For Jonathan Kuminga, Jimmy Butler might be the best thing that’s happened to him

[interviews/videos/transcripts]

My buddy from old defunct Dream League, Ron Quimel, will occasionally shoot some video of games at Chase Center from his baseline seat in Section 21, sitting right next to the “Fist of DubNation”, Jason Remolona, who also played in my basketball league back in the day.

“Ron Q” happened to film the backside of the final play before the game went into overtime, when Draymond Green literally covered both Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic in one sequence.

Incidentally, the clip also had Jonathan Kuminga flying in from the other side, bombarding Jokic after he missed the buzzer-beater with Green defending, Nuggets head coach David Adelman pleading for a foul after venturing to halfcourt, and Al Horford trying to call timeout. Fun play!

But before that, as Murray got the inbound and sized up how he was going to attack, I noticed Jimmy Butler give Jonathan a “love tap” as Aaron Gordon went to join Christian Braun in the corner.

It was an automatic switch, as indicated by Butler kind of giving Kuminga a mini-shove to go back to the wing while Jimmy took ownership of defending the baseline. Maybe JK drifted too far, but if you’ve spent enough time on basketball teams where there is a clear delineation of players who have higher defensive IQ than others, the “love tap” comes as no surprise.

Aside from the obvious Xs & Os reasons for Jimmy doing that, there’s also the camaraderie. You should have no problem pushing your little brother in the back to direct him to the spot you want him, need him, to be in. And there won’t be any retaliation or question or otherwise hint of any confusion from Little Bro when this happens.

So it was a tiny little nuance that I found quite pleasing, a confirmation of chemistry, a confirmation of brotherhood.

Of all the things I miss about playing competitively, I miss the high-fives, yelling, “Yeah, X”, when teammate X hit a bucket, “Wet!” when somebody on my squad hit a three (is that outdated yet?)… and I miss the love taps.

Love taps only come with deep chemistry.

Back in February when Butler became a Warrior, not knowing Jimmy’s softer side, we might not have expected this.

Certainly as JK got into a stalemate with his contract negotiations — which can be argued were exacerbated by the DNPs which were caused by the fact that JK wasn’t fitting with Jimmy at the time.

Like, literally the guy who originally took your spot is the one helping you lift your game to another level.

It might have been hard to envision the following:

The best thing to have happened to Jonathan Kuminga is Jimmy Butler

I did a whole video essay on this via livestream — hopefully, I’ll turn it into a regular video shortly.

It’s timestamped and there are references to previous interviews, especially when Steve Kerr revealed that Jimmy and JK had been spending a lot of time together after practices.

Below are the leftover interviews and transcripts from that win in overtime against Denver — transcripts with timestamps can always be found in each video upload on our YouTube channel.

But also here are a few relevant points from fresh content. The interviews and transcripts for the Memphis and LA Clippers back-to-back will be posted in a forthcoming article about Quinten Post.

Jimmy at the podium last night:

Confidence, man. He’s major. He’s key in what we’re trying to do this season on both sides of the floor, on my level, when he is guarding at a high level. Love it even more whenever he’s making plays and scoring and rebounding, all of that good stuff. He’s been playing off the charts to start this year. I, myself, want him to keep going, keep being aggressive, keep attacking, keep taking that challenge on the defensive end, and we as a whole need him to do just that.

…

There are so many people that are in his corner. I’m one of them. There’s so many other individuals in this organization, on this team, on the coaching staff as well, that want him to be great. And it’s okay to make mistakes. You just gotta listen. Sometimes it may not always come off the way that you want it to, but I tell him, I promise that it’s in good faith. Nobody’s just yelling at you to yell at you. And he’s happy. He’s joyful. He knows that he’s playing at a high level. He knows that everybody wants him to continue to do that. And I’m just here to make sure that he stays level headed.

And finally Tim Kawakami of the SF Standard with some exclusive quotes from JK after the win over the Clips last night: https://sfstandard.com/2025/10/29/jonathan-kuminga-steve-kerr-warriors

Late Tuesday night, as Butler was on his way to the podium to speak to reporters, he made a point to stop by Kuminga’s locker and ask him about the colorful design on some of his extra shoes. Kuminga smiled, and they chatted for a few seconds — just Butler making sure he was checking in with a player he obviously sees as a key to this season.

It must be pretty cool to have a potential Hall-of-Famer who plays a similar position as you, as your vet during your growth spurt year.

Whodathunk?

INTERVIEWS/TRANSCRIPTS DEN-GSW

00:09 How nice was this moment, this close for you in a new situation, to have a finish like that?

00:16 AL HORFORD, POSTGAME DEN-GSW: It was nice. It was nice to be a part of that and Steph hitting that shot to force overtime and for us to find a way to win the game, it feels really good.

00:28 How about that part of it, the Steph aspect and just being on the Warriors? How unique is the feel of being out there in that type of environment with them?

00:36 Yeah, it’s, those are difficult shots that you need those to go down and to be a part of that, it’s pretty special, playing these type of games. Denver’s, it’s a great team, one of the best teams in our league and for us to be able to find a way to win that’s pretty special.

01:02 You talked a lot about you, you picked this position, this team, because you knew they had a chance to play special games. You obviously played against them and when you’re in the middle of it, you’re seeing Steph do that, Jimmy do that, you’re hitting a three, are at any point you’re going, “Yeah, this is why I’m here, this is why I picked this situation?”

01:19 Yeah, it’s, I’m fortunate to be in this position and, yeah, for these moments, it’s what you play for and understanding that we still have a long ways to go, but to be able to come here and take Denver was great tonight. Aaron Gordon was great and everything they were doing to take their best shot and still be there and manage to get it to overtime and be a part of this game. It’s what I’m, you know what? I’m excited to be here for.

01:56 Al, your first official game here as a Warrior with this home crowd. Just what’d you think of the environment, especially late in regulation into overtime?

02:04 Yeah and energy was great. Fans were really into it and helping us. Just a very fun atmosphere and different guys coming in and contributing and we talked about the Steph shots, but then Jimmy hits that big three from the top of the key. And that was also a special play, but just in general, all the guys coming in and we’re trying to do our part and just a lot of fun to be a part of that last one.

02:39 Steph said that jumbo lineup that closed in overtime, you guys had never practiced together in that lineup. How are you guys able to be so seamless in, in overtime, just know each other’s movements and everything?

02:48 Yeah, we’re fighting for our lives there at the end, just trying to get stops, trying to do whatever we can on the defense end. And then on offense, just continuing to figure it out and playing off of Steph, playing off of Draymond and Jimmy and I’m just, I was just trying to be out there trying to make plays, but for us it’s just playing to win. And with that lineup, even though we haven’t played together, that was the feeling behind it defensively. We wanted to do a good job defensively and then on offense, making sure that we’re getting to space and that we’re getting good looks and we’re not turning the ball over.

—

03:29 When did you decide to go to the jumbo lineup late and was that, like, a coaches discussion?

03:36 STEVE KERR: It was during a time out. Terry (Stotts) suggested it. Chris DeMarco also suggested it. They just thought the way Steph was going, with Jimmy out there, we were gonna score. That was my biggest concern, could we execute? And they just reminded me, we have Steph and Jimmy and they’ll find a way to score. And they did. And it was fantastic to watch the defense with that kind of size and length and our guys did a great job finishing what was just a phenomenal basketball game.

04:12 I know you’ve spent probably a month talking about various combinations. Is that one you even thought you might go to?

04:18 No, we never even talked about that combination until tonight. And, but it just felt like the right thing to do. They were having their way with us throughout the game. They shot 54%, Gordon with 50. We just couldn’t stop them and so we felt like to win the game, we were gonna have to get our best defensive lineup on the floor, our most athletic lineup. And yeah, obviously Steph and Jimmy handled the offensive side of the balls, but we had a lot of guys step up and make big plays, Al knocking down shots, JK with the steal, the layup, the big rebound down the stretch. So it was really fun to watch that group that’s never played together close a game against one of the best teams in the league,

05:09 Steve, down the stretch, how good was Draymond and he had the stop on Jokic to force overtime then and overtime, seemed like he had several big plays on the defensive side of the floor.

