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00:00 I heard Boston Garm was famous for doing it.
00:02 >> Yeah, man, 40 fix the locker rooms.
00:04 >> Yeah, I heard all the secrets that the Celtics used to do to opponents,
00:09 heard all of them.
00:10 >> [LAUGH] >> All right, let's get started.
00:12 >> All right, PGA talked about the other day, he talked about just you and
00:17 some of the other veterans sharing your wisdom and knowledge for
00:22 guys who are about to participate in their first playoffs.
00:26 What was the message you were trying to get across?
00:30 >> I mean, just to have a great approach and a great mentality and
00:35 be prepared for war, metaphorically, right?
00:39 Just it's the hardest, most difficult time to win ballgames cuz you know
00:44 the other team well, their tendencies, their habits.
00:48 And after game one is pretty much adjustments and
00:53 just go into the internal kind of layer where you're just
00:58 trying not to get too ahead of yourself.
01:03 You're trying to take one game at a time, one minute at a time.
01:05 So you just gotta be balanced, stay focused, limit the distractions and
01:10 just do what you've been doing since you were a kid and have fun doing it.
01:12 So our young guys will be prepared, but until they go through it,
01:17 they won't have any idea what it's like.
01:19 So I'm excited for them and to be alongside them, to lead them.
01:23 So I had that in my first playoff series when we were playing against the Celtics
01:28 when I was 24.
01:29 So my first game went pretty well, we won.
01:32 And I just look back at those moments to use them as examples for the young guys.
01:36 So just it's nothing to be nervous about.
01:38 We've been playing basketball our whole lives.
01:40 We ended the season really well.
01:41 So we have confidence going into the playoffs and
01:44 just gotta err on the side of that.
01:47 >> Do you get nervous anymore in big games?
01:49 >> Yeah, I get some nerves.
01:50 Yeah, but I think I do my best to transmute it into a strength and
01:55 just allow it to drive me instead of consume me.
02:00 Cuz in the past, I've definitely been very anxious, very nervous for games and
02:04 it could get the best of me mentally.
02:05 >> How are you feeling game seven in 2016 heading into that shot?
02:10 >> Man, just right moment, right time, great move.
02:15 Yeah, just one of those historical moments that I was poisoned and ready for.
02:18 This is what me and my dad used to practice in the backyard pretty often.
02:22 And that's why I really take my mind to in those moments and playoff series.
02:26 Just going one on one,
02:27 imagining myself going against some of the greatest of all time.
02:30 And I like the challenge for our first series going against for
02:35 future Hall of Famers and getting a chance to see where we stack up.
02:40 That's really exciting.
02:42 >> We've seen you hit shots like that this season.
02:44 You think about the Nuggets game and that insane lefty.
02:46 >> Yeah. >> What makes you successful in those
02:49 clutch moments?
02:51 >> It's just the trust in the basketball guys, as they say.
02:54 Really just trust in the preparation.
02:56 And I think you guys have heard me say it throughout the season,
02:59 just the hours that no one sees.
03:01 The 12, 30 lifts at night, the 1 AM lifts, waking up early, stretching.
03:06 Just doing all the things necessary to make sure I'm taking care of myself
03:09 mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
03:12 And just going on about my day and
03:15 letting basketball be a release and a creative expression.
03:17 And also a healthy challenge for
03:19 me to raise the bar every single time I go out there.
03:23 >> Can you compare where this team is right now entering the playoffs to
03:28 any of the other teams that you've been in?
03:31 Is this team playing better going into the playoffs than any of the other teams?
03:34 >> Nah, man, comparisons are a thief of joy, especially when you're trying to
03:37 compare teams, cuz you play with so many different great players.
03:39 But for me, it's my first 50 win season, or six years.
03:44 So I don't take that for granted.
03:46 It took a long time to get here.
03:48 I know what it feels like to fail for the past six years and
03:51 not reach our team goals or individual goals.
03:55 So I use that energy to get me prepared for what's coming.
03:58 And just let the controllables be controlled and
04:02 then be prepared for kind of the unknown.
04:05 And just dig deep into that will that I have inside to lead some of these guys.
04:09 And also let them lead me,
04:11 cuz I'm gonna need a lot of help in these series too.
04:14 >> You're going into your first postseason with Luka Doncic as his teammate.
04:19 What does that mean to you?
04:20 And what have you guys talked about what this time means for
04:22 you guys to be able to help lead this team?
04:24 >> It's exciting.
04:25 I think we know what we're both capable of.
04:30 I think you have seen it throughout this season where we really raise our level on
04:34 big games going against some of the greatest players in our league.
04:37 And we wanna be challenged by the best.
04:39 And I think that's the championship pedigree you need,
04:42 the integrity you need of just welcoming all challengers and
04:46 just letting basketball be basketball.
04:48 And again, the most important thing is just limit distractions.
04:51 Don't bring in that extra stuff to the court.
04:53 And at the end of that 48 minutes, then it's just one game.
04:56 Not, it's the first of four.
05:00 So we just gotta take it one day at a time.
05:01 >> Along those lines, Jason the other day had an interesting take about your role and
05:08 legacy that if you played in a game with the four best players ever set foot
05:13 on the planet, after that game, they'd still be talking about something you did.
05:18 So I'm wondering what kind of, is that come naturally or what kind of flair?
05:23 How do you get that sort of a flair?
05:25 >> I believe part of it is innate.
05:28 It's in my DNA.
05:29 I mean, my grandparents have played basketball.
05:31 My dad played basketball.
05:32 My mom played basketball.
05:34 But I also grew up in the five boroughs of New York, playing outside, playing indoor.
05:41 And that's what I grew up around was that entertainment level of basketball,
05:45 going out to the park and trying different moves.
05:48 And some of the greatest moves I've ever made, no one's ever seen.
05:52 So a lot of those habits have come over time of just learning how to have
05:57 the entertainment, but the most important thing is leaving out of there with a win and
06:02 doing it on both ends of the floor.
06:03 And maximizing your potential.
06:05 So if you can do it out, one of those flashy moves as they say,
06:08 that's what they call back in the day, flashing moves.
06:10 We just call it vibe, just something that we do out here now,
06:13 just get into the bag, get into a bucket.
06:15 You try to marry the balance of being able to practice those enough where it just
06:22 becomes innate and it just looks normal.
06:26 I think if we watched me back in the 60s, I think I probably,
06:30 I don't know what type of legacy I would have had.
06:34 If people would have saw me dribbling the way I was dribbling, but
06:37 I think what I like to think back to is the guys who came before me who really set
06:41 that standard and really tried to push the bounds of creative expression on
06:45 the basketball court.
06:46 It enables me to be who I am.
06:47 >> Do you feel like you've partnered well in your life or
06:52 have other people partnered well with you?
06:54 >> I think it's been both.
06:58 I play with a lot of high level thinkers, a lot of high level players, and
07:02 a lot of players that put pressure on themselves to succeed.
07:05 That sometimes can help or hinder certain partnerships.
07:09 So I've learned just how to be more mature in my approach to people's emotions.
07:14 And I think I like to lean in on the side of connecting through our love of the game
07:20 and our love of winning and our love of competing at a very high level.
07:23 And win, lose, or draw, I'm still gonna love you.
07:26 And that matters when you say that to somebody.
07:29 Just go out and do your best.
07:30 And no matter what, win, lose, or draw, we're good, we're brothers.
07:34 >> How have you guys gotten from a defensive standpoint this season
07:37 from Derrick Jones?
07:38 >> Man, he's improved tremendously.
07:40 He was already a great defender, but now that he has other guys alongside of him
07:44 that also love to play defense, no disrespect to any of his other teammates,
07:49 other teams, I just think he has guys behind him that really empower him to
07:54 be liberated as a defender.
07:56 You gotta let guys like that roam, you gotta let guys like that take healthy risk
08:00 and just try to have his back as much as possible and
08:03 also give him a break when he needs it.
08:05 He goes extremely hard for us on the defensive end, so we try to reward him on
08:09 the offensive end by giving him opportunities to be successful as well.
08:12 >> Kyrie, obviously Jason Kidd received some criticism last year.
08:15 This year I think he's done a great job of helping turn things around.
08:18 What have you thought about his performance with the Mavericks?
08:20 >> What do you mean criticism?
08:21 >> Last year when you guys struggled a little bit,
08:22 he received some criticism just from outside.
08:25 >> Yeah, I think every head coach is gonna receive criticism.
08:28 He's one of the leaders of the team and a lot of our wins and
08:32 losses he takes a lot of the responsibility and I just commend him for that and
08:36 I love him for it.
08:37 But us as players, we wanna protect him and we wanna be successful for
08:42 all of us because all of our legacies on the line at this point.
08:46 I think if you look at some of the guys on our team, we've dealt with a lot of
08:49 naysayers, a lot of critics, a lot of noise, just like other teams, but
08:53 I think specifically with us, somehow I was called a chaos agent for
08:58 a little bit and there was this narrative that I'm a locker room cancer.
09:01 And all these things that ended up becoming just these run a show media
09:07 pundits and I didn't wanna be the butt of anyone's joke and
09:11 I don't mind being a butt of anyone's jokes, but not at the expense or
09:15 consequence of my teammates success and our success as an organization.
09:18 So I've just taken a lot of hits, learned how to hit back,
09:22 learned how to protect myself, learned how to protect my brothers and
09:25 my sisters and keep the main thing the main thing.
09:27 >> Kyrie, going back to the partnership topic,
09:31 LeBron obviously goes all the way in 2016.
09:35 Are there, what if any similarities do you find in the tandem with Luka that give
09:39 you belief you can do the same thing?
09:41 >> I mean, again, like comparisons to D for Joy, so I do my best to put
09:47 those moments in my career as like chapters and something in the past.
09:50 But what I can learn from that chapter, what I have with Bron was,
09:53 we just had a fluidity of just where we were gonna be on the court and
09:58 we knew where we wanted the ball and there was a mutual respect there.
10:02 And when it was his time to take over games or
10:05 it was my time to take over games, we allowed each other to do that.
10:07 And also we had to have some kind of mother effort or
10:12 moments to each other where we challenged each other.
10:14 And you never saw us getting each other's faces as often or
10:19 anything like that, but we did challenge ourselves and thus,
10:23 us challenging each other, we were able to challenge everyone on the team to be better.
10:27 So I think that's what enabled us to be successful in 2016.
10:30 And I think me and Luka are doing the same thing here when you have
10:35 somebody that can be challenged and I could look to Luka and be like, hey man,
10:38 come on, turn this up a little bit.
10:40 Or I'd be like, all right, come on, Ky, say it in his language or
10:44 he'll say something to me.
10:45 And it even is a more of encouraging celebratory moment,
10:49 like just getting somebody going on a positive note goes a long way.
10:53 So I feel like that's a similarity of just keeping the positivity going.
10:57 But when the going gets tough, you have somebody that's in the foxhole with you,
11:01 that's ready to go and shoot all their ammo out until they're empty.
11:04 You need people like that, that's not afraid to empty their clips.
11:07 >> Team USA announced its basketball roster for the Olympics.
11:10 I think a lot of us were surprised you weren't on it.
11:11 Did you wanna play on it, Kyrie?
11:13 >> Yeah, I would have loved to.
11:15 But I think I wish my brothers well, and I just didn't fit into this team.
11:19 And I think the deliberation process was a tough one.
11:22 But again, I have nothing but respect for those guys over at USAB.
11:27 At this point in my career, I think my focus should be on winning the championship.
11:34 And in the summertime, just going to support those guys when I get a chance.
11:38 But yeah, I grew up in a time too, I wanted to say this.
11:42 I grew up in a time too where we actually had to try out for USAB.
11:45 And we did meet up as a group and as peers.
11:48 And there was a mutual respect that we earned from one another and
11:51 trying out and then seeing what five meshed well.
11:54 So I think obviously the timing's a little bit different.
11:57 But yeah, I kinda miss those days of just being able to get everybody together,
12:02 break bread, and then compete against one another.
12:04 And then the deliberation process happens at the end of the four days or
12:07 five day process, even though people know who's gonna be on the team.
12:09 You know what I'm saying?
12:10 So I just miss that fun part of it, of just getting together.
12:13 But I wish my brothers well.
12:15 >> Just lastly, in terms of going into game one, you said coming out of game one,
12:20 as you make adjustments for the rest of the series.
12:22 Do you use that game one as a fill out game, where you see what works and
12:27 see what doesn't?
12:28 >> I guess you can call it a fill out game.
12:29 I think it's more or less just the beginning of a chess match.
12:33 You're just trying to think three moves ahead,
12:36 trying to see different things that your opponent's gonna risk.
12:38 What are they gonna show?
12:39 And I've been able to play on a T loop for a little bit.
12:42 So I feel like I know him well enough at this point.
12:45 He knows me well enough, but I'm at a different place in my life.
12:49 He's at a different place in his life.
12:50 I'm not the young kid, 24, that he can just probably put in these predicaments and
12:54 throw the ball around the place.
12:56 So I kinda know what to expect, but
12:58 also I'm intrigued to see what adjustments he's gonna make.