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Chen 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

uh and make sure

that I was stand within the team

uh and you know my focus was on the team and

trying to help them succeed

would you learn the most

you know you were playing

would you learn the most about the NBA

and what you need to

know going forward

I don't think I could you know

sum it up to just one thing

there's there's a lot I Learned

uh I was able to watch uh

I'd like a a front row seat to

uh the class of getting buckets every night

you know watching Shay

uh go out there

uh 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

how other teams play

different styles

different personnel

really be able to

kind of pick up as much as I can from that and you know

kind of take down all the knowledge so I can use it

going forward

where are you at physically now

and how much are you able to do on the court

I'm pretty much

past the rehab part of this

journey I guess you could say

now I'm

progressing more into the 5 on 5 stuff and kind of

taken away

any restrictions that I have this point

you feel close to where you are free injury

in terms of

just physically athletically like

feel like you can play like you did

before you got hurt

yeah you know I feel

feel great I've had a great

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 tea and

you know it's got me in a great spot

being on the floor

what I miss most about being out

what I miss most about being

like not playing

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 uh was definitely tough

um you know just trying to find other ways to kind of

stay competitive uh in other areas

uh while I'm not even play basketball

was kind of a tough thing

it's really too far out

but do you play on playing in summer league at all

you know right now I'm

focused on following the plan that we have in place and

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

uh we'll figure that out as we go

it's a play form

but in which your thoughts on Mark this is

coach of the year right

I think you should be coach of the year but

yeah I think that's all I gotta say

I think you should be coach of the year

fellow rookies kind of go out there and do their thing

dove and will and who's

it was great

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 payoff for them

not only for

you know I fell rookies but all my teammates you know

everybody worked hard this year and

and made you know huge improvements and uh

you know I kind of paid off in

in the wind column for us

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

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 just how anxious I am

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 store with the free 7 post

what can you sort of explain that to us

yeah that's just kind of going back to what he said

just a guy who's anxious to play

you know we all know

I love to play basketball and kind of

that's just me thinking

forward to you know when I'm able to play again

speaking of Instagram captions there's been some

discussions on if she

comes up with his Instagram captions or if

maybe Drake or an outside force does

was your thoughts on that

did does he do it on his own

he does do him on his own

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

uh and sometimes you know

uh he'll just come up with one completely on his own um

but yeah

maybe

when he's retired it'll be like a poet or something

I don't know

I don't remember them all word for word

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 uh 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 at all

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

just

tryna 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

uh must definitely be part of it

besides mentally what do you think that you improved on

like is there anything like

any aspect like on the court

you feel like you were able to improve on

over the course of this year

oh yeah um

obviously like you said mentally watching a lot of 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

uh up to this point in my career

but um

you know I'm kinda on the journey of trying to be a

uh 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 twin ramping up

and kind of like

I don't know

staying safe throughout this injury process

because

obviously you're not going to double wrap yourself

over the summer

you're going to 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

a conversation between not only myself but also the

the team of people here

from the coaches of medical staff

and putting together a good plan of

of what's gonna be effective and what's gonna be

uh smart so

it's going to be a conversation that we'll have

and we'll figure out what's best

where do you plan to spend most of this off season

like you're gonna be in here

are you gonna stay here

and work and follow that planner

yeah I'll be working out

I'll be working out here

I'll probably also be working out in LA as well

your

teammates are all excited about you know

you're joining the team next season

what do you think you can bring to the team next season

or I could change your

dynamics of team based on what you saw this season

yeah that's something that's

um hard to go into detail on 6 months out from

uh

our 1st game and that's something

that's gonna be evolving throughout the season

uh as we play more games and figure things out

um things are gonna 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 journey

in your recovery

it was definitely helpful

you know uh being around uh 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 uh

a college team sometimes than like uh

a team of you know grown men which we all are uh

you know I have uh

2 teammates now with a kid

uh for the 1st time in my life which is pretty crazy

but um

it's been around a group of young guys you know it's

it's always jokes it's always laughing

so uh it definitely picks up the mood um

you know wherever you're at and it's a lot of fun

she said that you're about a cards

we ever respond to that

I've gotten to play it

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

the uniform 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

uh

everybody I've run into has you know been nothing but

nice and 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

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

advertisement

but I got a few

there's a few good

places that are some go TOS

that's probably a tougher question honestly

uh

you know I'm I'm

uh

pretty uh

um exploratory eater

like I'm

wide palette uh

you know I kind of eat whatever or the

step and then um

I'm not really a silver lying type of guy

but I do believe that there's

uh positives and every negative

as far as the injury goes

um what's a positive that's come out of this

yeah uh

I mean when I got hurt

I could either let this be you know

busting our 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 kinda just woke up every day uh with

with the same goal in mind and

uh like I said before us

tried to execute the plan to a tea

uh 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

on the court in the weight room with my nutrition

with film

with working with the coaches

you know I feel like I've been able to work on a lot

and then last question how

well

I asked earlier

I feel like it's hard for the average person to

block out outside noise

um you being um

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

I just uh put my phone in my pocket

um

and uh

kind of just

if there's something that's not gonna 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 affected 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

it's kind of been a collective effort

uh you know all the guys have been great 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 kinda

kinda 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 classes

while everybody's been helpful and

uh you know they've really helped me uh

in kind of any way that could

where's your confidence

level in this team moving forward

I mean I have extreme confidence in this team

because of

the way

one things I run 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 the coach and 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

cheers you said in the pre season that

you talked to trel and beat

and Blake Griffin and guys like that

to kind of learn how to cope with you know

losing your 1st rookie season

have you talked with them anymore

any other players who have been through this

to kind of learn

you know how to handle this

uh not recently no