Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers Podcast network
Speaker 1: search seventy Sixers podcast wherever you get your Podso welcome
Speaker 1: in to Coach Check, the official podcast of the Delaware
Speaker 1: Blue Coats, the NBA G League affiliate of the Philadelphia
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers. Coach Check is proudly presented by land Rover Wilmington.
Speaker 1: I'm Matt Murphy. Very excited about this week's episode, and
Speaker 1: I'm happy to introduce our next guest. He is the
Speaker 1: two thousand, nineteen twenty NBA G League Defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year with the Delaware Blue Coats, Chris Kumaji. We
Speaker 1: are recording this on June twenty fifth, fresh off of
Speaker 1: the award, literally a week to the day of when
Speaker 1: the award was announced. Chris, I'll start with this, what
Speaker 1: has the support been like since winning the award? It
Speaker 1: seemed like everybody was showing you love, seventy sixers players,
Speaker 1: Tobias Harris, Josh Richardson, a lot of your Florida State
Speaker 1: teammates as well, really everybody. So what's that support been like? Oh? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I definitely got a lot of law from my teammates, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, especially the awns from College, also family members
Speaker 1: and a few vents from the Sixers. Tobias give me
Speaker 1: a shout out. I think Josh Richardson and also Kylo
Speaker 1: Quinn did too so and uh chimmate like Sha moved
Speaker 1: reach style. A bunch of my guys from G League
Speaker 1: also reached out. So it was really I mean a
Speaker 1: lot really too, you know, I have those guys reached
Speaker 1: out and like, congratulate you. That's awesome. And just a
Speaker 1: quick rundown for our listeners out there, we will touch
Speaker 1: on your rookie season this year in the G League.
Speaker 1: We will do, of course, our Healthy Lifestyle segment ended
Speaker 1: by Christianna Care as doctors, nurses and caregivers and as
Speaker 1: neighbors and friends. Christianna Care is a partner in everyone's
Speaker 1: journey to greater health and well being. Why do they
Speaker 1: do it for the love of health? Visit Christianacare dot org.
Speaker 1: From there, we'll get into a little bit of your
Speaker 1: background for anybody who wants to know more about your upbringing.
Speaker 1: We did do a we had a conversation a few
Speaker 1: months ago in April. They can find that on the
Speaker 1: Bluecoats website, which has a little bit more detail about
Speaker 1: your upbringing and background, but we will touch on that
Speaker 1: before are at the buzzer questions. At the end, we'll
Speaker 1: have a little fun talk about soccer and a couple
Speaker 1: other fun topics. But let's start with this season in Delaware,
Speaker 1: your rookie year, first player in Delaware franchise history to
Speaker 1: win G League Defensive Player of the Year honors. What
Speaker 1: does being recognized in that way mean to you? Now?
Speaker 1: It definitely means a lot. You know, from the point
Speaker 1: that I started playing basketball. I can just remember, you know,
Speaker 1: like you know, five six years ago, and it's just
Speaker 1: you know, at this point, to get better commission and
Speaker 1: you see your other words, just you know, you see
Speaker 1: the result of your hot work. It just means a lot,
Speaker 1: you know. And also for like my people back home,
Speaker 1: you know, you know, everybody's kind of very happy for me.
Speaker 1: They're very inspired. The young young people really looking up
Speaker 1: to me, So that that definitely means a lot as
Speaker 1: a rookie and your seven foot four For those who
Speaker 1: don't already know that, or for those who might not
Speaker 1: have seen you play, you led the G League in
Speaker 1: block shots per game. Four per game is incredible. You
Speaker 1: led the league in total block shots one hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty three, which was a single season record for the
Speaker 1: Delaware franchise. What were some of the factors that contributed
Speaker 1: such to such a strong transition from college to the
Speaker 1: pros for you this year. I think it's just you know,
Speaker 1: the work and also the experience, you know, expirits that
Speaker 1: I had in camp. A lot of from from the
Speaker 1: coaching stuff on just like you know, being being active,
Speaker 1: being you know, using my advantage my height, and also
Speaker 1: just uh you know, you know, being just being vocal,
Speaker 1: you know, being a defensive presidence, you know, altering shots,
Speaker 1: you know, also working on my time. It's a lot
Speaker 1: of stuff that you know, coming come and play, but
Speaker 1: you know, the ones that I can remember. I definitely
Speaker 1: just like, uh, you know, just the stuff that I
Speaker 1: learned with the coaching stuff on not fouling, you know, verticality.
Speaker 1: It was the biggest thing that I had to really
Speaker 1: get better from college ship to the GROS. And you
Speaker 1: reference camp. Of course, you were in training camp in
Speaker 1: Summer League with the Philadelphia seventy six ers. But let's
Speaker 1: talk about a specific game from the G League regular
Speaker 1: season February first at Erie. That's the Triple Double Game
Speaker 1: eighteen points, twenty rebounds, twelve blocks, which was a G
Speaker 1: League season high for block shots in a game this year.
Speaker 1: Take us through what was going through your mind during
Speaker 1: that game with the twelve blocks and the triple double. Honestly,
Speaker 1: I didn't know I had to I'm in the rebounds
Speaker 1: and blocks. I was just you know, I was just
Speaker 1: had the energy. I was just you know, running around
Speaker 1: blocking shots. Uh. I mean, I definitely know I had
Speaker 1: more than ten rebounds, but I didn't know, you know,
Speaker 1: when we when we won the game, and then coach
Speaker 1: kind of say that in the locker room. So that
Speaker 1: was definitely that was definitely a really really great moment
Speaker 1: for me. Uh, exciting game. I had a lot of
Speaker 1: energy that game. I wasn't really thinking. I was just
Speaker 1: just playing. Are you ever thinking, like when you have
Speaker 1: a game where you get to three, four or five blocks, like,
Speaker 1: what are you thinking after each block shot that you
Speaker 1: rack up? Honestly, after five, I don't think any player
Speaker 1: can really come because after five, just like the first
Speaker 1: two years, okay, I got two blocks or something, but
Speaker 1: like after that is just you lose cover. Well pretty
Speaker 1: much every game you had like two blocks, So I'm
Speaker 1: sure it was hard to keep track for you, um,
Speaker 1: and we covered this before, but for any of our
Speaker 1: new listeners, where does your celebration after blocking the shots
Speaker 1: when you do a thumb or thumbs down? Where does
Speaker 1: that celebration come from? I think Ibaca used to do
Speaker 1: it with one hand, yeah, and then in college I
Speaker 1: sawt of doing it and then I was like, maybe
Speaker 1: I should be double Tom down and like, you know,
Speaker 1: switch it up with something. Well, it definitely worked for
Speaker 1: you this year, and I think the fans and your
Speaker 1: teammates and the staff got a lot of enjoyment out
Speaker 1: of seeing that celebration. We have done the healthy Lifestyle
Speaker 1: segment before, so I'll try to gear the questions in
Speaker 1: a little bit of a different direction. But it is
Speaker 1: time for our Healthy Lifestyle segment, presented by Christiana Care
Speaker 1: And obviously this segment's all about doing things for the
Speaker 1: love of health. As we record this, you're coming off
Speaker 1: or as yesterday, you're coming off a workout. You've been
Speaker 1: working out daily during this time. What types of workouts
Speaker 1: have you been doing recently? A lot of on court,
Speaker 1: you know, just to get you know, stay in that
Speaker 1: basketball shape. Also lifting, you know, just to you know,
Speaker 1: tune your body up, you know, like the react type
Speaker 1: of lift mobility and that's flosive type of lift. Well,
Speaker 1: mostly just a lot of on core conditioning. Have you
Speaker 1: picked up any new workouts or training methods, I mean,
Speaker 1: even dating back to the start of quarantine when you
Speaker 1: were mostly in the house, did you try anything new.
Speaker 1: I saw a little bit like like like just body weights,
Speaker 1: but I feel like everybody kind of did that. But
Speaker 1: that's something I've never really been before. But you know,
Speaker 1: I kind of like, you know, I mean, push offs
Speaker 1: is you know, part of it, but like also stuff
Speaker 1: like bibbs, a lot of other stuff. You can have
Speaker 1: fun with it. So I saw, I saw, I saw
Speaker 1: looking more into that. How is the meditation going if
Speaker 1: you're still doing Oh? I used the calm the Calm
Speaker 1: app and it really really has going to help me,
Speaker 1: especially before going to bed. I gotta try that. Somebody
Speaker 1: told me to download that, so I think I'm gonna start.