05:19 Yeah, it was huge. Part of the benefit of playing the bigger lineup was we could put Draymond on Murray, which our defensive coaches were suggesting, just so that he could switch the pick and roll with Al. And so he ended up on Jokic. And Draymond has just an incredible knack for making enormous defensive plays. He just has a feel for angles and beating people to the spot and then being able to challenge with those long arms and that anticipation. And that was quite a play.

06:01 Just to confirm, Steph said he didn’t think this group had ever, even in practice, played together?

06:06 No.

06:06 And in this lineup, who’s the shooting guard?

06:11 You make the pick.

06:12 I was gonna say Draymond, probably.

06:14 Maybe Jimmy. Jimmy or JK. I guess Draymond’s the 4, the 5, but it doesn’t matter. And that’s modern basketball, positionless play, two-way play. If you can space the floor, this is why Al is just such an enormous, addition for us, the ability to put him on Jokic down the stretch and then also have him stretch the floor and make big shots. That’s why he’s the player he is.

06:43 I was gonna say, could you go up minutes with him because you know he is not playing tomorrow night?

06:47 A little bit. Yeah. Yep. Yeah.

06:53 Hey Steve, seems like there are a lot of like overtimes happening right now, right, during, already at the beginning of the season. How are you planning to prepare the team to get ready, from the physical?

07:05 I’m sorry, I can’t quite hear you.

07:06 Oh, I said, oh, it seems like there are a lot of like overtimes happening right now, already at the beginning of the NBA season. What, how are you planning to prepare the team to get ready for this?

07:15 Yeah, I mean, they, you have to be in great condition and I’m glad we were able to keep the minutes down in the, in regulation so that, even in a 53 minute game, you look at the box score, it’s not bad. Steph at 37, Jimmy at 38. Obviously, we don’t want to do that all year long, but certain games require this kind of commitment. It’s a huge win for us with the back to back tomorrow. We’re gonna be shorthanded. Al won’t play. We’ll play a lot of people tomorrow to use our depth and try to go get another one, but this was a great win against the great team.

—

08:00 What did you see change in that third quarter in particularly?

08:04 DAVID ADELMAN: I felt every time we had a chance to really control the game, there was a loose ball, a turnover, a run out. They kept them close enough and then obviously he got going, which is what he does. Legendary player, but we had chances. End of the first half was a killer, some of the turnover’s late, and the third, just, you have to stay clean in a building like this with what can happen with a player like that. So it, I’ll say it right now, I, I feel awful for Aaron. Aaron had a night that I’ll never forget. I know he won’t. Tough loss, had many chances to win the game, control the game, and give them credit, they just kept coming.

08:44 How would you describe this night from Nikola?

08:46 I thought Nikola was good. He missed some shots he doesn’t miss. The one at the end, I thought it was a great look. I thought he got taken out on the offensive rebound, but that’s doesn’t matter now. He had some really good looks from three, the way they guarded the drive coverage. They stopped full rotating and that was a good look from him. It, the guy doesn’t shoot well, but efficiently at least, and gets his triple double, does his thing. So we had a lot of guys have good performances, just not enough to win the game tonight.

09:15 With Steph, there were parts of the game where you guys were able to get the ball out of his hands pretty well and show him bodies, all of that. He’s also so good at finding those pockets, even when someone’s chasing. That’s, was there anything later in the game that you thought CB or Jokic or anyone else could have done better, or was it, did it just reach a point where he was in that groove?

09:34 No, I thought we, a few times we didn’t send him in the direction of the defense. He, if he gets the other way, there’s no one on the other side of that pick. And that’s what he got going with. In the shot he made a tie towards the end, it’s a shot that only he can make, but obviously you have to be up more. I think guys got hesitant because they did call a few things where it, a little bit of contact, you got the call, so you’re starting to, you don’t give up a four point play up three. But the hope was to make him drive the ball to the basket and obviously we weren’t up enough. And he made an unbelievable shot.

10:09 With AG, he has a tendency to have these games at Golden State. Is there just something about the hometown area for him, you think, when he comes here?

10:18 I guess you’re right. He’s had a lot of big moments here, big time games and he was so good tonight and I thought he did it in a really efficient, smart way. He wasn’t forcing it. He found the shots by letting his teammates, move the ball side to side. He had the and one at the end where he got the matchup. He was just super clean tonight. He ran our stuff well in the split game. AG’s a special player. He has been for a long time, so it’s a great night, obviously, for him. Tough night for the team to take an L on a night we really wanted to do that for Aaron.

10:51 Hey Coach, back to Aaron. Everyone says they put in the work. We see everyone out there doing the shooting work every single day. What is it specifically about Aaron, where, you know, 29% a couple years ago and now to what he did last season and obviously what he did tonight. What is it about him that you think has made it be able to be successful at this stage in his career?

11:11 There’s a calmness to his shot. I think that’s pretty noticeable. It’s just the fundamentals are calm and when he shoots the ball, he takes his time and a guy with that kind of size and that ability to blow by you and dunk the ball, you’re gonna take your time closing out to him so he can take his time shooting the ball. I think he’s figured that out. And like you said, it’s just the constant work, constant maintenance and making sure he is consistent. So it’s been really cool to see him transform into a shooter over the years.

11:42 Coach, right here. So on the Steph tying three, Steve Kerr put in a bunch of offensive players and he ties it. You elected to go for the time out there instead of playing it out. Since you, you had your starters on the floor, why’d you like to go for the time out there instead of just, keeping everyone on the floor?

11:59 Just wanted to make sure we got the right people in a combination pick and roll, the way they were guarding by switching and zoning up the role. We wanted to talk about the formation and making sure we, we twisted the pick, which allowed Nikola to roll to an open area. I didn’t want them to go out there and just play. It just seemed like a moment, let’s calm down for a second. What just happened to us? Let’s make sure we take the last shot. And Nikola got a great look. He really did. And he flipped a pick appropriately. That’s what we were looking for. That was a really good pass by Jamal. It just didn’t work out.

12:34 How do you make sure the sting of this loss doesn’t bleed into Saturday’s home opener?

12:38 Because there’s 81 left. There’s 41 at home and 40 on the road. It was a game I’m sure they’ll replay. It was a crazy game. These are NBA nights, these things happen, but like I told ‘em in there, if we won tonight and we went and stubbed our toe at home, what’s the difference? It’s one and one. So we have to refocus ourselves. New opponent on Saturday, get ourselves going at home.

13:02 Dave, you mentioned Steph, legendary player. What is it like as a coach knowing that you guys can do what you want sometimes and he’s still gonna put one up from 35 or 40 and knock it down?

13:13 Yeah, and I thought they did a good job bringing him from different parts of the floor where he wasn’t the focal point from the beginning, which makes it harder to be up to force into the basket. And there’s a million things after a game like this where you could say you change the matchup, you change the matchup, they’ll just still put somebody else in, in that situation, in a pick and roll, regardless of how you cross match whoever it may be. So look, it’s a tough loss for us, first game of the season, a little more emotional as you get into the grind of it. But our guys have been through a lot and they’ll bounce back.

13:46 What’d you think of the way Jamal controlled the game?

13:48 Yeah he was really good. I thought they started to hit the ball and pick and rolls and we gotta make sure he is in the center of the court so it’s easier for him to facilitate, double teaming him. And then pre rotating to the roller was effective at certain times, but I liked how he took his time. They were in a lot of different coverages with Nikola. Sometimes he’s gotta be the aggressor. He made a lot of really good decisions, get people great shots. That was the thing about tonight, I think both teams. They created a ton of good looks. We had missed layups at the end where we had control of the game, moved the ball to Cam the one time in overtime. I thought that was a great look. CB screened in the rotation, so there’s a lot of positives. It just wasn’t our night.

14:28 Thank you, Coach.

00:09 DRAYMOND GREEN, POSTGAME DEN-GSW: …or a starting line up or middle of the game line up, but I think what worked, we got to, we got, we had proper spacing. We were able to get a lot of stops. We switched a lot, kept bodies on bodies and then that group was really able to come up with the rebounds, so down the stretch they had one shot. If they didn’t make it, we were off to the races, so I think defensively it was really good for us. And then everybody just found the proper space and allowed us to make the plays and, we made the plays down the stretch and, obviously, Steph was incredible. Jimmy made a couple huge plays down the stretch, including the shot Al, big shot. JK was hawking Murray still, so that steal and finish he came up with was great. So we had, we was able to put it all together at the end with that group.

01:10 Draymond, Steph was pretty emotional. He missed that three and he was encouraging the crowd to get going. He says, I don’t like to shoot free throws with the crowd quiet. What kind of player is he that he can just rise the occasion and the fans can fuel him like they did tonight? He obviously does it himself, but the fans, too.

01:25 Yeah, he loved the moment. That’s just who he is. Been since I’ve known him. The bigger the moment, the more he rises. He’s this quiet guy. We all know Steph, right, how he is? But he loves a show, I think, and so anytime it’s a show to be put on, he’s going to do it. And he did that tonight in a major way.

01:51 You and Steph have been together for over a decade.

01:54 The hell you been, what’s up? Wow. Good to see you.

02:01 Now, if you can remember my name, then I’ll really trust.

02:02 Nate.

02:03 Alright. All right.

02:05 Am I an idiot? You guys think I’m dumb. It’s crazy. You want a last name too, Duncan?

02:09 That’s right. Alright. You and Steph have been together for over a decade. Jamal Murray and Jokic have been together for that long. Al and Butler are great, great vets as well. Can you tell me about what it was like, just the mental side of the game in crunch time with all that experience on the floor?

02:27 Yeah, I think just having that much experience, you just know what to do and there’s no panic. I think that’s most important part. You get down those last few minutes of the game or in overtime, a lot of times people get sped up and oftentimes that’s due to the pressure and lack of experience. And we don’t lack that at all. And so everybody, with the familiarity of being in those moments, we knew exactly what we needed to get to. And that’s why you want experience on your team for moments like that. Nobody was unfamiliar to the moment for us and I think that was as big as anything. So we were locked in, able to make the plays we needed to make. The experience in moments like that helps a ton.

03:20 50 points and 10 threes for Aaron Gordon. You played him in the playoffs a few years ago. How have you seen his game and particularly his shot change?

03:28 He’s improved a ton. I’ve known AG for a long time now. He, I used to have Grind Weekend. I used to do Grind Week here in Oakland, or not here in Oakland, but in Oakland. He was young. He used to come every year and you just watch him and improve. He got to Denver and he was the missing piece to a championship. When they got him, it solidified all of their lineups. To his credit, he’s continued to work, continue to get better and better, like you said. 50 points tonight. 10 for 11 from three, like, that’s, they weren’t just spot up threes either. Like, he had a couple of them off the dribble, a couple of like people pin in for him, they were all different threes and he was knocking him down. But I’m not sure if he shot 40% last year, but he was shooting the mess out of it for quite a while in the season, so the improvement is consistent. It’s not like it’s just outta nowhere. Like, he’s consistently got better and better and you gotta tip your hat to him. He was amazing, but he’s, he’s been that steady force. Obviously, Joker is who he is, right? Obviously, Jamal is who he is, but he’s been that steady force outside of those two guys for this group and that’s the reason they’re champions and continue to be one of the better teams in this league.

04:59 Steph said that down the stretch and in overtime, you guys weren’t really, nobody was calling any plays. It was just, you’re just making it about as you go. Is that, how unusual is that just for you guys and for the, in the NBA, too?

05:12 It’s not very unusual for us. We hardly ever called stuff in my career. Steve usually calls something, but we just go and, again, just going back to the experience, right? Like, we didn’t need to call anything. You just play off each other. You saw the matchup. We wanted get to that, get to space, and then let the next guy make the play. We have five guys on the court that could make a play and so somebody’s open, you move the ball and allow that guy to make the next play. And that’s what we did. I don’t think we, you get to that point in the game, you gotta let your greats be great and we got the ball to Steph, we got the ball to Jimmy. And they made plays over and over again. And they did the same thing, right? They got the ball to AG, they got the ball to Joker, they got the ball to Jamal and we were able to get the, a couple stops that we needed. But nobody’s calling a bunch of plays right there. You get the ball in the hands of your better players and they’re going to take you home.

06:14 Draymond, you’re obviously very aware of what’s going on around the league and for talking about today’s news on the gambling. And for many years, the league and all sports leagues distanced themselves from gambling. How inevitable do you think something like this was given the partnerships with gambling companies and what was your reaction to the news today?

06:35 My reaction to the news, I was shocked. I woke up to that news and I overslept for shoot around, so when I woke up, I couldn’t really check in on it because I was trying to get here and I got here and they’re like, “Man, you see everything that happened?” I’m like, “Ah, not quite. Like I, I only knew about Terry (Rozier). I, I think when, you take a, like, the business is the business. I’m not gonna sit here and condemn the league for partnering with gambling, sports betting companies. Like, the business is the business and it is what it is. I think, I wish everybody well. It’s a tough moment for the individuals involved. It’s a tough moment for the league, but I’m not gonna sit here and be like, “Man, y’all partner with a gambling company. You open a can of worms.” Like, that can of worms can be open with partnering with gambling companies or not partner with gambling companies. Ain’t make gambling more accessible to us. The accessibility is what it is. If you’re an American or you live in America and you live in states where gambling, sports betting is legal, it pops up right on your phone. Whether the league is partnered with the company or not, ain’t changing nothing. So I think those partnerships are going to continue to grow, but I still live here and it, Governor Newsom, I wish I can get on my phone and bet on a football game, but it is, that’s just the nature of the world we live in. So we’re not gonna go condemn a Facebook executive because some of their stuff pops up on Polynarket or any of those. So I’m not gonna sit here and, our league has done an incredible job of growing this game. Partnerships come when you grow the game. And for all of us, from ownership to players, it grows the pot. And I haven’t heard anyone complain about the pot growing, so I’m not gonna sit here and act like the league partner, the league been partnered with Bud Light forever, ain’t start me to drinking beer. It’s unfortunate for the guys involved. I’m praying for them and wish them well, but sports betting is gonna be around and the partnerships will keep happening as they should. But the accessibility is the accessibility and the Golden State Warriors is sponsored by Mercedes-Benz and I don’t have a Mercedes-Benz. I got a nice Kia deal, which has been absolutely incredible to me. But my point, there’s that, right?

09:58 That should be part of my question. I guess the accessibility has changed too over these, right?

10:01 Yeah.

10:02 To what it was like.

10:03 And it’s gonna keep changing. Like, more and more states is gonna become legal. That’s not going away. If anything, it’s going to go further in the direction that it’s already headed. And so I don’t think any of it is, “Man, the league start allowing, taking the sponsor.” I don’t think so. I think sometimes people get in unfortunate situations and everyone makes decisions. I’m not saying that those people made the decisions. I don’t know. I’m not getting off into that, but I just know that those partnerships are going to keep growing as they should. it ain’t changing accessibility. The accessibility is what it is. We don’t get a free FanDuel or Fanatics, we don’t get a free Fanatic sports book password. We just don’t. Like, the accessibility is what it is, so I can’t blame that on the league. That’s just what it is.

00:00 Steph, I know it’s very early, but to be 2-0, to get through this one and the way you guys did, what, how are you feeling about this start?

00:12 STEPH CURRY, POSTGAME DEN-GSW: There’s 80 games left, so you understand you don’t wanna get too ahead of yourself, but building blocks on an understanding of how to win the selflessness of a team that can have eight or nine guys in a closing lineup, realistically. I was telling somebody, I don’t think that closing lineup Al, Jimmy, Draymond, JK, and myself had gotten any real reps in training camp. But when you understand who you’re playing against and what it takes to win this particular game, the collective IQ and just toughness got us over the hump, so great, great start. Haven’t done anything yet and, but we’re building a winning mentality.

01:01 I was gonna say, what did you think worked about that group? It’s a pretty big group. I don’t know who the shooting guard on that group is. What went well be for that group?

01:13 Aaron Gordon had an unbelievable night shooting the ball, so we tried to keep some size on him and then Al, we’ve seen it again, playing against him for years. He’s pretty good switching 1 through 5. And so it allowed us a little bit more versatility on defense, just keep a man on the ball and not have to be in crazy rotations. Obviously, they scored some points, but then on the other end we were just really decisive on getting to our spots. We only had eight turnovers in the game, overtime game, and so if you get shots up, you don’t give a special team like Denver easy baskets in transition, then you give yourself a good chance.

01:59 Hey Steph, are these early season wins important? Now, obviously, any win’s important, but to avoid the late season rush that you guys had, the hard push last year.

02:11 I’ll let you know after Game 30, because I answered that last year.

02:15 Also, you noticed that Jimmy missed a free throw tonight and you didn’t?

02:21 I can neither confirm nor deny anything that’s going on with free throw situations this year.

02:29 Steph, Steve Kerr mentioned the, when it comes to turnovers, spacing has a lot to do with it. Obviously, like you said, only eight turnovers tonight. What’d you guys think? What’d you think of you guys spacing tonight? And how is it different from the preseason and even the game in LA?

02:45 It’s, we have, we’ve been working on an identity offensively that no matter where you’re at on the floor, you have actions that you can go to and we have patterns that we’re developing. Al hit some big, two big threes, I think, in the second half, maybe in the fourth quarter, in overtime where he’s spacing the corner and we get a drive down the lane. JK following the help to the basket. You gotta pick your poison on that and so as long as we are, like, you said, organized and decisive and not in a rush, then we have options all over the floor. So it, it’s nice to play that way when it’s not really choreographed. It’s just patterns that you rely on.

03:32 Gordon has that three late in regulation to go up three, are you going into that next possession just thinking, first moment that you get space, you’re firing up the three or how did that kind of develop?

03:44 Because I missed that layup and then we were up one?

03:48 No, he hit the three to go, I think, it was 120-117 and then you hit the deep one to tie it.

03:54 Oh, we were up one, I missed and he hit a three and then went up. No, you right. It was tied. It was tied. So our pick and roll was just trying to get them to either get two on the ball and then I could either get the pocket pass or get around, and that one I was able to do a little snake and I saw just a little bit of daylight. Again, decisiveness. No, no second guessing what you’re doing, just trying to get a clean look. Thankfully went in. And then that last one was just good chemistry between me and Draymond.

04:25 What’d you think about Gordon’s night?

04:27 It was ridiculous. And whatever he did this summer, it worked.

04:34 Will Richard played some big minutes tonight. Steve Kerr said it’s a show me kind of league. What has he been able to show so early on to the season?

04:43 There’s something about winning players at whatever level. He’s a champion for a reason down there in Florida. We saw with LJ (Cryer) in the preseason. Guys who’ve played some significant high stakes basketball in college, like, that still matters. I know the league has gotten younger in the Draft, but when you find a guy like that, just understands basketball, he sees the game really well, he’s fearless, the lights aren’t too bright for him. So he knows he’s got a lot of growth ahead of him and, but for him to make his presence felt like that, that jump ball, 50-50 ball, come down, hit a three, start talking, rebounds. He got, like, all that stuff matters because it, it lifts the whole group, so it’s pretty special to watch him in preseason in these last two games, do his thing.

05:37 Steph, you got fouled on that three and when you get up, you really summon the crowd and they really responded. How much do you just feed off of this home crowd here in, in your 17th season?

05:47 Some people like a little quiet at the free throw line. I don’t like that. When a foul happens, it gets a little dead and time and score like that, was a cool moment, so needed that energy to finish the game.

