Speaker 1: Welcome to this League Uncut in the rule of twenty
Speaker 1: four hour NBA News. This is you, Chris Haynes's telling
Speaker 1: Mark Stein, it's so time. This League Uncut is underway
Speaker 1: and on fire.
Speaker 2: This should be a good one.
Speaker 3: Yes, sir, Yes, sir, this is gonna be a good one.
Speaker 4: Look, I feel like Mark Stein because mark Stein usually
Speaker 4: gets to come off it.
Speaker 3: Let's spot out the intro.
Speaker 4: But this is me this time, Chris Haynes right here
Speaker 4: of this league gonna cut my guy Mark Stein. I'm
Speaker 4: doing the intro and I'm doing it live from my store,
Speaker 4: me and my wife's store here in Elk Grove, California,
Speaker 4: Sacramento area. That Charlote's Booty supply got Sacramento kingsguard Davon Mitchell,
Speaker 4: so he's gonna be a This is gonna be a treat.
Speaker 4: I hope you guys enjoy. We got mark Stein still
Speaker 4: in Dallas. He couldn't make it, but look he pulled through.
Speaker 4: He still came on to do the show, and I
Speaker 4: appreciate my brother mark Stein for that. But without further ado,
Speaker 4: let's go this League Uncut with Davion Mitch. Come on,
Speaker 4: d let Daveyon get settled in here. So we got
Speaker 4: Mark Stein, who couldn't be here, but that's my co host. Uh,
Speaker 4: so he'll he'll be jumping in from here and there,
Speaker 4: and then we'll open up for the crowd to come,
Speaker 4: you know, to ask a few questions as well.
Speaker 3: So go ahead and pick that up there and pick
Speaker 3: that up so you could talk in that mic. So yeah,
Speaker 3: you can move there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So d this is let's let's just talk about
Speaker 4: first of all, the way to the season ended. It
Speaker 4: was a tough you know, a tough series with the
Speaker 4: Golden State Warriors. When you think about that series now,
Speaker 4: now that you're a couple of months removed, what comes
Speaker 4: to mind about I guess what could have been or
Speaker 4: any second thoughts on how things were handled or whatever.
Speaker 5: I mean, I think overall, we end up playing a
Speaker 5: good series. We end up playing a really good, talented team.
Speaker 5: Of course, they got a lot of experience, a lot
Speaker 5: of Hall of Famers on their team, just a lot
Speaker 5: of good pieces. Man where they've kind of been together
Speaker 5: for a long time. So we knew it was gonna
Speaker 5: be tough, and I mean I think we made it
Speaker 5: the toughest for him, taking them to Game seven, Steph
Speaker 5: had an unbelievable game with fifty points. I mean, a
Speaker 5: lot of people that's what great to do, so we
Speaker 5: kind of expect that, but they just got the best
Speaker 5: of us. I mean, I think we learned a lot
Speaker 5: from it, though, Like coming into the next season, we
Speaker 5: know what to look for, we know that the game
Speaker 5: plan we should have come into the next playoffs we
Speaker 5: end up going again.
Speaker 2: So I mean, I think we learned from it. But
Speaker 2: it was a good series all inough.
Speaker 3: So you brought up Steph. We're gonna get to him
Speaker 3: later on.
Speaker 4: But you know, for you in particular, you leave that
Speaker 4: season that was your second year, So you leave that
Speaker 4: season thinking what do you have to improve upon? How
Speaker 4: can you get better? What is the aspect of your
Speaker 4: game that you learned about? Okay, I need to step
Speaker 4: it up in this area.
Speaker 5: I think every year, it's something that's always been talked about,
Speaker 5: is just developing my jump shot. That's kind of just
Speaker 5: been the biggest piece every year, and I mean I
Speaker 5: think it's making progress. Even when I was in college,
Speaker 5: I kind of had the same problem my first two years.
Speaker 5: Then I kept getting better and better each year, and
Speaker 5: then the more comfortable I get the more confidence I have,
Speaker 5: the more the shots go in, the better percentages, and
Speaker 5: the more I play because I can be on the
Speaker 5: floor because I can shoot the ball and be good defensively.
Speaker 5: So that's just an aspect that I've been working on
Speaker 5: even this whole summer. That's kind of like been my
Speaker 5: main focus is working on a jump shot. So they
Speaker 5: have no reason not to have no reason for me
Speaker 5: not to be on the floor. I'm saying it's defensively.
Speaker 5: You know, I'm gonna do what I have to do,
Speaker 5: and I think offensively, then then I can just kind
Speaker 5: of be on the floor the whole time.
Speaker 4: Okay, let me give a shout to Lance Wood's just
Speaker 4: popped up in here, man, Sacramento's top.
Speaker 3: For media, and hey, y'all better get to know him. Man,
Speaker 3: he's just going place. Man, I think you'll just sneak
Speaker 3: up in here.
Speaker 4: I want to give a shout out to my wife,
Speaker 4: Charlotte Haynes is her store, Charlotte's by Supply.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 4: Now, you're doing a good job, and you know I'm
Speaker 4: trying to help and support you the best I can.
Speaker 4: So with that, Saidee, A lot of people don't know
Speaker 4: that that NBA ball. The NBA basketball is different from
Speaker 4: college basketball and high school basketball. It takes a lot
Speaker 4: of people a while to get used to just the
Speaker 4: feel of it. Can you explain that transition from college
Speaker 4: to the NBA basketball.
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's funny because I was a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 5: a week and a half Agard, I was at Baylor
Speaker 5: practicing with their team, playing against their guys and playing
Speaker 5: five and five, and they don't.
Speaker 2: Play with the NBA ball.
Speaker 5: They play with the Nike ball, and it was just
Speaker 5: a completely different feeling, Like the ball is just a
Speaker 5: lot thicker, you got more grip on it. It's just
Speaker 5: it was hard for me to play with Honestly, I was.
Speaker 5: I was missing a lot of shots. I couldn't really
Speaker 5: dribble it, and I'm like, man, I cannot play with
Speaker 5: this ball no more. But it's a huge transition, especially
Speaker 5: because that ball, Like when I was growing up, I
Speaker 5: always played with Wilson Evolution, kind of like Hosco Ball's
Speaker 5: growing up, and then when the NBA came, it was
Speaker 5: it was different to me.
Speaker 2: I was like, man, I can't really grip the ball.
Speaker 5: Then I got used to it when I started working
Speaker 5: on more and then you realize when the ball get wet,
Speaker 5: you can you got more grip, and the more you
Speaker 5: play with it the better. The better it is because
Speaker 5: no one, no one likes to play with a new
Speaker 5: NBA ball. So but it's it's just a it's a
Speaker 5: different feeling, a huge feeling.
Speaker 3: Davion.
Speaker 6: Obviously, you just said this is your second year, so
Speaker 6: you know half of your life is a king. You've
Speaker 6: you've tasted the playoffs, but when this season started, being
Speaker 6: just a player on the team, how much did you
Speaker 6: feel the playoff drought and just how long the community there,
Speaker 6: which has always been one of the wildest fan bases
Speaker 6: in the league, just how impatient they were. I mean,
Speaker 6: I still remember the pictures from summer league when you
Speaker 6: know they were running and running around outside saying we're
Speaker 6: gonna we're gonna go five hundred, and they were, you know,
Speaker 6: they were so pumped about some summer league success. As
Speaker 6: a player on the team, what did that feel like
Speaker 6: when the season.
Speaker 2: Started, Yeah, I think that, Uh.
Speaker 5: I think the biggest thing Mike Brown did when coming
Speaker 5: in being a new coach, he kind of addressed it
Speaker 5: like the elephant in the room that you know, we
Speaker 5: got to make the playoffs. But I think what he
Speaker 5: did a really good job is trying to look look
Speaker 5: over that trying to make the championship.
Speaker 2: He always kind of talked about that. He didn't really
Speaker 2: just talk.
Speaker 5: About the playoffs because it's easy to make mistakes and
Speaker 5: just and just lose a couple of games or lose
Speaker 5: a couple of games in a row. You don't make
Speaker 5: the playoffs by a couple of games. So we knew
Speaker 5: that if we're trying to get to the championship, the
Speaker 5: playoffs was kind of got kind of kind of going
Speaker 5: to be in that way. So he kind of just
Speaker 5: looked at it like that, and I feel like the
Speaker 5: team kind of just roll with it. We thought we
Speaker 5: was good enough to make it to the championship and
Speaker 5: the playoffs is gonna come, come and go. And I
Speaker 5: think the fans is it's different from the from the
Speaker 5: when the fans looking in because they're not really it's
Speaker 5: kind of hard to say that they don't. They're not
Speaker 5: really there every day with you as far as the team,
Speaker 5: So we didn't really try to look at the fans like, man,
Speaker 5: we're just gonna make the playoffs. For our fans, We're
Speaker 5: gonna make it for the organization, for the community, for
Speaker 5: ourselves because we felt like we were good enough.
Speaker 4: You think the Mike Brown you bench, Mike brown first
Speaker 4: year as head coach kind of turned.
Speaker 3: Some things around.
Speaker 4: When did you notice At what point during the season
Speaker 4: did you notice that this team was for real? Like
Speaker 4: you knew, like, Okay, this is gonna be different from
Speaker 4: what Kings fans had been used to as of late.
