Q. I know you had some ups and downs this season, but looking at it as a whole and just what this group was able to accomplish, how much they grew from the start of the season, what's that like looking back on it?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: Yeah, it was definitely a season of growth for everybody, for the good, for the bad. I think you can learn from all the experiences that everybody went through the season. It definitely was a lot of fun. It's definitely a group I love doing it with and going through the ups and downs.
I think we have a unique bond that a lot of teams don't have because of how young we are, kind of the stage of our career where we're at. I think it's definitely a lot of fun being able to go through all the things we do with this team.
Q. What about you personally? What did this season teach you and what did you learn about yourself?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: Yeah, it definitely was a season of growth. Just kind of being in the season, being in the mix, then getting hurt, just kind of finding that flow again.
It definitely just shows that you just have to be ready for every single day, and what can you keep doing to better yourself despite the situations and staying mentally strong, making sure you're always ready for when your number is called.
Q. How tough was it to find that flow, like you said, once you returned from the injury?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: Yeah, it was definitely tough. I think just as a competitor you always want to be at your best and you know what you're capable of, and sometimes it doesn't happen and you just kind of have to figure it out.
I think it's really tough at times, but I think we have a good group of guys that help you to put yourself in the best situation mentally, physically, so when you're in those situations of growth and when it might not be going your way, you can still feel like you're in an environment where you can get better.
Q. Counting high school, college, little league, is this the first time that you've missed extended time due to injury?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: Yeah, this is my first time with a bad ankle injury like that and being out for eight weeks and then coming back, trying to figure it out. It was definitely a first, but I think you can find a lot of good in it, just the mental resilience you have to have and being able to become a more mentally strong person. I think it helps for the good.
Q. How tough was it mentally to be out? You want to be with the team, then come back in, then not be where you were before you got hurt.
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: Yeah, it's definitely a really difficult thing, especially just as a competitor, a guy that wants to do his best for the team.
When I was out it was tough just watching the games but still being supportive of the team, then having to be back and having a hard time finding that flow. You just have to stick with it. There's a lot of ups and downs. Just keep taking it one day at a time, and what can you keep doing to better yourself for the team.
Q. What's the thing you missed the most while you were out?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: Just being able to play. I think it's really easy just to take the game for granted and the sense of I'm able to do what I love every single day, and getting hurt, being out for -- at the time I didn't know how long I was going to be out, but being out for X amount of weeks it definitely kind of puts the game in perspective and what you do from a day-to-day perspective.
It just definitely put it in perspective in the sense of that. You've got to enjoy every single moment, and then you never know when it's taken away from you, so just treat every day like it's your last.
Q. What can you tell us about Chet and what he might be able to bring to this team?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: Yeah, I think he's going to be a really good player for us. I think he did a great job this season -- I think like I was talking about how I went through my eight weeks. He went through a full season, so I can only imagine what that feels like and not being able to do what he loves.
But he was definitely grinding every single day. He wasn't bringing anybody down despite however he felt about the situation going on, and I think he's going to be really ready to come in and be an ultimate competitor for this team next season.
Q. What was it like being Shai's teammate this year and kind of seeing him -- he was always a very good player, but seeing him become an All-Star and one of the best players in the league?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: Yeah, no, he had a special year. He's definitely -- off the court he's one of the funnest guys to be around. I think that definitely shows on the court, so when we're in that situation, seeing him with all the success, we just want nothing but the best for him and just wanted to help him prevail for our team and just put us in a best position to win these games.
I think he did a great job this season and I think it's only up from there, so I'm really excited to see his growth from this season to even next season.
Q. You mentioned the areas you felt like you grew this season. With that in mind, what's the focus for you heading into the summer?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: Yeah, just keep making deposits every single day, whether it's mentally, physically, spiritually, but just being able to know that every single day during the Summer League and training camp that I give myself the best opportunity to be the best version of myself and just keep growing in all aspects of life.
I feel like you can get specific on the court, off the court, but just being the best version of myself every single day and making sure I'm good.
Q. Are you going to the NFL Draft in Kansas City?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: When is it?
Q. Next week, I think.
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: I won't be out there, but the Chiefs are going to draft well. They're going to win another Super Bowl. I know everybody hates to see it, but it's just going to happen, so it'll be exciting.
Q. Have you found a barbecue spot here that reminds you of home?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: I'm not dogging -- I have not found one, but it's really hard. Kansas City is the best in the country, so it's really hard to compare Kansas City barbecue to anywhere else. But I have not, so I'll definitely be back in Kansas City to get some barbecue.
Q. What off-season hobbies are you going to get into?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: I enjoy golf. I'll be out there golfing a lot. I've really gotten into chess this last like four or five months. It's something that's like -- it's one of the more difficult things I've ever done just in the sense of like the levels to it are just insane, the way people think of the game and how many different types of games there are.
I'll try to get a lot better at chess, golf. I think I can cook. I want to get better at cooking. Just tap into some of those things that -- so I can just well-round myself.
Q. What's your favorite thing to cook?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: Favorite thing to cook? I'm really good at cooking breakfast. Everybody can cook breakfast. One time I did a carbone spicy rigatoni. Put too many peppers in it and it was a little too hot for my liking, but it was good.
Q. How or why did you pick up chess?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: I'm trying to think. There's a guy on YouTube, his name is Gotham Chess and I watched him a lot. He's funny but he's really good at it, so he kind of brings like that fun to the game.
And then I just started playing on chess.com, and it's been up ever since. I'm stuck at like 1,000 elo, so we'll figure out if I can get to like 1,500 by the end of the summer or something.
Q. Is there any teammate or anyone in the organization you can play against?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: Chet, Lindy, Olivier, Mike Muscala, we played a handful of times. He was really into it. Honestly, I feel like I saw him playing it on the plane on his phone and I just kind of got put in my mind so I kind of started dabbling into it a little bit.
Q. Who's the best?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: Who's the best? I'm the best.
Q. We've heard that Chet is bad at cards --
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: He's unlucky at cards. He's not bad. He's unlucky.
Q. Do you have any chess comparisons? Who's like the Magnus of the NBA?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: The Magnus? You're saying who resembles Magnus?
Q. Or anybody else you watch.
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: Magnus is probably like LeBron or something like that. Magnus, and then like Garry Kasparov. He's like Michael Jordan or something like that. I'm trying to be a little knowledgeable in the chess realm.
Q. Have you golfed with Isaiah?
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: I haven't golfed with Isaiah. I don't know if I've golfed with anybody on the team yet, but we're going to get some rounds in this summer. Then you can come back and ask us who's the better golfer. Hopefully I can say myself.
Q. He said he was better at golf than basketball before he started high school.
JEREMIAH ROBINSON-EARL: We're going to have some competition then. We'll see. We are going to see if that's the case.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports