00:00When you, I guess, first came up at training camp, Mike Bronson, were you
00:04expecting, I guess, an uptake in the facilitating role? Are you as surprised as
00:08anybody else that it developed this way? What were your expectations offensively?
00:15I didn't really have, I had no expectations. I didn't know what to
00:19expect, you know, so I've always loved this role. I've always wanted this role, so I'm
00:25just happy we got to this point. I mean, he was pretty successful with another big
00:29saboness to put him in a playmaking position, just like, I guess, when it
00:33kind of started materializing for you, where you're like, well, you could have been
00:36doing this all along, did you expect him to kind of go that road, given he had done it in
00:39the past?
00:41What'd you think? I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know.
00:46That was my answer, last question. People always ask the coach, like, what do you
00:49learn about your players as the season go on? What do you learn about him,
00:53especially this time of year, when the pressure is kind of ticked out and the
00:56decisions are more important? I mean, you know, he's done a great job of
01:02adjusting our team to give us the best chance to win and, you know, the spot
01:06we're in now is because of his courage and trust to change, you know, what we were
01:12doing and put us in a better position. How do you handle later? Like, do you, do you
01:17watch, do you tune out and, like, for the Cavs and then the Pistons, do you, you know,
01:22watch it, do you tune out and just see the results, you know, how do you? No, I watch,
01:28my, my fiancee and me love watching, well, she loves watching basketball a lot
01:33and so it's always something even when I'm, like, not thinking about it, maybe I'm
01:37thinking, I'm talking to my family, my niece, my nephew, whatever, she has the game
01:40on and she's constantly updating me on what's happening or, you know, she's, she
01:45knows ball now after all these years together. She's talking about flex screens and
01:49UCLA cuts and stuff like that so I definitely am tuned in. I watch the
01:54games, especially on the, on the days we're not playing, the wolves are
01:58playing, so I'm always tapping and I'm watching, I'm texting, hey, I'm texting
02:01Rudy, I'm texting those guys and just, you know, watching, watching the play.
02:06Either of those two opponents, especially Cleveland, they have those two big guys in the lineup.
02:11How important is Mitch going to be in his next round?
02:14I mean, Mitch has been important every single game of the year, you know, it didn't need to be a
02:18postseason to understand his impact on our team and our locker room. He's one of the
02:22most impactful players on our team and we, I think, all of y'all know how important he is to
02:27us.
02:28How much, you know, so much of this business, you know, whether you're playing basketball,
02:34it is dependent on health, you know, and I'm just wondering how much of that longevity is luck,
02:40just good genes, good fortune, how much is something else, just how you take care of your body,
02:49how much is luck?
02:51I believe luck is not given, it's earned. You know, I've earned my luck, you know, I've put the work
02:57in outside of the basketball court, taking care of my body, my diet, you know, with my team, that keeps
03:05me healthy and feeling good, you know.
03:08In my career, you know, I always believed luck is just something that God has just happened to happen, you
03:15know, it's given, but it's something you earn.
03:17I've earned the right to have luck in my situations where I should have been in the worst spot because
03:21I put the work in.
03:22Do you know what role you could have had offensively this whole time? Do you feel like what you're doing
03:27now is like indicated, like, see, I told you that?
03:30I've always said it since the beginning, I'll do whatever it takes to impact winning. And, you know, I'm glad
03:36that I've been able to do that with this change of role and then be able to help our team
03:41win.
03:41I mean, that's the most important thing and utilize my talent. Can you tell us a little bit more when
03:46you're down one, two and this change is made?
03:49I mean, do you just come in the next day and you're told that, well, it's going to change or
03:52how did this all transpire? And what was it like for you going into that next game knowing that your
03:59role?
03:59I mean, the switch is flipped. I mean, you know, you, you, you, you go, you know, you're down two,
04:08one. Obviously, it's not the end of the world.
04:09But it's, you know, you guys understand the importance of the next game. Every game is just, it should be
04:13acting like we're down two, one, no matter if we're up three, oh, you know, you go in there, you
04:20say how you feel, your feelings, your idea, and see if it's received and it was received.
04:28So I'm glad that we're not talking about a two, one, we're talking about us getting ready for the next
04:32opponent and having this time to see our families, rejuvenate our minds, our soul, and get ready for the next
04:40challenge.
04:40I remember earlier in the postseason, Josh said he takes nothing from the regular season in terms of like regular
04:47season matches versus the playoffs.
04:49He's right.
04:50How do you appreciate it?
04:51He's right. I mean, I'm super honored to say it's my third straight consecutive conference finals.
04:57But in the last two conference finals, it's been teams that we've had a lot of success against in the
05:02regular season and found ourselves losing in the conference finals.
05:05So you can't, you cannot see anything as an opportunity.
05:09Well, the regular season said we had success, so it should translate in the postseason.
05:13It doesn't work like that.
05:14Even the other way around?
05:15Like, even if you don't have success?
05:16I haven't seen the other way around. I haven't had the opposite, opposite situation.
05:21So I'm just happy that, you know, you get to keep having these chances, you know, you can't take any
05:27of them for granted.
Comments