Speaker 5: I think when I first noticed the day he started
Speaker 5: to yell, not really yell, but he kind of got
Speaker 5: on more of Fox and sabonas our best players. He
Speaker 5: helped them more accountable than just like I feel like
Speaker 5: a lot of coaches look at they're the star players.
Speaker 2: They can kind of do whatever and they get away
Speaker 2: with it.
Speaker 5: But another player, someone like me that's not really the
Speaker 5: start player on the team, but if he does something,
Speaker 5: I'm gonna yell at him.
Speaker 2: But I'm not gonna yell at Fox. Not That's not
Speaker 2: how Mike Brown was.
Speaker 5: He was kind of like he was even harder on
Speaker 5: them just to make them better because they know they're
Speaker 5: the leaders on our team, so we're gonna follow them.
Speaker 5: So I think when he did that, I was like, oh,
Speaker 5: we're going to be a really good team.
Speaker 4: So was that different from what you've seen and the
Speaker 4: previous regime? They probably wasn't quick to Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean I think I didn't really.
Speaker 5: I didn't really notice it as much because, I mean,
Speaker 5: my first year I was just kind of trying to
Speaker 5: just fit in for I was just trying to see
Speaker 5: what the NBA was going to be like, trying to
Speaker 5: play my best every game, and then the coaching changes
Speaker 5: in the trade, so it was all.
Speaker 2: Kind of new to me. I was kind of like everywhere.
Speaker 5: So when I kind of had Mike Brown the official coach,
Speaker 5: I knew that it was gonna be fine.
Speaker 4: So you're regarded as probably the best on ball defender
Speaker 4: in the league.
Speaker 3: Did you know you had that skill set coming in
Speaker 3: to the league from day one?
Speaker 4: Like what did you did you feel like it might
Speaker 4: have been easy or like, you know, cause some rookies
Speaker 4: been like, oh damn, you know, it's easier than I thought.
Speaker 4: Like how was it for you once you started to
Speaker 4: you know, crush down and guard people defensively.
Speaker 5: I think I've always been like a defensive type of guy,
Speaker 5: Like I love that end of the floor. I'm a
Speaker 5: competitive guy, so I don't want no one to score
Speaker 5: on me. I don't want them to be easy. Like
Speaker 5: I always wanted to make it hard for the best players.
Speaker 5: I mean, no matter who's driven the ball, no matter
Speaker 5: who had the ball in their hands. I always kind
Speaker 5: of been had that competitive nature. So I wouldn't say
Speaker 5: it came It didn't come easy, of course, because I
Speaker 5: mean regarding the best players in the world, but I
Speaker 5: would say it was easier for me because I mean,
Speaker 5: I kind of love that end of the floor. I
Speaker 5: enjoy a lot of people don't really enjoy a lot
Speaker 5: of people just do it because they have to do it,
Speaker 5: or just just stay on the floor, but I kind
Speaker 5: of I enjoyed that end of the floor, so I
Speaker 5: take pride in it, and I study the defensive things
Speaker 5: from greats like Marcus Smart that Drew Holliday. So I'm
Speaker 5: kind of looking at the people that made a name
Speaker 5: for themselves defensively in the league and I can take
Speaker 5: from them, and it just helped my game out.
Speaker 6: Before you got drafted, how much did you know about
Speaker 6: Sacramento And how much had you had you actually ever
Speaker 6: been there beyond potential draft workouts, Like how much did
Speaker 6: you know about where you were headed.
Speaker 5: So I got a funny story. A lot of people
Speaker 5: don't even notice I didn't. I didn't do I don't
Speaker 5: know if I can say this, but I just know
Speaker 5: I didn't say it. Say it, but I didn't even
Speaker 5: do a workout with Sacramento. I didn't talk to Sacramento
Speaker 5: like I didn't like during the draft process, you got
Speaker 5: to certain people who you think you're gonna get drafted to.
Speaker 5: My range was from ten to fourteen, and it was
Speaker 5: it was teams like the Warriors, was teams like Indiana.
Speaker 2: It was teams like.
Speaker 5: Washington who I thought I was getting drafted to. The
Speaker 5: teams I worked out for in New Orleans. I worked
Speaker 5: out for them, and okay, see, but the teams that
Speaker 5: I worked out for, I thought I was getting drafted.
Speaker 5: I mean because I had really good workouts and things
Speaker 5: like that. And I never worked out with Sacramento. I
Speaker 5: never knew anybody in Sacramento. I didn't talk to him.
Speaker 5: But he just I think my agency had a really
Speaker 5: good connection with with Monty and kind of Manty know
Speaker 5: about me, and he kind of wanted to change the
Speaker 5: culture and he felt like I could have done that
Speaker 5: as far as on the defensive end because Sacramento has
Speaker 5: never been really good defensively, so he thought I could
Speaker 5: change the culture in that way, and so I never
Speaker 5: really thought to him. So I didn't never think I
Speaker 5: was gonna come to Sacramento.
Speaker 2: It was never a thought. I never been before.
Speaker 5: I only been in California one time before I got drafted,
Speaker 5: and I was just the LA for vacation.
Speaker 2: So it was I've never been a Sacramento.
Speaker 6: So when you're when you're when you're at that table
Speaker 6: in the green room, like how much advanced your agent
Speaker 6: probably gets a call that says you're going to be
Speaker 6: a king before we actually hear Adam Silver say it.
Speaker 6: But how shocked were you when they said, hey, you're
Speaker 6: about ready to go to Sacramento?
Speaker 2: So another story? Uh ok, yeah, yeah, another story, go ahead.
Speaker 5: So sitting there at the table, you kind of you
Speaker 5: kind of don't really know, but you kind of know
Speaker 5: because basically, when you get drafted, all the cameras come
Speaker 5: to you, and you know, okay, my name is next,
Speaker 5: because it's a lot of cameras come to you or whatever.
Speaker 2: So after the eighth pick, I forgot who had the
Speaker 2: eighth pick. A pick was probably, uh.
Speaker 5: Who went before man, it might have been Franz Wagner.
Speaker 5: I think might have been Frans Wagner. He was maybe
Speaker 5: the eighth pick. The ninth pick came, and I mean,
Speaker 5: I didn't think nothing of it. I'm thinking of a yeah,
Speaker 5: let me see. I think the eighth pick was Franz
Speaker 5: Wagner from if You're right, You're right.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So it was so the fit came and the Sacramento came,
Speaker 5: so I didn't think nothing of it.
Speaker 2: I was like, not even paying attention.
Speaker 5: I'm just looking like just talking to my family, and
Speaker 5: all of a sudden, I just see all these cameras
Speaker 5: just coming towards me with the knife pick. The knife
Speaker 5: pick come and all the cameras coming towards me, facing
Speaker 5: towards me. I'm me and my agent look because my
Speaker 5: agent didn't even know either, because he didn't even get
Speaker 5: the call from Sacramento until like after I got drafted.
Speaker 5: So my agents was like he was surprised too, because
Speaker 5: no one really came. It came out of shock. And
Speaker 5: then then my name got I went on Twitter and
Speaker 5: then they said that yes, Sacramento cames are going with
Speaker 5: Davion Mitchell, and then that's what my name called.
Speaker 4: Okay so hold on, take it out because people don't
Speaker 4: know like how the TV, how it works on TV
Speaker 4: at the draft, the camera will go up to the player,
Speaker 4: and that's obviously a sign he already knew. So is
Speaker 4: there some acting that goes on, like you got to
Speaker 4: really act like you're shocked to hear you man?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I mean I think for me, I was like really
Speaker 5: shocked because I I think I was Sacramento, So I was.
Speaker 5: I was probably more shocked than anyone because a lot
Speaker 5: of people kind of know they get a phone call,
Speaker 5: but I guess Sacramento want to surprise me too, and
Speaker 5: they didn't even call me till after the draft, So.
Speaker 2: I was surprised.
Speaker 6: What number? Did you really think you were gonna go?
Speaker 5: So the surprise of the draft was actually Josh Giddy
Speaker 5: because I had a really good workout with okay See,
Speaker 5: and no one knew Josh Giddy was gonna go to
Speaker 5: okay See. And I think he went maybe six, maybe
Speaker 5: said yeah, six because the Warriors had seven. So I
Speaker 5: also had a really good workout with the Warriors, but
Speaker 5: I knew it wasn't gonna seven because Kaminga And then
Speaker 5: if I didn't get picked by Sacramento. It was gonna
Speaker 5: be by I think Indiana at thirteen, and then Warriors
Speaker 5: had fourteen, So it was gonna be Indiana for thirteen
Speaker 5: and then the Warriors at fourteen. It was gonna be
Speaker 5: one of those two. And if I didn't get picked
Speaker 5: by the Warriors, it's gonna be the Wizards. I think
Speaker 5: they had fifteen.
Speaker 3: Let me see that fifteen.
Speaker 2: You got a good memory.
Speaker 4: So for those that don't know, like, it's very unus
Speaker 4: usual to get drafted by a team that you didn't
Speaker 4: work out for. So that's very unusual. I don't think
Speaker 4: you ever, I don't think that story is ever told.
Speaker 2: It's probably yeah, I shouldn't have told it.
Speaker 4: But the number nine, the number nine pick, it was
Speaker 4: a lottery pick. It all worked out. So you get
Speaker 4: to you get to Sacramento. Is this your first time
Speaker 4: ever being out here and set?
Speaker 3: So what was you? Give me?
