Q. How do you feel?
KENRICH WILLIAMS: I am feeling good. Rehab is going well. I'm blessed to be where I'm at right now.
Q. This team obviously had an experience last year in the playoffs, and a lot of those guys haven't had that experience before. How do you see that impacting what this team is this year?
KENRICH WILLIAMS: That's a good question. I think that there are some things from last year, of course, you can take and use it this year, but it's a whole new year. It's new competition, different teams. We have a different team. We added a couple new guys, two new guys, actually.
So you don't actually want to go too much in the past, use the past as much. We did have a very good year. So a lot of the things we're able to translate this year and use this year to get better, just to get better.
Q. You mentioned Alex and Isaiah. You have obviously played against both of those guys throughout your career. What made them challenging guys to prepare for? Does that maybe give us a clue of what we might see out of them?
KENRICH WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think my playing those guys, those guys have a lot of respect in the league. They have carved out roles in the league, and you kind of know who they are as players. They're going to fit very well with this team.
I was just in an interview basically saying, like, it's going to be like they've been here for four or five years just the way that -- how easy it's going to be for them to fit in.
Isaiah he does a good job rebounding and playing with the ball. Crucial as well. Great defender. Both of those guys are unselfish and team guys.
Q. You have been around for a while now good and bad. The roster has changed a bunch. A few years ago you were playing center because there were no 7-footers, and now things have changed. What's the most challenging part of adapting to every season when the roster is changing as quickly as it has?
KENRICH WILLIAMS: That's a good question. I would say the most challenging part is -- that's a good question. Man, honestly it's not challenging. Being a pro every day, coming in, being a pro every day. This is the NBA, so you kind of -- you don't know what to expect. Our coaches, they do a good job of giving us kind of direct what's going on and being vocal with us about it.
You don't know what to expect, but at the same time being a pro every day. I feel like if you come in and you are a pro every day, you get your work in, you are a good teammate, it's going to take care of everything else.
That's a good question.
Q. So things have clearly changed for Shai. He's coming off MVP and a team that was the No. 1 seed. High expectations this season. What have you seen in him over the last couple of years to show that he can handle the newness of all of the new expectations and the new attention that he has received?
KENRICH WILLIAMS: I can't speak for Shai, but I can speak on the journey that I've had with him for the past five years. You guys see it. Each year as a player he gets better. I think what you don't see is the leadership role and how he's gotten better every year. You guys won't be able to see that because it's more within the team, you know what I mean, just being a leader, being vocal, knowing who he is, knowing where he is trying to -- what he is trying to do and just kind of just -- not piggybacking off of Shai, but just following his lead. He's a good leader, down to earth.
When you are following somebody like that, you are destined for greatness, so...
Q. You talked about the question of your injury, was it something that occurred late last season or did it occur in the offseason?
KENRICH WILLIAMS: It was something I've been dealing with. Kind of just flared up on me this offseason. So we kind of got it taken care of, started rehab. Everything has been going great so far. The training staff is doing a good job of taking care of me and just keeping me focused on what's next.
Q. Throughout your career you've played with some really high-end level defenders, Josh Hart, Jrue Holiday. What sort of elite traits or sort of common threads have you seen between those guys, like Cason Wallace?
KENRICH WILLIAMS: I think that just comparing those guys, I kind of compare Cason to Jrue a little bit. Just playing with Jrue, I think that Cason has very good instincts on defense, stuff you can't teach. Great hands, and he has long arms. So he is able to guard bigger guys, and he knows what it is now. He's been -- had his rookie year under his belt, so he has the challenges of guarding some of the best guys in the league. I think he's been great, and he is only going to get better.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports