Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey Media Day Press Conferences

Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey speak to the media at 76ers Media Day on Sept. 26, 2025.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Avatari's Maxie and you're listening to the seventy six Insiders podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
Search seventy six ers Insiders wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
Well, I guess the first question is how are you
feeling and when are you gonna be playing?

Speaker 4 (00:26):
Whether you're can playing training camp or start for the season.

Speaker 5 (00:29):
With what's going on with your health, feel pretty good.

Speaker 6 (00:32):
I think we uh, we've made a lot of progress
over the last couple months. We got a planning place,
trying to check all the boxes. So you know, just
taking dead by day. This is still you know, kind
of like a field period period while we just you know,

(00:52):
taking dead by day, keep getting stronger, keep getting better.
That's been a few cares sessions, so you know, everything
is you know, on schedules. So but I think you know,
with your team, you know, following whatever we have playing,
I think you know, there's no there's no there's not

(01:18):
necessarily an expectation. It's more about making sure everything is
right and doing everything right and yeah, and then go
from there.

Speaker 7 (01:31):
I guess like the team has kind of posted pictures
and videos of you in the gym of the last
couple of weeks, what exactly you've been able to do.
Have you been able to get in some drills, some
live acts or anything like that recently?

Speaker 6 (01:42):
I've done a few stuff, you know, just you know,
just going you know, like I said, taking a day
by day. You know, obviously the goal is you know,
to play consistently and you know, not being in a
position that you know we were last year, so whatever

(02:03):
that brings me death and whatever the plan is. I
think you know, the focus is on you know, like
just you know, you know, checking all those boxes.

Speaker 5 (02:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (02:17):
Uh, you gave an interview this summer where you talked
a lot about the mental side of the game and
the challenges there on top of the basketball and the
health stuff. So I guess, just one, how are you
doing personally? But also are do you feel like you're
in a better spot right now mind and body in
terms of how you feel out there on the floor

(02:38):
compared to this time last year?

Speaker 5 (02:41):
Yeah? Obviously.

Speaker 6 (02:42):
Uh, you know, this time last year, I think, you know,
going into training camp, didn't really know what was possible
and what I was gonna be able to do, which
I didn't end up doing, you know much This time
is a different different story mentally, you know, I feel,

(03:04):
you know, I feel better.

Speaker 5 (03:06):
I got got great people around me. That's all that matters.

Speaker 6 (03:10):
So you know, they keep me up, you know, stay
you know, keep staying positive. And obviously it helps that
you know, you're in a different situation than you would
a year ago at this time, right before training CAM.
So it's a good start. Yeah, and we just gotta
we just gotta keep going.

Speaker 4 (03:31):
Joel, Joel, Uh, even you know, even with you know,
if you're not ready now or today or whenever you're ready,
you know, is it it has it just been better
for you mentally that you know you have been able
to make some progress and that you're not in the
same spot uh as you were last year. And how

(03:54):
frustrating was that part for you? And you know how
gratifying is that for you now that you're actually making progress.

Speaker 5 (04:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (04:01):
I think everybody that knows me knows that I want
to play and I want to play you know, every
single game. You know, I've been I've been pretty unlucky
when it comes to that, you know, compared to you know,
most NBA players. So you know that's you know, when

(04:24):
you get in the point to the point where you know,
I know I miss a lot of games. Uh, you
know before last year also because of injuries. But when
you get to the point where I was last year,
where he was so unpredictable, you know, it's uh, you know,
it's you know, he sucks. He's uh mentally draining. But

(04:46):
I've had so many injuries. The one thing that I've
always told myself is, you know, you can't give up
no matter what comes, you just gotta you know, get
back up and keep pushing through and you know, and
you know, do the right thing at all times and
hope for the best. So, you know, like I said,

(05:08):
just you know a little bit of a different situation
this year. So I'm excited to keep progressing. You know,
I feel, I feel, I feel really good and you know,
I'm on you know, I'm on pace to you know,
just uh, you know, keep finding myself and being myself.

Speaker 9 (05:30):
Hey, Joe over here, when you sort of talk about
the new plan or this the plan this time around
and sort of the boxes that you need to check,
just maybe what are some things that are different about
how you will approach just the coming back process. And
I guess how confident are you that you guys have
found a solution or or sort of a path forward?
That's going to work and create that consistency that you're

(05:52):
talking about.

Speaker 6 (05:53):
I think, you know, like you know, I've I want
to be as honest as as you know, as as possible.
I think, you know, going forward, you know, we're just
gonna listen to the body, and you know, I'll be
honest and say that you know, it's gonna be unpredictable

(06:14):
at times, and that's okay.

Speaker 5 (06:17):
And we gotta walk with that.

Speaker 6 (06:19):
Uh. You gotta take it day by day, you know, uh,
and and go from there. So I think, you know,
the only focus that I am is, you know, every
single time you know we were on the right.

Speaker 5 (06:33):
Path, you know, keep going.

Speaker 6 (06:35):
And if you know there's something that happens and you
know that in that time, it's okay, you know, just
you know, like focus on you know, fixing it and
and keep going.

Speaker 5 (06:47):
So that's my mentality. I understand the situation.

Speaker 6 (06:52):
That that I'm mean, uh, and you know it's just
you know, you know, taking it day by day day
and you know, just listening.

Speaker 5 (07:01):
To the body.

Speaker 10 (07:04):
Joelle going back to the es ore here, Joell, going
back to the ESPN story for a minute here. That
was maybe as open as you've been with anyone.

Speaker 5 (07:14):
In your career.

Speaker 10 (07:14):
I guess what motivated you and inspired you to be
so open for that, I'm not sure.

Speaker 5 (07:22):
I think.

Speaker 6 (07:26):
The background of you know, the story, I felt like
I wasn't. I didn't do it to put my story
out there. I felt like, you know, from the first conversation,
I felt like it was genuine, whether it was positive

(07:46):
or negative or negative, I felt like, you know, for
the first time, you know, it wasn't about trying to
get clicks off of me. It wasn't about trying to
find a court to put it out that that's gonna,
you know, make you famous or whatever. I just felt like,
you know, I knew I would have come, you know,

(08:07):
what was coming with it, uh. I knew positive could
be positive. I knew it could be negative. But I
like the in depth reporting that was going on and
the questions. So from there, you know, that's what I like,
you know, even talking to you guys, like you know,
there's a few of these guys that I've you know,
I've known you guys for a long time.

Speaker 5 (08:29):
Man.

Speaker 6 (08:29):
You know, I appreciate the work that you guys do,
and you know, but that's what I like about it.
You know, there's you know, and there's a few of
you guys that also, you know, do the terrible job
of just you know, trying to get famous and get
the clicks and you know, trying to pick up you know,
each you know, some of the courts or whatever, which

(08:50):
is okay, you know, we all have a job to do.
I don't blame you know, those people. But then again
there's you know, also a few of those guys of
you guys, I try to do as good of a
job as possible, and you know, tell the whole story,
you know, not to try to make me look good
or make me look bad, but to report it you know,

(09:12):
the way it is. And you know, I just I
just liked it. I just appreciate it, you know that
you know someone kind of you know. And to me,
when I do this, I keep on talking to you guys.
I don't I don't necessarily have to give these long answers.
I could just give a one more answer. But to me,

(09:33):
you know, like I always feel like I'm helping you guys.
And you know, if you're willing to do your job correctly,
then you know, I'm willing to work with it, and
I'm gonna put myself in a position to help you guys.
So you know, that's that's the way I felt.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
Here.

Speaker 11 (09:53):
Cho Well, the other thing in the ESPN story was
talked about your relationship with jamiir Nelson and how he's
kind of helped you.

Speaker 5 (10:00):
I don't have a relationship none at all.

Speaker 11 (10:04):
I was just curious what he's kind of meant for
you and obviously his experience being a former player, some
of the stuff he's going through, which is kind of
what he's meant to being here.

Speaker 6 (10:13):
Jami has been great obviously former players from Philly. He's
been you know here for now a few years. He's
done a good job of you know, you know, just
doing a good job. And obviously he got promoted. Now
he's going to have a big part, you know, kind
of like on the team with the players and everything.

(10:36):
So I think, you know, especially as a former player,
it's good to you know, see you know, those guys succeed.
But yeah, I think, you know, you can relate to him.
You know, he played, he knows our, he goals, he's
been at this level. You know, he's gone places, so
I think, you know, he's done a great job.

Speaker 5 (11:01):
Hey Joelle, how you doing.

Speaker 12 (11:03):
You just mentioned wanting to have consistency with your health
and your availability. Have you thought about any ways that
you can change the way that you play when you
are on the court that can help you preserve that
health and be available more consistently.

Speaker 5 (11:17):
That's tough. H Uh, yeah, I mean think about it.

Speaker 6 (11:27):
But then in game, you know, at times you can't
get out of yourself. You know, all I know is,
you know, ever since I started, is to play hard,
play both fans. And there's a lot of people in
the league, you know, that play you know, one side,
whether it's offensive defense, and you know a lot of times,
you know, for me, my mentality is to do whatever

(11:49):
it takes to win, and well for you know, all
of my career actually has been having to do both.
You know, there's some guys that actually do a lot
offense and you know, take place off defensively. And there's
some guys that are actually you know, be the best
defenders and you know, kind of like chill on the corner.

(12:11):
But and I don't blame them, you know, I get
you know, you know, I've gotten to this point because
of you know, how good I.

Speaker 5 (12:19):
Am on both fans of the floor.

Speaker 6 (12:21):
So if you actually ma the you know, change the
way I play is you know, the only guess that
I have is, you know, either play you know, offense
fully and take place off defensively, which you know doesn't
suit me. You know, I don't think I would ever

(12:41):
be okay with that. So I don't know. I think, well,
we'll just wait and see. But yeah, he's he's. I mean,
if if it's got to be that way, it's definitely
gonna be an adjustment. But I don't I don't see
that happening.

Speaker 5 (12:57):
Joe.

Speaker 8 (12:58):
You might be the only guy in the organization we
haven't talked to about VJ this off season obviously, you know,
the pressure that comes to being a top three pick
like he is. How much have you talked with him,
worked with him, and what have your impressions of him
been so far?

Speaker 5 (13:15):
I like him a lot, obviously, I've talked to him
a lot.

Speaker 6 (13:19):
And you know, even before, even as soon as we
drafted him, I just knew I would like him. I
like this background kind of reminds me of myself, you know,
coming you know, coming from another country and you know,
having a lot of hardships growing up, so and you know,

(13:41):
and he's an amazing key so far so, Yeah, but
you know it's been good, you know, having him around,
you know, talking to him, kind of trying to help me.
I feel like I'm at the stage of my career where,
you know, obviously I know the job I have to do.
I still, you know, have to be the guy, but
you know, but I'm also at the stage where I

(14:03):
can help a lot of you know, this young you know,
these young players that are coming in, whether it's him,
you know, Jared or some of the young guys that
we've had. You know, I've been in that situation with
Tyres and I'm extremely happy and I'm so part of
all the work that he's put in to get you know,

(14:25):
to this level. But he still has more to do
and he's going to do more. So, you know, I
found myself in another situation where there's a bunch of
other young guys and you know, it's my it's my
job other than you know, the job that I have
to kind of show them the way and you know,
for them also to learn from the mistakes that I've made. Uh,

(14:48):
And you know, it's kind of you know, giving them
all and you know, and let them figure it out.

Speaker 5 (14:54):
How to you.

Speaker 6 (14:55):
Know, live the life and you know, uh, and you know,
keep advancing with that career.

Speaker 5 (15:00):
So yeah, like god, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4 (15:06):
Joel, how important in the vacuum is this season for
you guys as a team, And you know, when you
look at this roster, what do you think the ceiling
is for the roster and what do you guys have
to do to actually accomplish that.

Speaker 5 (15:20):
I don't know, I don't, I don't.

Speaker 6 (15:22):
I think I'm past the stage you're focusing on ceilings.
I think for me, it's taking the day by day,
trying to get back every single day. Obviously we know
that for us is Yeah, the biggest thing is health.
That's that's really the biggest thing. So you know, focus

(15:44):
on doing the white things every single day. And you
know in the court, you know, we you know, we
have I have a pretty you know, I know it's
a saying timas last year, but you know, we we
got a lot of talent uh on the court. So
it's all about putting it together. But you can put
it together if you know, everybody's not on the same

(16:05):
page and it's not healthy. So you know, the you know,
the main focus is just taking it day by day
and you know, and you know just be with each other.

Speaker 8 (16:20):
Tyrese on this day, right, we normally talk to you about,
you know, what did you work on in the summer,
and you know kind of what was your focus going in.
How much more difficult was that for you to figure
out where to start when last year you guys never
really got your feet under you, so anything you're facing
is probably like, I don't even know how that applies

(16:43):
moving forward. How difficult was it to figure that out?
Like what you were focused on this summer?

Speaker 2 (16:48):
I meant to say it was too difficult.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
I played a good amount of games to where I
can kind of get like a baseline of what I
wanted to get better at, and then I also watched
a lot of games to kind of know, Okay, I
need to add that, I need to add that, I
need to add that.

Speaker 2 (17:03):
So it was pretty easy.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
I think the biggest thing for me was I just
got a lot of working honestly just because of the
long summer. But it was really great. Man, last summer,
not this summer. Last summer I didn't get to start
working out like after contract, so it was a little
weird and my first time kind of really doing that.
But I feel really good honestly, man, this summer, I
got to hit the ground early and hit it like

(17:26):
may and I'm just ready to start.

Speaker 8 (17:29):
And we heard from Paul that basically the whole team
has been here the last couple of weeks, two three
weeks in the gym working together. How much time have
you gotten to spend with VJ on the floor specifically,
And I guess we've talked to you a little bit
about how that might work, you two playing together, But
what are your first impressions playing with him?

Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah, BJ's a special talent. I think one of his
talents that a lot of players don't really use is
like how hard he plays on both ends of the
floor with this offensive rebait on and defensive rebounding, guarding
the ball, playing transition. Those things are like things that
like little things that a lot of people don't do.
So I think he's going to be really good at that.

(18:10):
He likes to learn, he wants to get better. The
sky's a living for him. I actually spent a lot
of time with him that I'm thinking about it. Had
a couple or something, how you doing drum? Did a
couple of workouts here probably in I think August took
them to like Disney disney Land in LA.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
That was fun. Then I came back here.

Speaker 1 (18:32):
He's the type of guy that like he likes to
work out, you know, he likes to actually get a
gym and work He kind of like Jared. So I
think that the those two are are a good start
to the coaches they were trying to build Terrace.

Speaker 3 (18:44):
We know Joe is Joe and Paul's Paul, but you're
also obviously a team leader here and you're continuing to
grow in that role, especially vocally. And he just talked
about all the different excursions that you did, you know,
in the gym, out of the gym with some of
the younger guys this year. What are you really trying
to accomplish in terms of growth as a leader this year.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
For the Sixers.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
I think the biggest thing that I'm trying to accomplish
is like we need a standard, like this is who
we are every single day, no matter who plays, no
matter who doesn't play. When you see Philadelphia seventy six ers,
this is what you see. You're gonna see that team
every single night, every single time you turn the TV on,
every single time you.

Speaker 2 (19:20):
Step foot in whatever arena that we're playing.

Speaker 1 (19:24):
This is the team that you're gonna get, and this
is the type of culture you're gonna get. They're gonna
do this thing, They're gonna do a certain things a
certain way every single night. I think that's the biggest thing.
And then just like building a camarader and the brotherhood
off the court, I think that's one of the biggest
things that we've I've tried to do this summer. Justin
was in Dallas a little bit, came to my house.
You know what I'm saying, VJ. A couple of guys
are gonna come to my house soon, you know what

(19:45):
I'm saying. A couple out here. So it's just like,
that's a ton of things that I'm trying to build.
If you have that friendship and that relationship off the court,
I think when you get on the court. I've even
started playing video games with the VJs, the Justins and
you know what I'm saying. So it's like, I think
that it's going to help us.

Speaker 12 (20:00):
A lot tyres You mentioned Jared just now, first of all,
the news about his thumb yesterday.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
I'm just curious what your reaction was to.

Speaker 12 (20:09):
That and whether or not you've talked with him and
generally your memory of playing with him last year. I
know it was a brief because you were both dealing
with injuries, but what stood out to you about the
time you shared with Jared in the backcourt?

Speaker 2 (20:21):
Right?

Speaker 1 (20:21):
Yeah, I definitely talked to him. I feel for him, man,
he's coming back from I think his knee meniscus and injury,
and he's worked his tail lots to get where he
is today. But think about Jared, He's a positive person.
He works extremely hard, so he'll be back extremely soon
and I know he'll get one hundred percent healthy. And

(20:41):
like you said, the time that I played with him
in the backcourt, it's great. I mean, Jared does a
lot of things that a lot of teams really would like.

Speaker 2 (20:50):
You know what I'm saying. Like, he shoots the ball well,
he passed.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
The ball pretty well, he competes on defense, He's going
to do all those different things, and he's a great teammate.
So you just needed we wanted to get back healthy
in the can't wait to have him back out there.

Speaker 7 (21:02):
Hey, what's going on?

Speaker 5 (21:03):
Rees?

Speaker 7 (21:04):
Obviously you known Joe more better than anybody really are
going on this roster. Obviously, We've seen videos and photos
him working out with you guys, things like that. What
have you kind of seen from Joe? And it's just
being able to work out with him a little bit recently.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
Like you said, I Joe is Joe.

Speaker 1 (21:20):
I know Joe, and it's just good to see him
able to move around and play basketball because at the
end of the day, he loves doing it. He's extremely competitive,
So I'm just happy for him.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
Yeah, barely, you might, don't worry. You gotta get up
and yea.

Speaker 13 (21:37):
So correct me if I'm wrong on this, But I
think like last year, it seemed like not knowing if
Joel was in the lineup seemed to drain the guys
wearing you guys a little bit. Joelle saying that he's
doing better this year, but else I could use the
word unpredictable.

Speaker 2 (21:48):
I guess my question is what do you.

Speaker 5 (21:50):
Learned from last year?

Speaker 13 (21:51):
Can you guys succeed if there's some unpredictable ability with him,
whether he's in the lineup or not, or where did
you learn from last year.

Speaker 2 (21:57):
In terms of how to deal with that.

Speaker 1 (21:58):
That kind of goes back to what I said at
the beginning, like we're trying to create an identity to
where no matter who plays, I'm not playing, Joe's not playing,
Jared's not playing, All's not playing. Whoever, it doesn't matter
DJ I don't. I'm going down. I can go down
the whole list the seventi series. We're gonna play this
way every single night, no matter who's out there. We're
gonna compete, We're gonna play hard, We're gonna play. That's

(22:18):
what we're gonna do, and that's what it has to
come down to. So now it's not a oh, we
gotta rely on one thing and okay, you're not playing.
We got to do change our whole thing. Now we're
gonna play the same way every single night. And of course,
you know it's a little stipulation. So when Joe will plays,
then of course they're gonna double. They're gonna do those
different things. But like base, our base needs to be
the same every single night. I think the biggest team

(22:40):
that we've been working.

Speaker 9 (22:41):
On, Terry's over here. You were pretty candid last year
about how the season sort of wore on you mentally
at certain points. I guess maybe looking back on that
experience now, like what did you learn from that to
then make sure that that doesn't happen again, just when
the ebbs and flows of the season kind of arrive.

Speaker 1 (22:58):
I learned a lot, earned a lot, I changed a lot.
I feel like the biggest thing that I've done just
personally for myself is like I've started like really focusing
it on like mental health of my for myself, just
as like I said, I've never lost in my career,
so it was good for me to go through that
and like also become like a better leader in and

(23:20):
like leading the young guys and leading the team and
just kind of keeping everybody positive. This year, we definitely
plan on, you know, being better, and we've been working
our tees off to be better. I think for me,
like I said that, it's got me into a point
to where, like I journal a little bit more, I
read a little bit more. I've done like some different
things this summer to keep my mental health and keep
my my spirits in a correct place. So because my

(23:43):
spirits have to be high for this team and for
this organization and for my game as well. So I
think that's what I'll do, make sure I do this year,
and uh, we'll be better.

Speaker 14 (23:54):
Are you the one preaching that message? About about standard culture.
I mean, you're kind of the veter and know that
the young group of guys, I guess you could say,
I mean, is that coming from you?

Speaker 1 (24:05):
I think it's going to come from all of us, honestly.
I mean definitely, I'll be one that's speaking up a
lot more. I have just been a lot more vocal
on things that I see and things that I want
to try to help fix. And that's just not because
I'm older. I think it's more because, like, I want
to win. I think everybody here else wants to win,

(24:25):
and I also want to be like I want to
do things the right way, you know what I mean,
and when you do, I think when you do things
the right way, you get rewarded. So that's what we're
trying to implement. That's what we've been trying to do,
and I think that it will help us.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
In the long run.

Speaker 14 (24:38):
Speaking of speaking of winning, you guys, I mean this
time last year, we're asking you guys about contending for
a title, and I don't think that's come up once yet.
You know, the East is wide open, but people are
kind of looking at you guys as almost rebuilding. Do
you think this team can win? With or without Joelle
and Paul, and.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
I think the biggest team, The biggest thing that this
team and its organizations to work on is ourselves.

Speaker 2 (25:02):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (25:03):
We got to focus on ourselves and focus on getting
better every single day. I know I said this so
many times since I've been here, I'll probably tired to
be saying it, but it's it's a real thing, especially
with the younger guys that we have, you know, the Justice,
the Boneos, the DJs, Jared, those guys that have never
played playoff basketball. So right now, we're just trying to
find ways to get better, better and better every single day.

(25:24):
Make sure the culture is right, make sure everything that
we do is right, and make sure that we're all
stepping in the right direction. If we're all stepping in
the right direction, who knows what's possible, you know what
I'm saying. So that's the biggest thing that we're trying
to do. We've been working our toes off all summer.
Guys been in the gym, guys been in the lab,
and then even this fall, I think guy's been working
really hard. So hey, we got to go out there
and play.

Speaker 5 (25:42):
Now.

Speaker 11 (25:44):
Terry, I know it's not gonna be this way because
Quintin's not here, Jared's down. But you know, with the
talent you guys have at guard, it seems like three
guard liners might be a thing that kind of happens more.
I guess for you, how do you see that kind
of playing out and how do you personally try to
kind of make sure it works with all, you know,
three guards being on the floor at times.

Speaker 1 (26:03):
I think the biggest thing is you got to be unselfish.
You have to have an open mind. I'm gonna give
a shout out to coach Cali Perry just because I
played in a lot of three guard lineups in college.
So coming from high school, I played on the ball,
on the ball, on the ball. Then you get to
college and like, it's three guys that can have the ball,
who can push it at all times. That just really helps,
especially when you have dynamic shooting, dynamic playmaking guys who

(26:24):
can play off the catch, play off close outs, and
guys who can attack the paint. When you can attack
the paint and kick out to some of your teammates
who can also attack the pain and kick out and
make plays, it makes you more dangerous.

Speaker 4 (26:38):
Tyree's is there is there a specific area of growth
that that you that you can that you can have
in your individual game this year. I mean, I know
one of the goals of the players to try to
come back with something new every year. Is there something
that you've identified or is it just kind of, you know,

(26:59):
all encompassing for you.

Speaker 1 (27:00):
Yeah, it's definitely a few things that I want to
come back and be better at. But I just want
to be better overall, you know what I'm saying from
the get go, from the jump, I think towards the
you know, the beginning of the season. I feel like
I started slow last year, Like I said, I got
a slow start to my summer working. Now it's my
first time really kind of going through that. This summer,
I started, you know, hit the ground running like I
normally do. I feel way better. Body feels better, mine

(27:23):
feels better. She wanted to hit the ground running for
my teammates and try to help them like kind of
lead them along and and not just lead by my voice,
believed by my example on the court. That's the biggest
thing that I want to try to get a bad
start at.

Speaker 2 (27:37):
And yeah, I have some things in mind. I had
some things in.

Speaker 1 (27:39):
Mine over the summer that I really worked on, and
you know, we'll see if they come to.

Speaker 12 (27:43):
Like Tyrese, VJ is someone who's for a lot of
his basketball life had the ball a lot, and now
he's joining a roster with a lot of guys that
are ahead of him in that pecking order. And it's
sort of similar to the situation you entered into six
years ago. Now, what advice would you I know, why
didn't you have to do that?

Speaker 5 (28:07):
What?

Speaker 14 (28:07):
What advice would you have for VJ?

Speaker 12 (28:10):
In terms of how he can you know, impact winning
even if he doesn't have the ball as much, and
how to assert himself, you know, within the construct of
an NBA.

Speaker 1 (28:18):
Team, Honestly, Like it's a different circumstance. I'm being honest.
I think when I got to the league, and I
kind of, yes, I was used to having the ball
in my hands, but I also knew like I was
gonna have to play a certain role on the team.
I think for him, you know, one being drafted high

(28:40):
like that, like we're going to ask him probably to
play on the ball some too, you know what I mean.
I like, exclusively my rookie Yar, I barely barely played
on the ball.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (28:49):
I played with Ben, play with Joe, play with Shake,
play with a lot of different guys.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (28:53):
George Hill was in there with me a lot, but
we're gonna ask him. There's gonna be times where like,
I'm in the game with VJ and he's gonna bringing
the ball up.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
You know, he's in the game with Jared.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
We all got to share the wealth, I feel like,
and I think that makes us more dangerous. I think
that would make us better, honestly, because it changes dynamics,
Like you can attack from different angles. Now you got
guys off the ball, you got me, Jared, him playing
all closeouts. I think it would be better for us.

Speaker 14 (29:25):
Tyre's there's a difference between you know, kind of being
the primary scoring option and the secondary scoring option and
the attention that you get from defenses and stuff like that.
Was there anything you learned last year kind of being
in that position as much as you were, and is
there anything you could do this offseason to kind of
work on, you know, playing in that role.

Speaker 1 (29:44):
Definitely, Definitely. I think my big soul. Look, I'm gonna
explain to you just like this. When I got to
like late December January, I feel like I kind of
fixed start really figuring out how to manipulate the game
you play defense. I think y'all can see that in
like end of my production. Now I'm going to tell
the jokes. Don't nobody left my rookie year through my
third year, I used to get so angry at Joe
Well sometimes when he'd be getting double team.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
And I'm like, bro, I'm wide open, and He's like, bro,
I can't see you.

Speaker 1 (30:10):
Then people start double teaming me, and I say, people like, bro,
I'm open, I said, I trust me.

Speaker 2 (30:13):
I really can't see you. So like but Noah, Like
it's it's definitely.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
I got a lot of film on it, so I
got a lot of time to work on it, and
I do feel a lot more confident in it, and
I think it will work out.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
Well for us.

Speaker 14 (30:26):
How do you work on that in like a workout situation.

Speaker 1 (30:28):
I have a lot of friends, a lot of friends,
a lot of good friends that I've been friends with
in high school. And you know, anytime I go to Dallas,
when I'm in LA you know, sometimes I can they
can help me out a little bit you know, they
get free trips to LA so they can do some work.