Speaker 4: Give me your first thoughts, your thoughts of being here?
Speaker 4: Probably two weeks.
Speaker 5: I mean the first two weeks, Like I think for me,
Speaker 5: I was just always trying to be at the gym,
Speaker 5: and then I didn't stay that far away. I stayed
Speaker 5: in the toment, So I kind of stayed close to
Speaker 5: the gym and the airport, so it was kind of
Speaker 5: convenient for me when we left, I will always get
Speaker 5: to the airport, probably the first because I was the closest.
Speaker 5: But it was cool, Like I enjoyed the Sacramento. I
Speaker 5: enjoyed the city, especially the people who are cool. I
Speaker 5: think they got good food. It's just I enjoy it.
Speaker 5: I mean, I don't really do much anyways, but go
Speaker 5: to the gym, work, have my hose, playing the game,
Speaker 5: so it was cool to me.
Speaker 4: So again, we're talking with Davion Mitchell, the Sacramento Kings
Speaker 4: here live at Charlene's Beauty Supply.
Speaker 3: For those who are checking this out on the audio.
Speaker 4: Version, please if you're in the sacrament area, please come
Speaker 4: out check out my wife's shop.
Speaker 3: She's doing unbelievable things out here.
Speaker 4: When again, shout out Davion Mitchell for coming out here
Speaker 4: and doing this, because we all know he can be
Speaker 4: in the gym right now. I remember I did a
Speaker 4: You probably don't remember this. I want to say I
Speaker 4: probably didn't, but I did what I wrote one of
Speaker 4: your first NBA stories when you got draft. You probably
Speaker 4: don't remember this, but I did a story and Bobby
Speaker 4: Jackson was working with you, was right when you got drafted,
Speaker 4: and I said, uh, your agent at the time told
Speaker 4: me like, man, you need to look at him like
Speaker 4: he's a gym rat.
Speaker 3: He's a gym rat. I'm like, all right, so let
Speaker 3: me see if there's a story there.
Speaker 4: So I go and Bobby Jackson, who was a summer
Speaker 4: league coach at the time, and I'm like, Bobby, what
Speaker 4: is it about Devion? Like I'm trying to write a story.
Speaker 4: I'm trying to get an interested angle. What is it about?
Speaker 4: Shout out to Bobby. He just took an assistant job
Speaker 4: with the Philadelphia seventy six ers, and he's said, dude,
Speaker 4: he won't.
Speaker 3: Leave the gym, Like we got to force him to
Speaker 3: stay out the gym.
Speaker 4: He comes in there early morning, comes back in the afternoon,
Speaker 4: then comes back in the evening.
Speaker 3: And so I'm like, huh, okay, there you go.
Speaker 4: What was like, is that just natural or do you
Speaker 4: feel like you really had to make a great first impression?
Speaker 7: Nah?
Speaker 5: I think in college I was like that, you know,
Speaker 5: in colleges you can do that because you don't play
Speaker 5: that many games.
Speaker 2: You only play like twenty something games.
Speaker 5: And then it's like a game like maybe one time
Speaker 5: a week, so it ain't really putting stress in your body.
Speaker 2: So I didn't realize that.
Speaker 5: I mean, coming to the league, I'm thinking I should
Speaker 5: be doing the same thing that got me here.
Speaker 3: Hold on, hold on. So what'd you What did that
Speaker 3: change when you realize you got to.
Speaker 5: You starting like the game twenty is like I'm exhausted.
Speaker 5: So but nah, Bobby, I mean Bobby helped me out
Speaker 5: a lot. He kind of told me, like, man, you
Speaker 5: play eighty two games now, like you gotta you gotta
Speaker 5: make sure you're taking care of your body more than
Speaker 5: just being in the gym, because I mean, you can
Speaker 5: do all the workouts you you won't, but if you
Speaker 5: if your body tired for the game, then it ain't
Speaker 5: gonna mean nothing. So I kind of took his advice
Speaker 5: and I kind of got a better schedule now, like
Speaker 5: I don't really go too crazy, Like I know that
Speaker 5: I got a season to play. I know I'm playing
Speaker 5: heavy minute some night, so I know I got to
Speaker 5: have my legs, but I also got to be be ready,
Speaker 5: so I try to try to work between.
Speaker 3: Understand I was making sure.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know, he definitely can't be going doing three
Speaker 4: days now, no playing an eighty two game season.
Speaker 3: So I brought up that. I brought this up.
Speaker 4: Usually where a high profile NBA player changes agency, something
Speaker 4: is up, something's going on.
Speaker 3: You changed representation recently, Why is that?
Speaker 2: I mean, it was a lot of reasons. I think
Speaker 2: the main reason was.
Speaker 5: I mean I think that the agency I was with
Speaker 5: was kind of East coast, so I didn't really get
Speaker 5: to see him as much. They was only in New
Speaker 5: York and I only can see me in Florida, so I.
Speaker 2: Didn't really get to see him as much. I didn't
Speaker 2: really get to connect.
Speaker 5: And I like to talk to people and I like
Speaker 5: to see what their mindset is because at the time,
Speaker 5: it was like the playoffs was coming, so sometimes my
Speaker 5: minute will be here. It would kind of be just everywhere,
Speaker 5: And I wanted you to know that the reason but
Speaker 5: they wasn't there because there was East Coast sometimes and
Speaker 5: they got their players and they got their family, so
Speaker 5: I respect that, but it was just like I needed
Speaker 5: someone to be closer to the West coast side so
Speaker 5: I can see them, he can come talk to me,
Speaker 5: and it's like a short flight an hour flight from
Speaker 5: LA and not like a four hour flight from New
Speaker 5: York or things like that. So that was like the
Speaker 5: biggest reason.
Speaker 3: Okay, so it's safe to say you're not gearing up
Speaker 3: to ask for trade.
Speaker 2: Nah, hope not hope. It ain't on me though.
Speaker 4: So they like when you had the first year, you
Speaker 4: had your signs, and the second year you kind of
Speaker 4: had to find your way a little bit, and towards
Speaker 4: the playoffs it became a bigger part of rotate. I
Speaker 4: remember when I was doing sidelines for T and T
Speaker 4: for you guys' playoff games, and I talked to coach
Speaker 4: Brown before the game and he said, man, I actually
Speaker 4: have to start like drawing up a few plays for
Speaker 4: Deve Beyond because he's playing good defensive. I want to
Speaker 4: keep them engaged. Tell me about this second year, would
Speaker 4: you would you can some people say a sophomore slump
Speaker 4: or something like that. How would you consider just the
Speaker 4: second year and how you're able to evolve or progress.
Speaker 5: I just think our whole teams just got better. We
Speaker 5: got different pieces. I think the first year our roster
Speaker 5: was kind of like unbalanced a little bit. We had
Speaker 5: a lot of guards and then bigs and not that
Speaker 5: many wings. So I think this year, we had a
Speaker 5: balanced roster with Adam Kevin, Adam Aleak than Trey playing
Speaker 5: like it just made it. It made it like a
Speaker 5: balanced roster and made our team better and made everything
Speaker 5: much better. So I knew I had to sacrifice sometimes
Speaker 5: the minutes because I mean Fox was playing at a
Speaker 5: high level, and you know, the first year, Fox end
Speaker 5: up getting hurt. So I played a lot of minutes
Speaker 5: towards the end of the year. So, I mean, he
Speaker 5: was playing at a high level, playing great basketball for us.
Speaker 2: He was winning this game.
Speaker 5: So I mean it's kind of it's kind of hard
Speaker 5: to as a competitor, it's kind of hard to look
Speaker 5: at it, like, man, you want to play a lot,
Speaker 5: but as a teammates, like you want to cheer your
Speaker 5: teammates on. So I mean, I think it was good
Speaker 5: for him. I learned a lot from Fox. I mean,
Speaker 5: seeing his game evolved, being with a better team, being
Speaker 5: a better leader.
Speaker 2: It just helped me out a lot.
Speaker 4: Now, that's that's a unique perspective from a young player.
Speaker 4: Most wouldn't have that perspective. It would be I guess
Speaker 4: they would probably label with a frustrating year. Where did
Speaker 4: the frust I know you you know you're frustrated at
Speaker 4: some certain points during the season, and where did it
Speaker 4: come from?
Speaker 3: Like where did that stem from?
Speaker 2: Where did the when life?
Speaker 3: And like where was where was the frustration was it with?
Speaker 4: I don't know, just a lack of not consistent playing
Speaker 4: time or minute so what whatever?
Speaker 5: Like, I mean, I think that, uh, the frustration came
Speaker 5: from putting more frustration on myself, is just making their
Speaker 5: missing shots, kind of just putting more pressure on myself
Speaker 5: than I didn't have to. I mean, because it's a
Speaker 5: make or mislead. Either gonna make the shot or miss it.
Speaker 5: You got to kind of live with the results regardless
Speaker 5: of I mean, you just got to have confidence shooting
Speaker 5: the ball. So I think this year, I mean even
Speaker 5: next year going into I'm just kind of trying to
Speaker 5: work on just having a uh.
Speaker 2: What what's the word?
Speaker 5: Uh, what's the word I'm trying to say, Well, honestly,
Speaker 5: I'm just trying to just forget the shot I take,
Speaker 5: no matter if I miss or make it, just kind
Speaker 5: of just forget it. Don't don't have like, no, don't
Speaker 5: be mad about it if you miss left with your airball,
Speaker 5: don't don't just take one shot at the time.
