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chat obviously not being able to play

this season but being able to be inside

the group inside the team just what was

this like from your perspective oh yeah

obviously it's it looked a lot different

than uh you know what was expected

um but I just you know tried to work

with what I was given and make sure that

I was staying within the team uh and you

know my focus was on the team and trying

to help them succeed

what did you learn the most uh even

though you were playing what you learned

the most about the NBA and what you need

to know going forward

uh I don't think I could you know sum it

up to just one thing

there's there's a lot I learned I was

able to watch uh I had like a front row

seat to

uh the class of getting buckets every

night you know watching Shea go out

there and all the other dudes too and

you know other teams as well uh it was

it was it was great for me to be able to

watch uh how other teams play uh

different styles uh different personnel

and really be able to kind of pick up as

much as I can from that and uh you know

uh

kind of take down all the knowledge so I

can use it going forward so where are

you at physically now and how much are

you able to do on the court uh I'm

pretty much uh past the rehab part of

this uh

journey I guess you could say uh now I'm

progressing more into the five on five

stuff and kind of uh taken away uh any

restrictions that I have to this point

do you feel close to where you were

pre-injury uh in terms of

physically athletically like feel like

you can play like you did before you got

hurt uh yeah you know I feel feel great

I've had a great uh Team around me

helping me get back to you know a great

point and there's been a great plan in

place and you know I feel like I

followed that to a T and uh you know

it's got me in a gray spot

being being on the floor what did you

miss most about being out

what I miss most about being

like not playing

um

uh it's a lot of things obviously like

you said the toughest part is is just

not playing but um I'm a pretty

competitive guy so not having kind of

competitive Outlet uh that you know I'm

accustomed to it was definitely tough

um you know just trying to find other

ways to kind of stay competitive in

other areas while I'm not able to play

basketball was kind of a tough thing

it's very too far out but do you plan on

playing in summer league at all uh

uh you know right now I'm focused on

following the plan that we have in place

and uh you know if

when that time comes that's part of the

plan uh you know I'll uh follow the plan

like I have up to this point

um but right now I'm focused on on the

plan that I have here in the near future

and we'll figure that out as we go you

didn't get to play for him but I mean

what's your thoughts on Mark this

evening

um

coach of the year right finals yeah

I think it should be kosher here but

um yeah I think that's all I gotta say I

think it should be coach of the year

fellow rookies kind of go out there and

do their thing dub and will and booze uh

it was great

um being able to watch the strides that

they'd made over the course of the

season and all the work that they put in

it was great to watch you know that pay

off for them

um

not only for you know my fellow rookies

but all my teammates you know everybody

worked hard this year and and made you

know huge improvements and uh you know

it kind of paid off in in the win column

for us uh as well as you know just our

ability as individuals and as a team uh

you know we made great strides together

does the success of the team make you

even more like anxious to get out there

with them knowing that you can

contribute to like a pretty high level

team already

um

uh

I feel like

I feel like that doesn't change it too

much you know I just feel like uh

pretty anxious to get out there and

obviously play with my teammates and you

know do whatever I can to help them win

obviously uh you know it's great that uh

this group of guys was able to uh you

know exceed

um kind of expectations going into the

year and uh you know really put together

a great season

um but I don't think it changes how

anxious I am to you know get out there

and play with these guys

speaking to your eagerness of trying to

get back out there you created quite a

stir with the free seven post what can

you sort of explain that to us uh yeah

that's just kind of going back to what

he said just uh a guy who's anxious to

play uh you know we all know uh I love

to play basketball and kind of that's

just me thinking uh forward to you know

when I'm able to play again

speaking of Instagram captions there's

been some discussions on if Shea comes

up with his Instagram captions or if

maybe Drake or an outside force does was

uh he does do him on his own

um

he kind of like uh sometimes he'll just

like

uh be around the team and kind of joke

around and then come up with one and

sometimes you know uh he'll just come up

with on completely on his own um

but yeah maybe when he's retired he'll

be like a poet or something I don't know

um

uh

I don't remember them all word for word

um but he's had a few good ones so it's

probably hard to pick one

what did you learn about the thunder

through this year you know you kind of

got to be inside the walls what did you

learn about just the team the

organization

uh I knew coming in uh that this was a

great organization with great people and

it was really well run but that was kind

of just uh reaffirmed uh after going

through this whole season and uh not

only the way they took care of me and

helped me but you know the way they

handle everybody who comes through the

building

um and the way they do business it's all

around uh you know just no issues and uh

you know they do it the right way as

you're watching the team are there like

specific things that you're watching

like oh I could help in this area or I

could really feel like this Gap that's

kind of being left you know by the team

on the court yeah yeah that's part of

analyzing the game as I'm watching

um just

trying to understand like I said before

how other teams are playing how we're

playing and uh kind of visualize and and

think about how you know I could be in

there uh in certain situations and and

uh you know how I would you know play

that situation or affect that situation

um that's definitely a big part of it

besides mentally what do you think that

you improved on like is there anything

like any aspect like on the court that

you feel like you were able to improve

on over the course of this year oh yeah

yeah um obviously like you said mentally

watching a lot of the game uh you're

able to pick up on a lot of things but

um

I never really had the time to just kind

of rework uh my shot and uh really have

the time and the the focus to put into

it

um you know I've taken pride in my

ability to shoot the basketball and

um I feel like I've done it pretty well

up to this point in my career but

um you know I'm kind of on the Journey

of trying to be a an elite shooter so I

was able to really put in a lot of work

with my shot and uh and you know make it

even uh more effective Chad coming off

this injury how do you find the balance

between ramping up and kind of like I

don't know staying safe throughout this

injury process because obviously you're

not going to Bubble Wrap yourself over

the summer you're gonna work and try to

get better but at the same time you

can't be I guess out there Reckless

doing whatever that makes sense yeah

that comes down to uh

a conversation between not only myself

but also the the team of people here

from the coaches to the medical staff

and putting together a good plan of of

what's going to be effective and what's

going to be uh smart so it's going to be

a conversation that we'll have and and

we'll figure out what's best where do

you plan to spend most of this off

season

uh like you're gonna be in here or are

you going to stay here and work and

follow that Planner yeah I'll be working

out I'll be working out here uh I'll

probably also be working out uh in La as

well your teammate did with teammates

are all excited about you know you

joining the team next season uh what do

you think you can bring to the team uh

next season oh you know or I could

change your dynamics of a team based on

what you saw this season yeah that's

that's something that's

um hard to go into detail on six months

out from uh

our first game and that's something

that's going to be evolving throughout

the season uh as we play more games and

figure things out

um things are going to change uh game to

game uh based on Personnel another team

and and game plan how they play how we

play uh so that's gonna be something

that we kind of figure out uh as we go

you may not have been able to be on the

floor but you got to spend a lot of time

with your teammates on and off the floor

just what's that camaraderie like with

this group and how much did that help

you in your your journey in your

recovery uh it's definitely it was

definitely helpful uh you know uh being

around a group of guys that's uh like

the group guys we have

um we're obviously a very young team uh

so it almost feels more like a college

team sometimes than like a team of you

know grown men which we all are uh you

know I have uh two teammates now with a

kid uh for the first time in my life

which is pretty crazy but

um being around a group of young guys

you know it's always jokes it's always

laughing so it definitely picks up the

mood

um you know wherever you're at and it's

a lot of fun I said that you were bad at

cards you have a response to that

uh

I'm bad at cards

they got the player but you haven't

gotten to be in this community and see

this fan base for a year what's it been

like kind of living here and getting to

know what it's like to be in Oklahoma

City uh it's great it's great

um I had never been here uh before

showing up the day after the draft

um but since being here uh you know it's

been a great experience uh you know

Southern Hospitality is definitely

definitely a real thing here

um Everybody I've run into has you know

been nothing but uh nice and uh you know

it's a great Community around here and

I'm glad to be a part of it do you have

any favorite restaurants

uh

uh I don't know if I should give out the

free advertisement here but but uh I

gotta I got a few there's a few good uh

good places that uh are some go-to's

um

that's probably a tougher question

honestly uh

you know I'm I'm uh

pretty uh

um exploratory eater like um

wide palette uh you know I kind of eat

whatever really

stuff and then

um I'm not really a silver lining type

of guy but I do believe that there's

a positive and every negative as far as

your injury goes um what's a positive

that's come out all of us yeah uh I mean

when I got hurt I could either let this

be you know a blessing or curse and uh

you know kind of from day one I decided

uh you know it's

in my best interest to turn it into a

blessing so I kind of just woke up every

day uh with with the same goal in mind

and like I said before

tried to execute the plan to a T and I

feel like because of that you know I've

been able to uh get really good quality

work in

um

and really follow that plan uh on the

court in the weight room with my

nutrition uh with film uh with working

with the coaches uh you know I feel like

I've been able to work on a lot and then

last question how well

um I showed you earlier

I feel like it's hard for the average

person to block out

outside noise

um you being a top draft pick a lot of

people talking about you when you went

down that all Amplified how hard is it

for you well how hard

was it for you to block out that noise

and what kind of is your coping

mechanism there uh

I just uh put my phone in my pocket

um

and uh

kind of just if there's something that's

not going to be productive to what I'm

trying to accomplish you know I try not

to pay attention to it uh you know I got

24 hours in the day and uh

you know I don't

see uh

I don't see why it'd be effective for me

to you know put time into uh you know

worrying about what one I can't control

into uh you know people who you know I

probably won't ever even meet in real

life so I just try to focus on on what I

can do to be a better me at the end of

each day

were there any specific teammates that

kind of you know helped you throughout

the season

um

it's kind of been a collective effort uh

you know all the guys have been great

and great to me

um you know Mike's not here but uh early

on you know I was working out with him

last summer back in Minnesota and uh you

know he was helpful uh even before I got

hurt

um with uh you know just kind of kind of

teaching me the ropes

um and uh

just kind of telling me what to expect

same thing with uh K rich and and Rio

and all these other vets uh like Shay

and I mean he's 24 but he's a vet to us

and

um you know all the other guys too like

all the way down to you know my rookie

class as well everybody's been helpful

and uh you know they've really helped me

uh in kind of any way they could

where's your confidence level in this

team moving forward

uh I mean I have extreme confidence in

this team uh because of uh the way uh

when things are running around here uh

into uh the quality of the characters

that we have in this building uh you

know not only from on our roster but on

a coaching staff all the way to you know

our analytical Department uh you know if

you're a bad person you don't really end

up in this building so

um you know things are done the right

way and you know I believe that pays off

in the end

you said in the preseason that you

talked with drilling bead and Blake

Griffin and guys like that to kind of

learn how to cope with you know losing

your first rookie season have you talked

with them anymore or any other players

who've been through this to kind of

learn you know how to handle this uh not

recently no