05:59 Do you consider yourself a showman and just in terms of playing in front of the home crowd and putting on a show for Chase?

06:06 I just like to have fun, no matter what the situation is. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

06:13 Steph, I guess even at your more advanced age, you’re still considered the Baby Faced Assassin. What did it mean to you to see Aaron Gordon have basically the game of his life? He scored 50 points on Opening Night for them and they still don’t win the game.

06:26 They played, he played his out of his mind. I am sure you know when you’re in that kind of zone, you, I don’t know how he talk about it. He probably expects it just because the work he put in over the summer, but for a championship type team, like, they are a team that has a lot of continuity from year to year. And then you have a guy like that play the way he did and for us to still win like that says a lot about where we’re at right now, but it also says we got a lot of work to do to, keep doubling down on just finding a way to win no matter what the situation is. It’s like a playoff type vibe where somebody has an out of body experience and you dig deep and steal one pretty much. And that says a lot about what we’re trying to do.

07:10 Hey Steph, you’re an important face of the league. What, how concerned are you about what happened today and just how it might impact the NBA’s integrity?

07:23 I think on a whole, everybody’s very mindful of what to do, what not to do, and understand the landscape of sports right now, in general. And that’s not just an NBA thing. It’s, it’s a new territory for everybody, so I think on the whole, we all are very responsible. The integrity of the game is fine. And then, obviously, we let the situation play out, whatever happens, but, I wouldn’t worry about that too much.

07:53 You mentioned Denver as a championship type team and what you guys are trying to build towards. Does it, do you feel like you guys are a championship type team or too early to say?

08:00 It’s Game 2, man. Long way to go.

08:05 Stephen, do you, is it fun to go blow by blow with a guy like Aaron Gordon tonight when he’s putting up 50 and you’re coming back, he’s hitting them, you’re hitting them. Is that fun to have that kind of?

08:18 Just the game reveals itself in terms of when, what you need to do. At the end of the day, he was going crazy in the first half, kept it going, and then down the stretch, like, it was, again, decisiveness, just trying to figure out how to get the best shot on every possession. I don’t necessarily look at it as a one-on-one type back and forth battle, but it’s more so the game called for us to abandon any, or fancy play calls and just get to spots where we could try to pick ‘em apart. And I was able to finish a lot of the possessions just because that’s the way the game went. The talent like that and a game like that rises the level of the whole arena on both sides, so you feel that for sure.

09:09 How cool was it you ending regulation and then going into overtime, that stretch that you had, but for Jimmy to have the dagger and for you to pull out the Night-Night celebration for him. How was that moment to have with him?

09:21 It’s just team basketball, man. The reason he got that shot was because we had been really methodical, possession after possession. And they ran outta stuff to guard and him taking that shot was huge. And Draymond last year, when we played Minnesota, he pulled the signature move out. I thought Jimmy was gonna do it. He left me on an island, but I, yeah, appreciated the moment because he knows what it means to close out a game too.

09:55 Alright, last one for Ron.

09:56 Steph, you talked a little bit earlier about that closing lineup with Al in there. How important will that be in the long run over the season to have that option of closing, adding a guy who’s 6’9 and can shoot threes and guard a guy like Jokic. It seems like that gives you guys flexibility you haven’t had in the past.

10:19 That’s, that was the vision the whole time. We’ve played against him. We understand what he did in Boston, Atlanta, everywhere he’s been. I still have flashbacks of Game 1 in ‘22. It’s just, he understands what it means to impact a game on both ends. He’s fearless as well, so again, you probably have seven, eight guys that you could theoretically finish a game with on our team. And it just depends on what the game calls for, and I think he understands on a night to night basis to be ready for whatever and he’s seen it all, so you don’t really have to prepare him too much for the unpredictability of it all. He just knows and sees the game so well. He, again, we didn’t really have a play call down the stretch. It was just get to your spots, figure it out, make the right play, knock down the shot, talk on defense, do what you need to do and he’s really good at that.

11:22 Great. Thank you. Coach?

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