Speaker 4: So let me say this real quick. Let's start and
Speaker 4: ask the next question. I was talking with Jonathan Comedia
Speaker 4: a couple of weeks ago Jannon Miami during the NBA Finals,
Speaker 4: and he would just tell me about like how most
Speaker 4: top rookies lottery picks, primarily they get drafted to losing
Speaker 4: teams and.
Speaker 3: They're able to play and make mistakes.
Speaker 4: And Johnathan community obviously no plays for the Warriors, and
Speaker 4: he was talking about how hard it is to go
Speaker 4: in there, make a mistake, get a turnover, and then
Speaker 4: get pulled really quick, and they don't have a chance
Speaker 4: to grow that confidence like their other rookie piers. And
Speaker 4: that's something that I think that's something similar to you,
Speaker 4: Like you're you're a defensive specialist, but you know you
Speaker 4: probably got to hit shots to stay in the game,
Speaker 4: to get extended minutes. If you're missing that shot, and
Speaker 4: it's like damn, like that is that something for sure?
Speaker 2: That's like the biggest thing.
Speaker 5: When our team got better, I knew that and I
Speaker 5: start to see the minutes cut. I kind of knew that, Okay,
Speaker 5: we're becoming a really good team. I mean because like
Speaker 5: even my first year it was kind of different where
Speaker 5: I can make a mistake because we wasn't really as
Speaker 5: good the first year. So I can make a mistake
Speaker 5: and I still be in the game where I can
Speaker 5: miss a couple of shots or things like that.
Speaker 2: And I mean, but also I think you learned from that.
Speaker 5: I mean, a lot of people would say, like guys,
Speaker 5: like a prime example, I think Jalen Green is a
Speaker 5: top guard in that league, and it's easy to play
Speaker 5: for the Rockets because they're kind of never really playing
Speaker 5: for anything.
Speaker 2: They but that dude's a really good player.
Speaker 5: Like if he played on a good team, I think
Speaker 5: he would kind of be doing as much as the
Speaker 5: same thing, but it just wouldn't show as effective. He
Speaker 5: probably wouldn't scored thirty every night, he'd probably score nineteen twenty.
Speaker 5: But he'll be better games, Like he'll win games. So
Speaker 5: I feel like teams like that it's easier to play for.
Speaker 5: Like prime example, my rookie year, when Fiz got out,
Speaker 5: when we wasn't playing for the playoffs, we knew we
Speaker 5: wasn't going to make the playoffs. I was I was
Speaker 5: putting them crazy numbers because it was like, I can
Speaker 5: make a mistake and still be in I got the
Speaker 5: confidence to take this shot right here, and I still
Speaker 5: be in the game. I'm not really worried about somebody
Speaker 5: coming behind me or taking me out because we're not
Speaker 5: really playing for nothing, Like we know we're not making
Speaker 5: the playoffs. So it made it made it a lot
Speaker 5: easier after my rookie year. But I learned a lot.
Speaker 5: I mean, I learned how to kind of run the team. Still,
Speaker 5: I try to play the right way every time I play.
Speaker 5: I don't try to just because I can be on
Speaker 5: the four for thirty minutes, I'm about to not take
Speaker 5: crazy shots. I'm still going to play the right way,
Speaker 5: And I think that it could just be different for
Speaker 5: different people.
Speaker 6: So, you guys had such an amazing season. Nobody on
Speaker 6: Earth thought the Kings were going to finish third in
Speaker 6: the West. You're playing the defending champs in the first round.
Speaker 6: You had your chances in that series, and then when
Speaker 6: it suddenly ends. How hard is it to watch the
Speaker 6: rest of the playoffs. Were you able to watch it
Speaker 6: and dial in or did you just I'm sure the
Speaker 6: ending came is kind of a sudden shock to you guys.
Speaker 5: I would say, I mean, after the game, it was hard,
Speaker 5: but the next day it's like you kind of gotta
Speaker 5: get over. I mean, you can't really do anything about it.
Speaker 2: For me, it wasn't hard. I went to plenty of
Speaker 2: playoff games.
Speaker 5: I travel to New York to watch them play Miami,
Speaker 5: I went to LA to watch them play Like it
Speaker 5: was because I love the game of basketball, like no
Speaker 5: matter what, like, I'm still gonna watch the game, I'm
Speaker 5: gonna be around it. So of course, after that first
Speaker 5: night when you think you could have won in Game seven,
Speaker 5: where if you could have done things differently or something
Speaker 5: could have happened, we could have won the game, we
Speaker 5: still be playing. But we know like the next year
Speaker 5: we're gonna be even better. It's just the next year coming.
Speaker 5: So I wasn't really as mad. I don't think really
Speaker 5: no one as mad as after that first night.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it wasn't really hard for me to I
Speaker 2: still watch basketball.
Speaker 6: To go to a playoff game, you're an NBA player,
Speaker 6: But to go to a playoff game as a fan,
Speaker 6: what are you looking for and what is what do
Speaker 6: you digest? Because I'm sure that too, it's gotta be
Speaker 6: a little weird to be sitting in a very small
Speaker 6: chair trying to watch.
Speaker 5: Uh, I think when I went to the next game,
Speaker 5: I would kind of just kind of paying attention to
Speaker 5: Jalen Brunson a lot, because I mean, he's a really
Speaker 5: he kind of up his game after after he left Dallas.
Speaker 5: He like he went to another level. I mean, he's
Speaker 5: a really good friend of mine. So we TechEd after
Speaker 5: after the series. We used to talk all the time,
Speaker 5: and after we play each other, we talked. So he's
Speaker 5: just a guy that I look at as far as
Speaker 5: like the pace of the offense, he's he's running a team,
Speaker 5: that type of stuff.
Speaker 2: Just learn those things.
Speaker 5: But I kind of I'm also a look at as
Speaker 5: a fan too, like man, like how you missed that shot?
Speaker 5: Like and I get it, how fans how how fans
Speaker 5: look at the game, like, man, how you miss that shot?
Speaker 5: When I realized it. When I'm sitting there as a
Speaker 5: as a fan but also as a basketball player, I'm
Speaker 5: just looking at the different the different things a point
Speaker 5: guard can do to run a team or to be
Speaker 5: successful to win a game.
Speaker 6: I don't know if Chris told you, but I'm actually
Speaker 6: based in Dallas, So you just brought up one of
Speaker 6: my favorite subjects in Jalen Hrunts and since you know
Speaker 6: his game so well, can you explain to he gets
Speaker 6: better every year he's I mean he's done it now,
Speaker 6: five years in a row. He's exceeded all expectations. As
Speaker 6: someone who knows him well, how does he pull that off?
Speaker 6: How does he find another year to go to? Year
Speaker 6: after year after year?
Speaker 3: I didn't know you and Jalen Brust good for us?
Speaker 2: Yea, I didn't know that.
Speaker 3: Okay, good nugget star.
Speaker 2: I think that, uh.
Speaker 5: I think Jayalen Brunston always had He was always a
Speaker 5: really good player to me. I mean even in Dallas.
Speaker 5: It's just he wasn't you. It's kind of hard when
Speaker 5: you don't get the opportunity. I mean he had an opportunity,
Speaker 5: but you also got a guy like who Luca has
Speaker 5: the ball in his hands a lot, and Jaylaen Brunt
Speaker 5: had always been a guy with the ball in the
Speaker 5: hands a lot, making plays for others, making plays for himself,
Speaker 5: posting up, just getting in the paint, like even at
Speaker 5: Villanova the four years the year he was a he
Speaker 5: was a league guard, he had the ball in his
Speaker 5: hands a lot. So I think the more comfortable he got,
Speaker 5: the more you see the real Jayalen Brunston when he
Speaker 5: was at Villanova, because he's always was good. I don't
Speaker 5: think he did anything better. I think he's just got
Speaker 5: more comfortable. He just in a situation where now he
Speaker 5: got the ball, he's running a team like he used
Speaker 5: to be, So now he's getting more and more comfortable.
Speaker 5: I think the more more uncomfortable he gets, he's gonna
Speaker 5: keep getting even better. I mean, because he's gonna play,
Speaker 5: he's gonna start manipulating the game.
Speaker 2: He's gonna start picking people.
Speaker 5: Apart as far as the knowledge you have of the game,
Speaker 5: I mean, because all the reps he gets and and
Speaker 5: things like that. I mean, and I think the best
Speaker 5: thing about Jayalen Brunson, I think he's the hardest player
Speaker 5: to guard to me, because he us his body a
Speaker 5: lot and he changes speeds a lot. So it's kind
Speaker 5: of hard to just kind of hard to just guard
Speaker 5: him just straight up because he changes speed so much
Speaker 5: and you gotta kind of always stay in front of him.
Speaker 5: Because he got a good mid range game, he got
Speaker 5: a good post game, he got he got it all.
Speaker 5: So I think that he's one of the toughest guys.
Speaker 2: In the lead for me.
Speaker 3: Okay, all right, you said that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but you're also on record of saying the toughest
Speaker 4: guard you had to defend in the league is Stephan Kurr.
Speaker 3: That still holds true.
Speaker 5: I mean it's a couple of I mean, we're playing
Speaker 5: a really good lead, so it's yeah, he's up there,
Speaker 5: give me the couple go uh say Shay from Okay,
Speaker 5: see Alexander, he's definitely the toughest.
Speaker 3: He's the toughest.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's the toughest. Yeah, he's definitely.
Speaker 3: A break down his game, definitely the toughest.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think. I mean, he got the ball in
Speaker 5: the hands a lot. I mean he can handle the ball.
Speaker 5: You know, I'm an on ball de Finlis. You got
Speaker 5: the ball in his hands a lot. He got a
Speaker 5: really good mid range game. He has a really good
Speaker 5: change of pace, and he's maybe six five sixty six,
Speaker 5: so my I can't really do as much when he
Speaker 5: gets to.
Speaker 2: His spots and just hope he missed.
Speaker 5: I mean, because he got so many inches over me,
Speaker 5: so I kind of got to stay connected to him
Speaker 5: the whole time. But he changed his speed so well
Speaker 5: it's kind of hard to do that. And he uses
Speaker 5: a body a lot, and he gets to the free
Speaker 5: throw line, so it makes it tough. And he's starting
Speaker 5: to hit three, so he's kind of trying to put
Speaker 5: everything together. So now it's gonna be even tougher. And
Speaker 5: I think next is uh I would say for me,
Speaker 5: I would say next is I would say Jalen Brunson
Speaker 5: because I'm an on ball defender, like y'all said, so
Speaker 5: it's like on all he's he's definitely one of the
Speaker 5: top guards. Like I said, he changed speeds well and
Speaker 5: things like that. But I think where I'm really not
Speaker 5: as good as off ball, and I think that Stephen
Speaker 5: Curry comes into play and the way the team plays,
Speaker 5: it's like he always playing off the ball. Of course
Speaker 5: he's got the ball in his hands sometimes, but they
Speaker 5: use a lot of throwing the ball. I mean throwing
Speaker 5: it him come, comeing and get it. They're always looking
Speaker 5: for him and they and I think they don't really
Speaker 5: set the greatest screens and they don't get called for it.
Speaker 5: But you know say that, but I mean he gets
Speaker 5: opened a lot and then I mean he knocks it down.
Speaker 2: You can't really leave no space for him, and if
Speaker 2: you do it, it's going there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I know what you're saying there, So that's g
Speaker 4: a Bron said, Steph top top three right there, We're
Speaker 4: gonna We're gonna open it up for fans to ask
Speaker 4: ask question. I got a few neighbors over there as
Speaker 4: big Kings fans as well. They want to ask a question.
Speaker 4: But let me let's let's stay on. Similar to Steph
Speaker 4: the Warriors, you guys win the first two games of
Speaker 4: that series. Now that you're removed from it, what happened?
Speaker 4: So if somebody asked you, like, how did you lose
Speaker 4: that series? What do you say? What do you say
Speaker 4: happened after game two that resulted in you guys not
Speaker 4: being able to advance?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 5: I would say nothing, really, I mean something happened obviously,
Speaker 5: I think. I mean, Steve Kerr is a really good coach,
Speaker 5: and he made adjustments. He made it where he kind
Speaker 5: of messed up our rotations a little bit.
Speaker 2: I think we kind of.
Speaker 5: Like even even like during Game three, he kind of
Speaker 5: like he missed their rotations a little bit, kind of
Speaker 5: didn't really want me on stuff a little bit, and
Speaker 5: you can see it, and it kind of took kind
Speaker 5: of took me out of game, kind of took my
Speaker 5: rhythm out the game because I go in a certain
Speaker 5: time and they kind of wanted me to mess up
Speaker 5: with stuff a little bit. So when Steve Kerr took
Speaker 5: him out and then put him right back in when
Speaker 5: it's not my time to get in. So he's like
Speaker 5: a really good coach man. He kind of played a
Speaker 5: lot of mind games, and it kind of messed my
Speaker 5: rhythm up. And I think Game three I didn't really
Speaker 5: have a good game because my rhythm was a little
Speaker 5: bit off because I wasn't in the same amount of minutes.
Speaker 5: I wasn't in and around the same burst I always play.
Speaker 5: So they just made adjustments. I mean, also, that's just
Speaker 5: a really good team and he'd been through it like
Speaker 5: he'd been through he won a championship the year before,
Speaker 5: so he had to make adjustments on the fly and
Speaker 5: game and series and this series from one, it was
Speaker 5: just like he's used to it. So I think, yeah,
Speaker 5: that's a good point.
Speaker 4: I didn't think about that. So they changed the lineup.
Speaker 4: What was it Game three or Game four?
Speaker 5: Maybe maybe game three because it was going to Theay
Speaker 5: Place and it was game three.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they needed to win.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and so you would like, as a competitor, you
Speaker 4: would like for on your end, you would like to
Speaker 4: you're playing time to mirror.
Speaker 2: A little staff. Yeah, I mean I knew it was
Speaker 2: going to be able to.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but it kept you. I get that, and so
Speaker 3: I say, that's that's I didn't think about that.
Speaker 2: That's a good point.
Speaker 5: I think people don't realize that this game is like
Speaker 5: a rhythm. Like you got to have rhythm to play
Speaker 5: this game. To really be really good at it, you
Speaker 5: got to have a rhythm. And when fans, the way
Speaker 5: fans look at it is like, yeah, you gotta make
Speaker 5: this shot.
Speaker 2: You got to make this shot.
Speaker 5: Like but just like if there's no rhythm, it's kind
Speaker 5: of hard to play like that for anyone. I would
Speaker 5: think that someone that comes off the bench and sometimes
Speaker 5: like we're in game three when we only get to
Speaker 5: play like a minute and a half because of Steph
Speaker 5: curries out and then he comes back in and it's like, oh,
Speaker 5: I don't have no rhythm. Now I'm back on the
Speaker 5: bench where I started because I don't start, so I'm
Speaker 5: on the bench again. Now I got warm. Now I
Speaker 5: gotta come back on the bench. And it's like people
Speaker 5: don't realize it. Man, it's a lot of a lot
Speaker 5: of insight to it.
Speaker 4: So the next question that pertains to that series, was
Speaker 4: it really necessary for he Fort to get kicked off
Speaker 4: the game?
Speaker 2: Honestly, I don't know anything about that.
Speaker 5: I don't think no one on our team was really
Speaker 5: like paying its it after the game when they said something,
Speaker 5: but like, I didn't really.
Speaker 2: That was.
Speaker 4: That's a legend, man, he reped Sacramento Toosary.
Speaker 6: What would you say is if you could only pick
Speaker 6: one thing next season, what do you want to do
Speaker 6: better than you did this season?
Speaker 2: Are you talking about as far as the team wise
Speaker 2: you you individually?
Speaker 5: Oh, I think just shooting the ball better, getting more
Speaker 5: comfortable with shooting the ball. I think that's just the
Speaker 5: main thing.
Speaker 2: I think. If if I can shoot the ball with confidence.
Speaker 5: And and and hit most of them, then I mean
Speaker 5: I'll be on the floor more and everything just work out.
Speaker 6: And then I guess I'm probably gonna ask the question
Speaker 6: that everybody in Charlene's Beauty supply wants to know. What
Speaker 6: are the Kings going to do for an encore? How
Speaker 6: do you guys prove that it wasn't a one hit
Speaker 6: wonder situation?
Speaker 5: I mean, I think that if everyone gets better individually,
Speaker 5: they're gonna make their team better.
Speaker 2: That's that's always kind of been my thought process.
Speaker 5: If if everyone's getting better individually, then and they bring
Speaker 5: it to the team and as far as the real aspect,
Speaker 5: then we're going to be a better team. But I
Speaker 5: don't think the one hit wonder would be a thing
Speaker 5: because I mean, everyone.
Speaker 2: Our team works hard.
Speaker 5: I think the Arran's working extremely hard this offseason so
Speaker 5: he can kind of have the same team or even
Speaker 5: a better season. And he's our leader on our team,
Speaker 5: so that's gonna make us a lot better as a team.
Speaker 5: Don't mind is working hard as ever, so he's gonna
Speaker 5: get better and he's gonna make our team better. Me
Speaker 5: the league, all the guys that play man like, all
Speaker 5: the guys is on the team that is going to contribute,
Speaker 5: and everyone on the team is getting better. So I
Speaker 5: think that if we all come together and with our
Speaker 5: individual summers, then I think that we're gonna be better
Speaker 5: as a team.
Speaker 4: So let's we're gonna everybody get your questions ready. If
Speaker 4: you want a question you want to ask, Deveon, raise
Speaker 4: your hand. I'll get to you. Okay, you'll be first
Speaker 4: after this one, Devion, So you've been in the league
Speaker 4: for a few years now, You've seen that this is
Speaker 4: a business.
Speaker 3: You see trades, You see.
Speaker 4: How guys are traded and how they oftentimes find out
Speaker 4: on social media. You see Chris Paul going over there
Speaker 4: to the Golden State Warris and things like that. So
Speaker 4: have you been in the league long enough to wonder
Speaker 4: if your name will be next, like if you'll see
Speaker 4: your name on the ticker for being traded or being moved, Like,
Speaker 4: has there been a scare yet from you?
Speaker 5: Yeah, my rookie year guy. I used to work out
Speaker 5: with Rico Hines. He was yes's my guy, Yeah, Philly,
Speaker 5: And he would say he would always say, man, like
Speaker 5: if Shaquille Shaquille o'nil can get traded, you can get traded.
Speaker 5: So that's always been like my thought process, Like, I mean,
Speaker 5: any day I can get traded. One of the best
Speaker 5: players that, one of the best big man's ever played
Speaker 5: the game could get traded.
Speaker 2: Sure, I can get traded, I mean, just like anyone else.
Speaker 2: So I always had that good perspective.
Speaker 3: So I'm had you come over and take the Michael
Speaker 3: as of course, say your.
Speaker 2: Name and the other thing.
Speaker 3: Man, welcome.
Speaker 2: My name is Ramsey.
Speaker 8: One of the questions I have for you is actually
Speaker 8: outside of basketball, are you fan of any other sports
Speaker 8: outside of basketball?
Speaker 3: And do you have any other favorite teams?
Speaker 2: I mean, I've been to a couple of baseball games.
Speaker 5: I'm not really a big ball football fan, Like, I
Speaker 5: don't really watch football. But I would say, like, I
Speaker 5: don't have any favorite teams to say, but I mean
Speaker 5: I've been.
Speaker 2: To a couple of games. Okay, yeah, cause I mean
Speaker 2: I saw you a couple of times. I know you're
Speaker 2: from Georgia.
Speaker 5: That's how you like wearing a brave shirt and everything,
Speaker 5: if you were a Falcons fan or not. Myself, I
Speaker 5: don't really I don't really watch football like that.
Speaker 3: Most people think your first sport was football.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I get get that. A lie get that.
Speaker 5: I never played football, though I played in middle school.
Speaker 5: Then I stopped after middle school. I was like, it's
Speaker 5: not me.
Speaker 2: What's what?
Speaker 3: What's what about football? Is not?
Speaker 2: To to be honest, to be a little bit cocky.
Speaker 2: I think it was a little too easy. No, I
Speaker 2: think that football man.
Speaker 5: I just I really don't like being outside as much,
Speaker 5: and you've got to be outside no matter if it's
Speaker 5: hot or cold.
Speaker 2: I'd rather just be in the building playing a sport.
Speaker 4: So when you look at free agency, I think ways
Speaker 4: to get better. You hear all types of names that's
Speaker 4: being floated on what the Kings are going to do.
Speaker 4: Obviously they're gonna gets done with an extension. You're hearing
Speaker 4: Kyle Kuzman name float floating around. Do you listen to rumors?
Speaker 4: Do you listen to things? Are you at the point
Speaker 4: where you probably are even recruiting guys? Does it? Has
Speaker 4: it got there yet? You just laid back and see
Speaker 4: what happens.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I think right now my point that
Speaker 5: the point of my career. I think I'll just try
Speaker 5: to look at it like I'm gonna get better. Regardless,
Speaker 5: I try not to look at the aspect. I feel like,
Speaker 5: whoever's get on the team, I mean, they're gonna they're
Speaker 5: gonna be good for us. We got a really good
Speaker 5: coaching staff, We've got a really good system around it.
Speaker 5: Someone's not gonna come onto our team and just be
Speaker 5: like a completely different person. They're gonna gel in with
Speaker 5: the team. So I think we're gonna be fine.
Speaker 3: Questions, come on, come on up, you got a question,
Speaker 3: Get on the mic. I got I got this. This
Speaker 3: is my neighbor right here. This is my neighbor right here.
Speaker 2: Give it.
Speaker 9: If you give your name.
Speaker 7: And everything, my name. My name is Victor humanis uh question?
Speaker 7: You got hammered in the head a lot. And I
Speaker 7: know the NBA doesn't about helmets. So is this the
Speaker 7: reason why you're out.
Speaker 3: Your hair number one?
Speaker 2: Definitely, definitely not the reason.
Speaker 5: I kind of just during the summertime, I try to
Speaker 5: if I ain't going nowhere, I just use it.
Speaker 10: Don't get it done, I just let it breathe real know,
Speaker 10: you did you get hit a lot. I mean not
Speaker 10: as much as the bonus, but you did get hit
Speaker 10: a lot. And you're tough, right Yeah. So my big
Speaker 10: question for you is, like somebody's had put that in you, right?
Speaker 10: How to play that defense? Who's that person? That's a
Speaker 10: great question.
Speaker 5: I have three uncles that, uh that kind of put
Speaker 5: the ball in my hands, that played the game. Didn't
Speaker 5: make it the NBA, but they played in college and
Speaker 5: things like that, and they were all competitive, and I
Speaker 5: think that's.
Speaker 2: That's the way what you mean. Right.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Like I said, I got three uncles and they
Speaker 5: play college ball, and I'm close with them and I
Speaker 5: think they all they all been competitive, and I think
Speaker 5: that's where I got it from seeing them playing his
Speaker 5: people at the gym, playing hard things like that. I
Speaker 5: think that's where I just kind of got it from.
Speaker 5: Really that's a fan. I appreciate it. Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 4: Give I shout out to Seaun Cunningham out here at
Speaker 4: ABC ten out here covering this event.
Speaker 11: Real quick shout out to the same person, Steph. I
Speaker 11: see my man in the shop getting the wig down
Speaker 11: all the time, man, so we know where to go. H.
Speaker 11: My question is, actually I got lucky. I was on
Speaker 11: the AMP app with Roz and Coach Brown asking the
Speaker 11: same question triple threat, basketball, draw, pass shoot, but just
Speaker 11: in general, man, because I've been watching since Baylor I love.
Speaker 2: I'm a Kings fan, right or die?
Speaker 11: What are your three things that you can hand your
Speaker 11: hat on though you personally though, how people want to
Speaker 11: know you by, how you move, how you knew because.
Speaker 2: I laid back, quiet dog, and but give me three things.
Speaker 11: Give me your trouble threat right now to everybody who's
Speaker 11: the sacrament to really know who Daveyon is.
Speaker 2: I think I.
Speaker 5: Think the main two is I'm more laid back for sure,
Speaker 5: anybody will tell you, I'm like probably the most laid
Speaker 5: back person you ever meet, and other than Keik is
Speaker 5: definitely laid back, but laid back and I think hardworking
Speaker 5: and uh it'sanolla.
Speaker 2: One more word I would say.
Speaker 5: I would just say, like, my biggest thing is I
Speaker 5: would like to inspire people, especially from where I'm from.
Speaker 5: I'm from a small city or only a couple of
Speaker 5: people really made it out. I mean, only two people
Speaker 5: made it to the NBA in my city. A couple
Speaker 5: people want to receive so it's tough. So just to
Speaker 5: just to inspire the people, especially I mean little kids
Speaker 5: of course across the world, but just mainly people from
Speaker 5: from smaller cities, just to let them know, man like,
Speaker 5: no matter how small the city is, no matter how
Speaker 5: big the city is, if you work hard, then you
Speaker 5: can you can make anything possible. Appreciate men, Yeah, no problem.
Speaker 4: Oh oh Lance was uh oh, come come on, come
Speaker 4: on up here, come get get the mic.
Speaker 12: You know how it is, as you said, you want
Speaker 12: to inspire people, and that stuck out with me. Earlier
Speaker 12: you was talking about how you never worked out for
Speaker 12: the Kings, but they drafted you, and that inspired me
Speaker 12: because I haven't worked out for any temps, so I
Speaker 12: still got a shot.
Speaker 2: People.
Speaker 12: This is a question, though, what is what is? Or
Speaker 12: is there inspiration behind you wearing a number fifteen?
Speaker 5: After we won the national championship at Baylor in my
Speaker 5: city where I'm from, they kind of honored me and
Speaker 5: giving me a day, Davion Mitchell Day until April fifteen.
Speaker 2: So I kind of just kind of picked that up there.
Speaker 5: And fifteen was my high school number my first year,
Speaker 5: my freshman year in high school, so I just kind
Speaker 5: of just wanted to go with it.
Speaker 2: I kind of had to get away from forty five.
Speaker 3: It's dope, that was actually my number. Fifteen is my number?
Speaker 3: Why was fifteen my number?
Speaker 13: Here?
Speaker 3: Who is my favorite player?
Speaker 2: Spree? Well?
Speaker 3: Spree Well yeah, okay, you got a joke, sir, We
Speaker 3: got a joke. Come on up here, man, you get hurt?
Speaker 2: Here you going, man? I'm here a nice bro.
Speaker 14: So my question to you are is I know you
Speaker 14: say you want to work on your jump shot. I'm
Speaker 14: a big basketball fan, playball, I'm a latest fan, but
Speaker 14: I just like basketball in general. So I know you
Speaker 14: say you want to work on your jump shot. You
Speaker 14: guys had a lot of success. I've been in Sacramento
Speaker 14: for a while. What is two things you want to
Speaker 14: achieve as a player, INVIDLEI I know, team success, No,
Speaker 14: just you as an individual.
Speaker 5: I would say individually. I mean I've never been like
Speaker 5: a big accolades guy. I mean, of course it if
Speaker 5: it if it happens, it happens through the work that
Speaker 5: I put in. But I would say accomplishing just uh,
Speaker 5: just being the best player I can be.
Speaker 2: That's definitely one of the things.
Speaker 5: And don't don't really take anything for granted, don't cheat
Speaker 5: the process, no matter how hard times could be. Just
Speaker 5: kind of just kind of my motto. What I live
Speaker 5: for is trust your work. That's that's my brand, That's
Speaker 5: who I am. So kind of just having that just
Speaker 5: if I if I leave my career knowing that I
Speaker 5: worked as worked is hard every single day and never
Speaker 5: achieved the process, that I can live with that.