Speaker 1: Maybe you should you should put the language in French
Speaker 1: because this is very suiting when he's in French, just
Speaker 1: just says the voice. See. Maybe I'll try it. We'll see,
Speaker 1: I'll report back. Let's touch a little bit on your
Speaker 1: background here for those who don't know you. You grew
Speaker 1: up in Chad in the capitol city for for most
Speaker 1: of your childhood, and you grew up playing soccer before
Speaker 1: you literally outgrew the sport as you got taller, and
Speaker 1: you started playing basketball at age sixteen. And you've obviously
Speaker 1: developed over the years during your career from Montvert Academy
Speaker 1: in Florida to Florida State and now the pros. But
Speaker 1: what were some of the low points along the way
Speaker 1: that made you stronger on and off the court. The
Speaker 1: low points definitely, Uh, the situation back home and living here.
Speaker 1: I know I was gonna get a better opportunity anyway,
Speaker 1: you know, with basketball with school definitely, so you know,
Speaker 1: coming here, I just have to focus on that party,
Speaker 1: you know, getting good grades and also working hard on
Speaker 1: the courts. And also my days a month very you know,
Speaker 1: I wasn't really you know, I was just not picking
Speaker 1: up the game. So that was some of my worst
Speaker 1: days with basketball because I was just not moved to
Speaker 1: the game and I could have keep up with the
Speaker 1: guys there, and that was some of my worst days
Speaker 1: in basketball. I would see, Well, I do want to
Speaker 1: talk about Mott Verd for a second. Here because there
Speaker 1: are for our listeners, there are Sixers and Blue Coats.
Speaker 1: Connections obviously from your high school days. Who were some
Speaker 1: of your teammates on that team? Ben Simmons was there
Speaker 1: the two years that I was there from uh I
Speaker 1: think fourteen and fifteen. Yep, it was good. He graduated.
Speaker 1: I DeAngelo Russell was also in the mix. I think
Speaker 1: I don't know if you played with him, Yeah, he
Speaker 1: was done my June. And then Dural Moore as well,
Speaker 1: who you were teammates with in Delaware this past season.
Speaker 1: So connections all around. Oh yeah, I got you, I
Speaker 1: got you. What traits like, what kind of traits skill wise,
Speaker 1: workout wise, whatever it might be. Did did Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: have even back then? That kind of stood out to you?
Speaker 1: I think it was just an efficiency and how consistent
Speaker 1: he was with his work, Like he knew exactly well
Speaker 1: he needed to work on. So when he getting you know,
Speaker 1: some guys would be there for like, you know, an
Speaker 1: hour lifting, but he just knewbody needed to do. So
Speaker 1: he's just like intense and then you know, you just
Speaker 1: get it done. That's something that I've noticed with him,
Speaker 1: just efficiency. So a lot of what we talked we
Speaker 1: have talked about Chris, kind of it's all pointing in
Speaker 1: the direction of the NBA. I mean, you have some
Speaker 1: NBA experience at Summer League training camp, you had a
Speaker 1: great season as a rookie in the G League, So
Speaker 1: a lot of arrows are pointing to the m b A.
