of the top feelings in terms of like
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when you're in the air, it's more decide Yeah, it's
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it's like it's a it's a complete mindset, is like
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you're going to go up to dunk on somebody. And
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it's something that I've been working on because, uh, I
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think it's something that I can continue to do it
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just with my size and kind of my my my
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play styles. Try to try guys at the room a
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little bit more. And I would say this year, I've
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had an uptick in that, but I think I can
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still kind of do a little better than that.
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When did you first dunk on someone?
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Like officially I would say that, I mean, like a
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true poster, I would say it was this year, So
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not even I mean in college, definitely, not in high
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school and college. At Michigan, I had like a poster,
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but it was it was it was more of like
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a guy that was like in the way, but not
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in the way like but I mean, I would say
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at Michigan I had a poster took but the one
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this year was for sure my first.
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I liked it. Before we get to some of the
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other special moments, I know you've talked about a lot
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We've seen a lot, but can you take us back
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to draft night, just the culmination of a moment that
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I imagine you had probably been visualizing, dreaming of for a
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very long time. When you think back at it now
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and here at this point, if you're a rookie year,
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what stands out most?
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Yeah, I mean, I'll see memories on my phone of
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just the pre draft process because it started about a
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month from now, a year ago, and it was an
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exciting time, right. You finish your college season on a high,
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and all of a sudden, you're getting ready for what's next,
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and there's just this big unknown that looms over your head,
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and it's three months of just hard work and it
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all culminates to that one night in June and you did.
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It was more of a feeling like I've done everything
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I could and there's really not much else I can control,
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and that's my work and whatever team takes me, I
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could not be more happy or thrilled. And then it
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was definitely a very emotional night. And for those that
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don't know, it's a long I would say from the
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time I sat down, I think it was like a
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four and a half five hour You get to the area.
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I want to say, at four o'clock and I heard
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my name called at ten thirty, I want to say,
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so it's a lot of waiting, and more waiting than
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I thought, And but it was it was a special night.
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What would you tell yourself then that you didn't know
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that now I better understanding.
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I mean, I would say that I honestly didn't like
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I would say, I don't want to say emotionless, but
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those few hours that I was sitting at the table
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just waiting, it's there's really not much you can do.
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And I wouldn't say I got too high or too low.
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And so I would honestly say I handled it pretty well.
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And but if I were to tell someone of my
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same shoes, it would just be like, it's out of
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your control at this point, and whatever happens happens, And
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you could not be luckier, more honored, or privileged or
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blessed to be at that table.
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We saw your brother, of course, how thrill and emotionally
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it was for you, your parents, we've seen it. It
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gained throughout the course of the season, kind of characterized
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for us what it means to have had the family
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you did to help bring.
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You to this point, Yeah, I could not be luckier.
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I have an unbelievable sports system and my parents, my sister,
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my two brothers, and I'm definitely lucky, to say the least.
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And we grew up super close and we're still all
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very close to this day, and they're able to come
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to a lot of my games and travel and could
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not be luckier for that and to be able to
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share that moment with them. And I had a lot
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of extended family and friends that were in the stands
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and coaches who've helped me get to that point. And
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so it was definitely a very exciting night. And I
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would say it was a culmination of a lot of
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hard work, but it was just the president. It's just
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at a president for hopefully very successful career.
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You still got some time left in your rookie season. Yeah,
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but when you think about it at this point, how
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would how would you put in perspective what it's been
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like going through this first year.
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It's been It's been awesome. You hear all the stories
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when you come in about just how crazy it is
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and in terms of just the travel and the amount
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of games, and you're in a new city every day,
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every other day, and when you hear those stories, you don't.
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They'll tell you that you sometimes won't know where you
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wake up, and you're like, no way, that can't be true.
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And then you're kind of in the nuts and bolts
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of the season, and it seems as if that definitely
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holds true. And I think we still I don't know,
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sixteen fifteen games left, and which it's from my perspective,
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it's still like more than half of a college season,
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which is crazy to even think about it. And I
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don't know, I think we have less than we have
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three or four weeks left in the season, but it's
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been so exciting. We have a young team, so a
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lot of guys are going through similar experiences and definitely
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up and down, but I definitely I am pretty.
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Happy with how it's going physically or mentally more taxing.
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I would say mentally, like obviously physically you're going to
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be banged up, especially playing as much as we play,
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but everyone's going through the same exact thing, and the
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best players in the world can do it. Anyone can
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do it. And I shouldn't say that, I think I
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phrased that pretty but the best players in the world
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are able to do it. All guys in the league
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are able to do it, so it's kind of on
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you mentally to kind of push through it, which I
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think honestly helps physically. But you've got to find your routine.
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You got to find what words for you.
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To kind of stay take us some of those moments
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you spend time with a Long Island nets and it
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came out strong and what is it like? What was
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it like for you individually to be able to have
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that experience and maybe some of the challenges too. For
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sure they came at the ups and downs.