Speaker 3: Come on.
Speaker 4: Come on, brother, Let the alder through, Let the alder through.
Speaker 2: Come on.
Speaker 8: Mike Bradley, old school basketball fan from Tacoma. I've been
Speaker 8: here for a while. So what do you do right now?
Speaker 8: Nothing retired?
Speaker 3: What do you do?
Speaker 2: I give him buckets every day? Give Chris buckets every
Speaker 2: day coach.
Speaker 8: I'm a Sheldon High School here at Sacamelo, so we're
Speaker 8: one of the top teams you know the area. So anyway,
Speaker 8: is there a team that you look at when you
Speaker 8: go around the league and say, damn, if I was
Speaker 8: on that team, we'd be we'd be giving giving buckets.
Speaker 8: I know, we want you don't have to give out
Speaker 8: a team, but this like teams that She's like, man,
Speaker 8: you know, if I was with that group of guys,
Speaker 8: you know, we'd be giving some buckets to the league.
Speaker 8: And the second thing is what advice should you give
Speaker 8: to these young players coming up, you know through the
Speaker 8: AA the tennis shoe circuits.
Speaker 2: You know, what do they what?
Speaker 8: What should they be looking out for and not doing
Speaker 8: or should they be doing to be further seen?
Speaker 5: The first question is hard to hard to answer that,
Speaker 5: but I would just say that, I mean, any team
Speaker 5: where I know I can play forty eight minutes, that's
Speaker 5: all I can say.
Speaker 2: That's all I can say.
Speaker 5: Anything I can play forty eight minutes, I think that
Speaker 5: I get a couple of buckets.
Speaker 2: And as far as like.
Speaker 5: The kids just a U circuit, I mean, it was
Speaker 5: it was hard for me because what wasn't really hard
Speaker 5: because I started off playing with my local team to
Speaker 5: South Georgia Kings.
Speaker 2: It was in Hinesville, Georgia.
Speaker 5: A lot of people don't really know, but it was
Speaker 5: just a small local team and I really wasn't getting
Speaker 5: seen like that. It was kind of I was playing
Speaker 5: good games, having really good tournaments, big tournaments, but I
Speaker 5: wasn't really getting seen because it wasn't in the bigger tournaments.
Speaker 2: So I just found the team, the Georgia Stars. They
Speaker 2: kind of believed in me.
Speaker 5: Atlanta team, they kind of just believed in me, and
Speaker 5: they came even b they drove all the way from
Speaker 5: Atlanta just to pick me up just to play games,
Speaker 5: just because they wanted me to play with them.
Speaker 2: And that's when I really started getting seen.
Speaker 5: After those tournaments, a couple of tournaments, I started getting
Speaker 5: my name out there. So I would say the biggest
Speaker 5: thing is, don't don't really worry about what circuit it is.
Speaker 5: No matter if it's under armoured Nike adida is they're
Speaker 5: always going to be as scouts or it's always going
Speaker 5: to be scouts at these tournaments because they're going to
Speaker 5: see other players. Like I feel like when I was
Speaker 5: when I was younger and with South Gegia Kings, and
Speaker 5: we played like an under armoured team, a big team,
Speaker 5: and they were scouts to see the under armoured people,
Speaker 5: not for us.
Speaker 2: But I would have a good game and it's like, oh,
Speaker 2: who is this guy? You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 5: So it was just like I never really looked at
Speaker 5: it like, man, I gotta play on the best Nike
Speaker 5: circuit or I gotta play on the best under armoured
Speaker 5: circuit just to get seen. I just kind of was
Speaker 5: looking like I gotta be on the team where I
Speaker 5: know I'm gonna play. I know, I get to show
Speaker 5: my talent. I know someone that can believe me. Then
Speaker 5: after that, it's kind of like it's up in the air.
Speaker 5: You know, whoever whoever see me, whoever they don't. I mean,
Speaker 5: I know if I work hard, people are going to see.
Speaker 4: Give me to give me accurate because heights can be
Speaker 4: deflated when when they putting the heights on, Like so
Speaker 4: let me see, they said, I Everson with what six
Speaker 4: feet six one six, He's not He's not six for
Speaker 4: one six. Uh dame, they got dame listened six threes,
Speaker 4: not six three. So what is your what they list
Speaker 4: you as first.
Speaker 5: So the NBA triggy they they list people when they
Speaker 5: do the heights, is they do with your shoes off? Yeah,
Speaker 5: And I think it's triggy because you don't ever play
Speaker 5: with your shoes off. So it's like, why are you
Speaker 5: measuring so my shoes off? I'm six v my shoes
Speaker 5: on six to.
Speaker 3: One and yeah that's so what do you tell people?
Speaker 3: Mostly six two six two? Okay? You doing?
Speaker 9: Daniel Golden, longtime tecond will fan kings fan, got a
Speaker 9: question for you. So when I watch you play, you've
Speaker 9: seen very very quick set, very very of course quickly.
Speaker 9: Same with the Fox in practice? How does it go
Speaker 9: between you and him? How does how do you?
Speaker 15: I mean, i'd excuse that would be like the greatest
Speaker 15: watch of all just see both you go at each
Speaker 15: other because you're both so quick. I honestly, I'm not
Speaker 15: sure that he's quicker than you. If anything, you guys
Speaker 15: about the same. That's my personal feeling. So I just
Speaker 15: want to know how you how those practices go with
Speaker 15: because I don't even got to be batter.
Speaker 5: Yeah, of course I think the Yeah, it's it's definitely
Speaker 5: a tough battle. I mean, especially because the competitive van.
Speaker 5: I'm defensively, I'm I think I'm okay, and Fox are
Speaker 5: offensively is one of the top guys in our lead,
Speaker 5: so it's all always a battle. I mean, he will
Speaker 5: even tell you and I would say, as far as
Speaker 5: the quickness, I mean, I would say, people would say
Speaker 5: I'm quicker because I'm a lot it looks like I'm shorter.
Speaker 5: But Foxes he have longer arms, longer legs, so he's
Speaker 5: more skinnier, so.
Speaker 2: He's he's like faster. I would say he's faster.
Speaker 5: Here, I would say I can probably get to a
Speaker 5: spot quicker than him, but he's definitely faster.
Speaker 2: But it's definitely fun battles.
Speaker 5: Man, He's made me a lot better defender because no
Speaker 5: one is as fast as him in the league. So
Speaker 5: when I'm guarding to other people, I can use that
Speaker 5: to my advantage. Like, man, I guard Darren Fox every day,
Speaker 5: is no way you're gonna get by me, you know
Speaker 5: what I'm saying. Like, I can use my body, I
Speaker 5: can use my speed, so it makes it easier. So
Speaker 5: going against him has just been a blessing for me
Speaker 5: because it's making me better.
Speaker 2: All right, need more questions?
Speaker 3: This another one of my neighbors right here, Robert.
Speaker 13: Ryan, born and raised in Texas, represented all of the teams.
Speaker 13: But I have a question from you. Most college players
Speaker 13: go from one good conference to another. You left Auburn,
Speaker 13: which is SEC, and you went to Baylor, which is
Speaker 13: Big twelve, which is kind of not the same. What
Speaker 13: made you make that decision to jump from the SEC
Speaker 13: to Big twelve.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I got a story for that one. Yeah. So
Speaker 2: when I went to Auburn, we.
Speaker 5: Had really good guards Jared Harper and Bryce Brown all SEC.
Speaker 5: When I left, they end up taking their team to
Speaker 5: the Final four, and I knew I was gonna really
Speaker 5: have the opportunity toil like my junior year. And I
Speaker 5: was like, I don't think I should wait that long
Speaker 5: because I feel like I wasn't really getting better as
Speaker 5: far as that I was learning, but I wasn't really
Speaker 5: getting the reps, you know what I'm saying. And I
Speaker 5: feel like that's the best way to learn when you
Speaker 5: get the reps. And I knew I wouldn't get that many,
Speaker 5: so I transferred in. I mean, I averaged maybe like
Speaker 5: two points in Auburn, so it wasn't a lot of
Speaker 5: schools that after I transferred that kind of contacted me.
Speaker 5: It was like it was either Georgia State in Atlanta
Speaker 5: when I took a visit, or Saint John's in New York,
Speaker 5: and then Baylor ended up coming last because of a
Speaker 5: close friend I knew in high school I used to
Speaker 5: work out with. He knew one of the coaches from Baylor,
Speaker 5: coach Brooks, and they kind of connected and saying like, yeah,
Speaker 5: I think we got a good guard for you and
Speaker 5: davey on and they just fell in love with the
Speaker 5: film and they kind of just went from there because
Speaker 5: I didn't have that many options because they was either
Speaker 5: I went to Georgia State before I went to Baylor,
Speaker 5: and I was supposed to take a visit to Saint
Speaker 5: John's and I knew it was gonna be tough because
Speaker 5: I don't really like being in New York anyways.
Speaker 2: Because it's just so many people.
Speaker 5: So it's just after I took that Baylor visit before
Speaker 5: I went the same time as I committed the same
Speaker 5: visit because I'm like, it's no need for me to
Speaker 5: go to New York.
Speaker 2: I know where I want to be, So that's why
Speaker 2: I went to Big twelve.
