Hornets Media Day: Leaky Black
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00:00 I believe you welcomed, talked a lot about, you know,
00:04 being from Charlotte, the Hornets,
00:06 and then you work out here, and then summer league.
00:08 Does it ever, you know, not feel surreal
00:11 coming from, you know, Charlotte,
00:13 going back to your country?
00:14 I think every day, you know,
00:16 I try to take it one day at a time.
00:18 You know, every day I come in here,
00:19 and I'm very appreciative of my opportunity
00:21 and just having my family down the road,
00:23 and I don't think it'll ever get old.
00:26 What has been, I think, the first couple months
00:29 for you as a player since you've signed,
00:31 or right after summer league?
00:33 What has the first couple months been like
00:34 since being in this facility,
00:36 being around some of these guys?
00:37 Yeah, honestly, I've just been really hungry,
00:41 to be honest, you know.
00:43 I guess it hasn't really even hit me yet.
00:47 I guess I'm an NBA player, you know.
00:49 I feel like I just have so much to prove,
00:50 and I'm just -- honestly, I'm just ready to play.
00:54 You defended Brandon Miller in a game this past season.
00:58 It feels like you struggled against him.
00:59 You had conversations with him about how you defended him,
01:01 and how you played that game in your head.
01:04 Yeah, you know, obviously, he was second pick,
01:06 so he did his job.
01:08 But when he -- we joke around a lot.
01:13 You know, that's my boy.
01:15 When he get out of line a little bit,
01:16 I like to remind him of that game,
01:18 so I try to humble him a little bit.
01:21 You guys had a game against Louisville, Michigan,
01:23 last year here.
01:24 So what was that like being able to play here against Serena?
01:27 Right.
01:28 That first time, I appreciate you being able to get back out
01:31 there and do it as an NBA player.
01:32 Right.
01:34 Man, it's crazy because I probably had, like,
01:36 20-something tickets that game, and it's like all my boys came.
01:39 And, you know, one guy in particular, you know,
01:42 he's been my best friend since we were probably,
01:43 like, five years old.
01:45 And, you know, my whole life, he was always --
01:48 he would always tell me, "Oh, you're going to Carolina."
01:50 Even when I wasn't a Carolina fan, he was like,
01:51 "Oh, you're going to Carolina. You'll play for the Hornets."
01:53 And then, obviously, he comes to the game when I play here.
01:56 I play pretty good, and he's just like,
01:58 "Bro, I can see you here. Like, you're going to end up here."
02:00 It's just crazy.
02:01 They're like, "I'm here," and he's just, like, so happy for me.
02:03 You know, I call him all the time.
02:05 So this is -- I love -- I honestly love being home.
02:07 So, yeah.
02:09 Do you think he has a ticket for a free ticket?
02:10 100%. He definitely has a ticket.
02:11 Any game he wants to, yeah.
02:14 You said something when you had your draft work out here.
02:17 Something along the lines of, like,
02:18 you really find out that he loves basketball
02:20 during this process,
02:21 and you're going from team to team all over the country.
02:24 How did that process benefit you,
02:26 looking back at the current side of your career?
02:29 How did going through all that and all the traveling
02:31 and working out, how did that make you a better player,
02:34 a better editor, set you up for where you are now?
02:37 Right. Well, just the whole pre-draft process
02:39 is tough for anyone.
02:40 It might be one workout, 15, whatever the case may be.
02:43 I was fortunate enough to have around 14, 15 workouts,
02:47 and some of the guys at my workouts
02:49 also had around that many workouts.
02:51 Mine is just seeing how they react
02:54 when they hit that wall, the fatigue wall,
02:56 and I just kind of assured myself
02:59 how mentally strong I am and that I'm prepared myself,
03:03 you know, to put myself in this position to be successful.
03:07 But you're never really a big stat guy, just knowledge.
03:11 Sometimes, like, from just an average fan,
03:14 they just may look at you, you know,
03:16 maybe not in the A-word,
03:17 maybe they just have a tendency to be an irritation,
03:19 but that's been proven wrong time and time again,
03:22 guys being able to play with 30 yards.
03:24 Mm-hmm.
03:25 Do you look at guys like that and say,
03:27 "That's my motivation and I can still make it?"
03:30 Yeah. I mean, I don't really need any motivation.
03:33 I kind of motivate myself
03:34 regardless of what people got to say.
03:35 But at the end of the day, yeah, like, the stats prove itself.
03:38 It's a lot of guys in the NBA that come from the G League
03:40 who aren't really, I guess, stat guys.
03:43 A guy like Draymond has made a lot.
03:45 You know, he's made a great career for himself
03:48 off of just not being a stat guy.
03:50 So just being able to be versatile
03:51 and move around on the court is what I pride myself on.
03:54 And if the stats show up, they will.
03:55 But at the end of the day, if I'm on the court
03:57 and we get the win, that's what I care about.
03:59 How important do you feel like it is for a team
04:01 to have somebody that is kind of like Nick Wood,
04:03 you know, be every kick out, every emotion?
04:06 Mm-hmm. I mean, I keep bringing up Draymond,
04:08 but, you know, the Warriors, they built like a dynasty,
04:11 and I feel like Draymond's a big piece of that
04:12 regardless of his stats and stuff like that.
04:15 So I feel like every team has a guy
04:19 that's similar to that role, honestly.
04:21 I feel like pretty much every team in the league
04:23 has a guy like that. So, yeah.
04:24 Yeah, so you're obviously on a two-way contract.
04:29 Do you have conversations with Jordan Zernkamp
04:31 and how you're going to be used with this form?
04:35 No, not yet. We've just been --
04:36 Honestly, Jordan works me out literally every single day,
04:39 Monday through Friday around 8 in the morning,
04:42 and we've built a great relationship.
04:43 You know, I love him to death.
04:45 He's just a player's coach, you know,
04:47 a great guy to be around,
04:49 and he's helped me improve my game dramatically so far
04:53 with just the short amount of time I've been here.
04:55 So, yeah, I'm super excited for that.