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Yeah, I mean, I think when you go to the Jili,
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like you hear that there's this negative connotation that's surrounding it,
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especially at the start of your career, and I think
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that I kind of didn't have that outlook, and I
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kind of looked at it as a positive and I
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realized that at the time, I was probably not going
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to play much at the start of the year, and
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it was definitely an opportunity for me to go and
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get better at the things that the coaching staff wanted
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me to get better at. And there was a lot
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of minutes for me to have played in Long Island,
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And I think I played six I don't know, maybe five,
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six or seven games down there, and it's a great experience.
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You get to play and it's a bunch of guys
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that are hungry, and so I would say it was
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great and I think it definitely set me up for
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just kind of I had a pretty good few games
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to start my NBA career officially and kind of use
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that as a as a jumping pad kind of to
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use it. But I would say is great.
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This coaching staff under Jordy Fernandez has been a special
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one for as long as we've been around, and obviously
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they're in their second year. What is it about Jordie
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that has been unique or maybe something that you have
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experienced with him as a head coach that has helped
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you get to this point and.
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You feel like helped this gl for sure. Yeah. I
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mean I've been able. I've been lucky enough to play
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for a lot of different coaches in high school, college
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both Yelle Michigan and just kind of seeing a few
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different types of coaching styles. And I would say that
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that makes Jordy's so special. It's just his culmination of
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all of them, and he knows when to be tough
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on you he knows want to be friendly, and he's
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a brilliant basketball mind, and I think he kind of
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is able to use all of his experiences, whether that
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be overseas or in the g or different stops along
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the way to Brooklyn. But I know I speak for
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the guys. He's just he's he's really really good at
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bringing guys together. And then I think the product speaks
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for itself in terms of obviously, yeah, we're one of
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the youngest teams, but we haven't won as much as
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we would have liked to. But I think that night
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and night out, for the most part, we've been playing
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extremely hard and we give ourselves a lot of chances
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in a lot of games. And we're definitely all lucky
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to be able to play for as good of a
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coach as him. And and also it speaks volume to
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just the staff that he surrounds himself with, because everyone
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builds off of their energy. And I said it earlier,
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but they never with how with how crazy our schedule is,
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they never make two days feel the same with just
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their energy. So we're lucky and I could not be
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happy to play for him.
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Talk about energy in the staff Dutch Gaily, you work
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very closely with Dutch, and I think about that when
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I watch him at practices or shoot around. So how
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would you describe Dutch?
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Yeah, that's just awesome. He's my PD coach, so I
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spend a ton of time with him, and he's, uh,
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he's a pop culture junkie and he'll always give you
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a little jokes here and there and oh, yeah.
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Are you are you big with pop culture?
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No, but like he'll he'll always throw in just like
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analogies referencing movies or songs or all these things. And
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it's he's a little bit older than me, so it's
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some of the stuff that I don't know from his childhood.
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But he's great. His energy is enthusiastic and it's it's contagious.
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And from a basketball perspective, he's awesome. And uh, similar jority.
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He's had a lot of stops, and he's coached a
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lot of different players, and I think those past experiences
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have kind of helped him kind of just know what
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he knows now. And he does an unbelievable job, not
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just coaching me but our team. And I'm lucky to
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be able to work for him.
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Is there anyone been anyone you talk about having a
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young team, But is there been any one player wise
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that has helped you most to the course of this
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season or you've been able to lean on lean with
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in ways that you have gotten along.
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Yeah, I mean I would say that like Michael Porter Jr.
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For as successful as he's been and for as long
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as he's been in the league, I say that as
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if he's not only twenty seven, but he does an
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unbe little job, but not just for me, but all
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the rookies, just kind of giving us a sounding board
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for past experiences, for what to expect for just little
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things both on and off the court. And I don't
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want to say play the same position as him, but
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we're kind of bunching that forward group and I'm able
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to learn a lot from him, and he does a
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great job kind of helping all of us.
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Have you always been You've got such a unique skill
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set at your size. Where did that come from? How
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did that evolve?
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Yeah? So I grew up pretty tall, but I was
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never the tallest. And credit to my coaches and trainers
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growing up, they always kind of emphasize that I work
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on in Honah and all my skills, not just one.
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And as I grew taller, I was luckily enough to
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play for coaches that still trusted me with the ball
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in my hands in more of a guard position, so
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to speak. And I would say that kind of blossomed
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when I was at Michigan last year and coach made
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and the staff kind of had this unique idea for
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me and what it could look like and kind of
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use that. And there were definitely some ups and downs
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with this. It was the first time I'd ever played
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like I had played last year. But credit to all
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my coaches and trainers growing up.
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What if you could feel every pass, every shot, every
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00:12:33.600 --> 00:12:37.200
moment of the game. One Court Devices help fans who
256
00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:41.600
are blind or low vision follow live NBA action through
257
00:12:41.639 --> 00:12:47.240
trackable vibrations and audio commentary. Ticketmasters teamed belt with One
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Court to provide devices at Brooklyn Nets games at Barclay Center.
259
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When you're coming to the game, devices can be found
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00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:58.360
at Guest Services located just outside Section twelve on the
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00:12:58.360 --> 00:12:59.240
main concourse.
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Your Wolverine's going to make a run this year, I think,
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so I'm excited to watch it. Okay, A couple of
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quick things. What stands out most when you think about
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you've had some great moments to the course of your
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season so far. What stands out most to you when
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you think about your breakout game in Milwaukee, how you
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played not too far from home in that one. You
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had a poster dunk in that game. When you think
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back to that one, what was the trigger point that
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you feel like helped you really just have such a
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successful outing.
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Yeah, So the game before was Philly. That was my
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first actual NBA minutes in real action and not at
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the end of the game, and it was my first
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ever back to back and obviously I didn't play much
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the night before, but still just the traveling. But I
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would say that I just went into the game, which
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is it's easy to say it was just like a
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free mind and just knowing that it's my first ever game,
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so there's not a lot of expectations for anything that
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I do, and I felt that I played as such.
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My teammates found me and I made my first one,
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and then the basket always looks bigger, and I just
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kind of just felt like I was playing free. And
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when I look back at all my best games, so
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to speak, I kind of have that same mindset of
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just playing with the free mind and something I continuously
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work on to kind of be able to play like
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that no matter the circumstances or how I start the
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game or how I finish the game. It's just kind
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of always playing with that.
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Easier said than done, helps you to tap into that.
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Yeah, there's a lot of different things that you can do.
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For me, I would say the biggest one is just
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kind of I'm big on the word process, and everyone's
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process looks differently, but mine it's just doing the little
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things that I know kind of make me feel as
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if I've prepared well enough to perform. And there are
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certain things to focus on during the games, and just
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controlling what you can control and playing hard and just
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playing to win and then everything else will kind of
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fall in life and take care of itself. And I've
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seen huge growth this year and that, And I would
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say the next thing for me is just being able
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to consistently put games together and consistent good games together.
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What about playing in front of your hometown in Chicago,
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That first moment of stepping out the United Center floor,
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a place I imagined you had been at many times before,
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but not that capacity.
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Yeah, it was pretty special. I mean I had a
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lot of family and friends there and way more than
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I even thought or knew or imagined, and I grew
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up going to games there, and I would say that
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was one of the moments of this of my young
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career thus far that I would say is pretty remarkable
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and special and something that I look back on for
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a while.
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Is there any when you modeled your game at after
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when you were younger or looked up.
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To her favorite My favorite player I would say growing
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up was probably Dirknovitski, just kind of how savvy and
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skeilty was and is that kind of grew older and
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kind of studied more film seriously and really took bits
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and pieces. I look at all the European bigs and
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just kind of how they all have different skill sets,
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but they're all uniquely skilled, and just try to take
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little bits and pieces from a lot of those guys games.
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Brooklyn, what have you? What has helped you adapt yourself
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to the community, to the lifestyle, to being around the
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New York area.
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Yeah, I mean playing in the biggest city in the
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country is definitely it's an awesome feeling. And even though
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we haven't had the most successful season as we've hoped,
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As I said, I think our fans have still been great,
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and it seems as if every night in Barclay's it's
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sold out and it's loud, and Brooklyn itself is awesome
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and the people are great and it's bustling, and they
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say that it's They say that New York is the
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city that never sleeps, and it's definitely serves true. But
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I'm definitely in an unbelievable spot and i couldnt be happening.
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Do you have favorite spots like coffee spots, restaurants, food places?
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Do you have any go.
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Tos in Brooklyn?
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Share with the people, Well.
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It's my favorite restaurants a Manhattan like I usually go.
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What's the favorites? Unless you have too many?
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I have way too many. I'll create a list and
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we'll we're gonna do.
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We're gonna lock that in content team, create a list.
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You could give yourself one piece of advice as you
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move forward in your NBA career. What would that be?
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So much? Uh? I would say, just continuously find ways
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to stay level headed, and games keep coming, travel keeps coming.
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Good performances, bad performance are inevitable. And I think again,
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as I've grown this rookie ear, I think I've done
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a better job and continue to improve, but just continuing
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to stay level headed, just with everything that's done your way.
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All right, Well, we appreciate you. We're so thrilled to
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have you here quick Brooklyn, and a lot of a
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lot of many more memories come, hopefully s more posters too.
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Thank you.
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This has been another episode of nith Pod with Sarah Custock,
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presented by Ticketmaster. Don't forget. You can catch any past
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00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:13.759
episodes on that YouTube channel and of course anywhere you
366
00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:15.880
get your podcast until next time. We'll see you then