Speaker 5: It wasn't really I didn't even look at the conferences
Speaker 5: as a thing, like it was just Baylor was a
Speaker 5: really good school for me. They had a grad transfer.
Speaker 5: I knew I was gonna play the next year. I
Speaker 5: know they wanted the ball in my hands. They their
Speaker 5: culture is just completely different then the after the book
Speaker 5: before actually before me, they had all their guards went
Speaker 5: to all Big twelve.
Speaker 2: So I was like, it's perfect for me. So it
Speaker 2: was a perfect situation.
Speaker 3: And do you.
Speaker 13: Believe and do you believe that that change actually helped
Speaker 13: you get into.
Speaker 2: The that was I would think that.
Speaker 5: I mean Auburn definitely, Auburn definitely helped me transfer because
Speaker 5: they if I wouldn't win and went to Auburn, then
Speaker 5: I would and went to Baylor, and I wouldn't have
Speaker 5: won a national championship.
Speaker 2: I probably wouldn't have been a nine pick.
Speaker 5: So everything just happened for a reason, Like me going
Speaker 5: to Auburn just showed me that, Okay, it's just a
Speaker 5: new spot I can go to. And I think that
Speaker 5: Baylor did a phenomenal job with me as far as
Speaker 5: I mean teaching me how to play the game the
Speaker 5: right way, teaching me just to be a better person,
Speaker 5: just to just other things that Baylor taught me that
Speaker 5: a lot of people are not gonna get from these
Speaker 5: these huge schools like I think Kentucky's and the things
Speaker 5: like that for the names.
Speaker 2: I think Baylor was just a really good school all
Speaker 2: and all.
Speaker 3: I think I think I'm back here now, Okay.
Speaker 4: So indeed, there is a majority of people aren't going
Speaker 4: to reach six ' five six six six seven, so
Speaker 4: most people are going to be six foot or under.
Speaker 3: What would what would you say? What's your lesson to.
Speaker 4: The smaller guy that want to make the lead, and
Speaker 4: what do you think helped you ultimately as a smaller guy,
Speaker 4: helped you to be able to dominate at the levels
Speaker 4: you have to get to ultimately this level.
Speaker 5: So I think a lot of people look at as
Speaker 5: as like even as little guards or even as taller
Speaker 5: people like to get to the lead. They always look
Speaker 5: at like, I got to be able to shoot, I
Speaker 5: gotta be able to pass, I got to be able
Speaker 5: to play defense. They try to they try to add
Speaker 5: all these things in their game and try to be
Speaker 5: great at but people don't realize if you're really great
Speaker 5: at one thing, and for me, as defensively, you can
Speaker 5: get in the leader if you have a little bit
Speaker 5: of offense or if you show that you can win,
Speaker 5: Like you don't have to be great at everything. And
Speaker 5: I think that's where a lot of people work at
Speaker 5: when they try to work out and try to go
Speaker 5: to the school, like, man, I got to be really
Speaker 5: good at this, this, this and that, and it's hard
Speaker 5: to do that when you don't have that much time,
Speaker 5: you know what I'm saying. So you have to just
Speaker 5: be I think for someone smaller like under six feet
Speaker 5: and under or even six foot six two, I think
Speaker 5: if you're great at one thing, that the lead is
Speaker 5: gonna love, you know what I'm saying, Because if you're
Speaker 5: great at one thing, a lot of people, a lot
Speaker 5: of people that's good at basketball are just okay at everything,
Speaker 5: you know what I'm saying. But if you're great at
Speaker 5: one thing, the league can use, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 5: If someone they can use someone that can just play defense.
Speaker 5: Maybe you ain't gonna play as minus minutes, but you'll
Speaker 5: get better. You'll get you'll become a better shooter to
Speaker 5: get more minutes, you become a better decision maker, you
Speaker 5: becod of just a better teammate all in all, So
Speaker 5: I would just say, look at that.
Speaker 3: You don't never I did this in college. I'm six
Speaker 3: two with shoes on.
Speaker 4: But I would look at guys who are six six,
Speaker 4: and I'd be like, if I have five more issues.
Speaker 3: Like they ain't better to be.
Speaker 2: They just got always they's got the inchest. It's always
Speaker 2: like that.
Speaker 4: You always look you look at some of these guys,
Speaker 4: he'd be like, man, your skill set, Like my skill
Speaker 4: set is way better than yours, but you just got
Speaker 4: six inches on me.
Speaker 2: But that's a problem.
Speaker 3: Like this over here, yo, like this dude over here
Speaker 3: and my preacher to the choir let my bad.
Speaker 2: I would say that it's tough, but I always think
Speaker 2: of it like that too.
Speaker 5: But it's like maybe if I was six eight with
Speaker 5: the same skill set, I wouldn't be as fast, you
Speaker 5: know what I'm saying, Like.
Speaker 2: Like it's just different things.
Speaker 5: You can look at it, like if someone was six
Speaker 5: six and saying, mane, if I was shorter, maybe I
Speaker 5: can move it's faster than Maybe you wouldn't have the
Speaker 5: left that I want, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: It's just different things to look at it.
Speaker 5: Like Isaiah Thomas, like one of the greats, a close
Speaker 5: friend of mine too, Like he had all the skill
Speaker 5: in the world. Maybe if he was six seven, of course,
Speaker 5: he maybe be the best player, but he wouldn't be
Speaker 5: as skilled, he wouldn't be as fast because he used
Speaker 5: that to his advantage to other people, because he's lower
Speaker 5: than everyone. Because I just look at it a different way, Like,
Speaker 5: but I feel what you're saying though, Like maybe if
Speaker 5: I was seven foot and I had the same skill set,
Speaker 5: I'll be a Kevin Durant.
Speaker 2: But it's like, no, I wouldn't you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4: I just I just see a lot of six seven
Speaker 4: people like the guy.
Speaker 3: It's waste wasted? Was all right?
Speaker 4: Were about to about the Uh trying to cut the minute?
Speaker 4: Is there any I will make sure I don't miss it,
Speaker 4: but I'll make sure I give everybody up. God, come on, man,
Speaker 4: you got the Kings Georgy Sir? I like that?
Speaker 3: Okay, great to meet today.
Speaker 16: The answer just curious, what's your nice, big Kings fan?
Speaker 16: Curious with the draft that just happened with the Kings
Speaker 16: you pay attention at all and seeing who got drafted
Speaker 16: and what you think about them?
Speaker 5: Uh, to be honest, to be honest with you, uh. Oh,
Speaker 5: to be honest with you, I didn't know anything about
Speaker 5: like Husually when I'm in the NBA, I don't really
Speaker 5: watch much college basketball unless it's Baylor, Like I only
Speaker 5: watch Baylor. So I don't really know anything about the guys.
Speaker 5: I mean, but I'm sure they're going to be really
Speaker 5: good because if the Kings picked them, there's a reason
Speaker 5: why they picked them. There's the reason why they're in
Speaker 5: the league. So I mean much respect to them, but
Speaker 5: I don't really know much about them. I can't tell
Speaker 5: you anything about them.
Speaker 3: Actually, that's dope. Mark Smith Soccer appreciate it.
Speaker 17: So a couple questions. You mentioned you're a gym rat,
Speaker 17: you're hard worker. I want to know what's your daily
Speaker 17: schedule this off season. You know, what's an every day
Speaker 17: kind of like for you.
Speaker 5: I mean, I can just tell you about today. I
Speaker 5: feel like today it was pretty long. So I usually
Speaker 5: wake up. I'm not really a big sleeper. I don't
Speaker 5: really sleep as much. I kind of go to sleep
Speaker 5: around like ten o'clock and I wake up usually like six.
Speaker 5: It's probably because I don't have black curtains though. It's
Speaker 5: like every time the sun comes up, I go up,
Speaker 5: so I wake up at six, uh win today, to
Speaker 5: the gym at seven o'clock, lifted at seven point thirty.
Speaker 5: Then I'm on the court right after that, and then
Speaker 5: we end up playing together like three on three and.
Speaker 2: Stuff like that with a couple of players is there.
Speaker 5: And then after that at around eight o'clock, I'm going
Speaker 5: back to the gym and I'm finished for tonight.
Speaker 2: Yes, yesterday, Yeah, definitely that.
Speaker 17: So my second question, you know, you mentioned that you're
Speaker 17: kind of patting your defensi game after the Drew Holidays
Speaker 17: and Market Smarts p your top five defensive guards or
Speaker 17: defensive players of all.
Speaker 2: Time all time.
Speaker 5: I honestly would just say, I mean, you gotta put
Speaker 5: Draymond up there, of course, Drew Holliday, Marcus Smart. I'm saying,
Speaker 5: like people that are to perim and I feel like
Speaker 5: black Shots is completely differences, completely different, uh aspect. I
Speaker 5: think Michael Bridges is up there. And I would say
Speaker 5: the last one, I mean, can I put myself definitely myself?
Speaker 2: Yeah there you go.
Speaker 4: Yeah really man, For the bottom of my heart, man,
Speaker 4: I appreciate you for coming out man, supporting my wife
Speaker 4: out here at Charlotte's b Supply here and.
Speaker 3: They'll grove everybody. You're a robber Fossett, Bayon and wife.
Speaker 2: And that'll do it for us. See you next time.
Speaker 1: This league and Cutters and iHeart Radio Production.
Speaker 2: Don't sad a look up Christine's de marks time