Speaker 1: What do you think your family say to you if
Speaker 1: you are able to become the first player from Chad
Speaker 1: to see the floor in a regular season NBA game. Oh,
Speaker 1: my mom definitely just meant the ward to her because
Speaker 1: you know she can just remember, you know, me leaving
Speaker 1: Senegal in the situation that we was in, and it
Speaker 1: was just meant a lot for her. You know, like
Speaker 1: she in college, she didn't really know much about basketball,
Speaker 1: but now that she's very invested in because you know,
Speaker 1: I kind of like keep her, keep her in touch
Speaker 1: with the sport and stuff like that. So she definitely
Speaker 1: meant a lot for her. My uncle's my host family
Speaker 1: here and i'd been you know, being with me this
Speaker 1: whole time. Me just a lot for them, you know,
Speaker 1: just see them smile. We'll have more with Chris Kumachi
Speaker 1: coming up, but first, the more Sports Medicine believes that
Speaker 1: highly personalized one on one physical therapy for young athletes
Speaker 1: is paramount to a speedy and complete recovery. Learn more
Speaker 1: at moores dot org slash pt. All right, Chris, now
Speaker 1: it's time to round things out with our at the
Speaker 1: Buzzer segment. Just some fun questions. I've kind of themed
Speaker 1: these out over the past couple episodes, and the first
Speaker 1: one is about travel. You're definitely a well traveled person
Speaker 1: and kind of thinking in terms of this past season
Speaker 1: in the G League. What was your favorite road city
Speaker 1: that you played in this season and why? I think
Speaker 1: it was one one to play the Toronto G League team.
Speaker 1: It was just niceier, you know, going to kind of
Speaker 1: there for for the first song. And also Toronto was
Speaker 1: a really nice city. Diversity. I didn't know it was
Speaker 1: not diverse, it was. It was really nice to set. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Terry Harris said the Raptors trip as well. You said
Speaker 1: that was your first time in Canada. Yeah. Nice, Yeah,
Speaker 1: definitely a good choice. I would say there are some
Speaker 1: unique stops on that schedule, but that was only a
Speaker 1: player favorite this year. How about your jersey number, and
Speaker 1: it could be either of these. What's the story behind
Speaker 1: your current jersey number twenty or your all time favorite
Speaker 1: jersey number if it's not twenty. I used to wear
Speaker 1: twenty one, twenty one in high school. Where does that
Speaker 1: come from? I don't, I don't know. I just I
Speaker 1: just maybe something just a superstition. But I never really
Speaker 1: thought about it, you know, to like, uh like he
Speaker 1: really doesn't have any any deep meaning behind it. But
Speaker 1: I just liked the number twenty one, and I liked
Speaker 1: that range from like twenty to twenty one. So it's
Speaker 1: just it's just, uh, you know, it's just that I
Speaker 1: think I lost you a little bit there at the end.
Speaker 1: But it was twenty one taken on the Blue coats
Speaker 1: this year. I should know that, but I can't. You
Speaker 1: were twenty, I was twenty because I mean when I
Speaker 1: was at camp, I couldn't. I couldn't wear Oh you're saying,
Speaker 1: you're saying he couldn't wear twenty one with the sixers.
Speaker 1: I wonder why that is? No, I could. I could
Speaker 1: the twenty. So it was just I think it was
Speaker 1: just you know, ho twenty deaths, so it would just
Speaker 1: be easy having twenty on the on the blue coach. Gotcha,
Speaker 1: Let's get you out of here with this one. Um,
Speaker 1: this is like the fun fact theme question. You listed
Speaker 1: your your hidden talent as soccer this year, and anybody
Speaker 1: who has read about you know is that soccer was
Speaker 1: a big part of your journey. So maybe it's not
Speaker 1: a hidden talent to them, but we saw you break
Speaker 1: out the skills the soccer skills um on media day.
Speaker 1: How good are you at juggling a soccer ball? Like?
Speaker 1: How many times in a row? Or how long could
Speaker 1: you go for? Man? I used to I used to
Speaker 1: go longer, maybe maybe for like two minutes. But now
Speaker 1: the longest I can go maybe I don't know, a
Speaker 1: minute seconds. I lost that. We'll have to do a
Speaker 1: video follow up or something at some point where juggle
Speaker 1: as soccer ball at some point, but that's gonna do it. Chris,
Speaker 1: thanks a lot for giving me some time. Congrats again
Speaker 1: on Defensive Player of the Year. And I know you
Speaker 1: have a birthday coming up pretty soon in July. Happy
Speaker 1: early birthday to you, Man. Thanks as always to our listeners.
Speaker 1: Once again, he is the first NBA G League Defensive
Speaker 1: Player of the Year in Delaware franchise history. Chris Kumaji
Speaker 1: and I'm Matt Murphy. Until next time, take it or
Speaker 1: leave it at the coach check