Q. According to Aaron Wiggins, you're the fuel to the fun on this team. What's it like to have your role, in addition to basketball, to be an igniter?
JAYLIN WILLIAMS: To me, I don't look at it as a role. I'm just being myself. I think that a lot of is is because of my teammates, as well. They bring it out in me. They let me be free and be myself around them.
It's just be out there and having fun. I try to lighten the situation a lot of times, yell at them, joke around. Just try to have fun with whatever we're doing.
Q. You're so young and yet you're in the middle of these heated playoff moments. How much are you guys going to benefit from these experiences you're having together knowing you get a chance to build together going forward?
JAYLIN WILLIAMS: I think we're going to benefit a lot. We all got a taste of what the playoffs is like. I'm excited to be in another playoff situation. It's fun, the environment, the games, the pressure. I think everything is fun. I think we're going to continue to grow together.
Q. You mentioned you being able to be yourself and have fun. Just in all, looking back and reflecting over the season, how fun was it to be a part of this group this year?
JAYLIN WILLIAMS: I don't think you could put it on a scale. It's insane how many moments you can look back and just joke about it and just remind each other of. It's insane how close we are as a team.
Like the way I joke -- like I might joke with some of these guys more than I joke with my brothers. You can say anything to these guys. It's like we're so close, you can say anything to each other, where it's like there's no limit. We can joke about anything. Everybody from Shai to Bis to Lindy, you can joke with anybody about anything. I think it's just a testament to how connected we are as a team.
Q. I love your closeness with Josh. What do you think of the way he handled this season?
JAYLIN WILLIAMS: Yeah, he's my guy. Forever he'll be my guy. He's tough. He's tough. He's a great basketball player, one of the best basketball players I've been around.
I know he went through a lot this year. He started every game that I was around him, then the playoffs came up, and he was still a great teammate, great player, in the game did what he was supposed to do, pushing his teammates.
Me and him were joking around on the bench. I think -- was it Game 4 or Game 5 when he first didn't start? I don't know, one of them. He came to the bench, and I was like up cheering, and he said something to me, and I was like, this is my mob over here. Like you don't come over here telling me. It's just fun that I can joke, get like that.
I love playing with Giddey. He's a great guy, and I'm definitely going to continue talking to him.
Q. Josh mentioned he had a lot of ups and downs this year, and in the down moment, being around you guys was like his therapy. In those moments, could you sense him needing you guys to be his therapy?
JAYLIN WILLIAMS: I think that, just because we're so close, we know like, when somebody's down, we're going to pick each other up. We knew what was going on. I'm never going to give up on my brother. I texted him right away. We play card games on the plane. We joke around. We FaceTime, send each other memes. I'm always going to be there for Giddey regardless of the situation. I'm always going to treat him the same and I'm always going to be the same person.
Q. It seems like you built an even bigger connection with the fan base in the city this season. How important was that to you?
JAYLIN WILLIAMS: It was awesome, honestly. The whole crowd barking and just the environment, being able to witness it in person and be a part of it, it was insane.
I got a little bit of it last year. I saw how nice everybody was, just treated me like family. Now it's like the whole Paycom filled out. It was insane. I miss it already.
Q. Joe said he got barked at at Starbucks. Do you get that too?
JAYLIN WILLIAMS: Yes. I cracked my windshield on my car. My girlfriend called somebody, she did it under her name, all this, come to fix my windshield at my house. I open up the door. He didn't say hello, didn't say anything. He just started barking at me. Yeah, it happened to me a lot of times.
Q. How do you feel like you've grown this season? Double big lineup with Chet for the first time, and a passer on the defensive end as well. How do you feel personally like you've grown this year?
JAYLIN WILLIAMS: I feel like I've grown a lot. I've learned a lot. That's one of my main focuses coming into this year is just continue to learn. Learn the system. Learn how to play with my teammates. Learn how to be a better me. I feel like I learned a lot.
I feel like I continue to get better of course. I feel like that's never going to stop. I feel like I'm getting better at my game. There was a lot I learned this year.
Q. What is something you want to work on this off-season?
JAYLIN WILLIAMS: I feel like my body is one of the things, I want to continue to get stronger. I want to get in better shape. Body, that's the main focus. Of course, I want to get better on the court, shooting, playing off the catch, defending, everything.
Q. What exactly goes into that with both you and Chet? What do you feel like is the big chemistry?
JAYLIN WILLIAMS: I think that the main reason that our coaches trust us to play together is just because we're both ball movers. We like to move the ball side to side, and we can both space the floor. So when I come in there, I think Chet likes it because he's not the primary 5. He can kind of lean towards that scoring ability he has.
Also for me, when he's in there, I know that I'm going to have a guy at the rim that's willing to jump with anybody, any time, anywhere. It's always fun being out there with Chet.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports