Oklahoma City Thunder Media Conference

Monday, September 30, 2024

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

Ajay Mitchell

Press Conference


Q. (Indiscernible.) Everybody has talked about where discussed with you where he has been at his journey, and he has been a second round success story. What's it like for you to have somebody that's gone through it and when to help?

AJAY MITCHELL: It's great. It's amazing to have him here and just learn from him and what he has been through. It's been great so far and just listening to him and learning from him on the court has been really great.

Q. What can you expect in your role? Have you talked to Mark?

AJAY MITCHELL: Not really. I talked to him about how I should play, what I should do to get better. That's been the focus is getting better every day, working hard, putting my head down and just learning.

Q. So you really played really well during Summer League. Can you walk us through that experience and what integrating into summer league was like?

AJAY MITCHELL: Yeah, Summer League was a great experience. I think just for us to get to know the system, know how OKC played. It was great.

I feel like it was good to get some game reps. The last time I played a game before Summer League was March, so it was great to be out there and just learn and get better every day . So it was fun.

Q. Was there any kind of anticipating about -- (indiscernible)?

AJAY MITCHELL: Yeah, for sure. I think it's definitely not the level of a real NBA game, but I think Summer League is really competitive, so it was great to be able to play and get used to that kind of physicality and how the game is played.

Q. What are your early take-aways from playing against some of the guys?

AJAY MITCHELL: We have a really competitive group. I think that makes it really fun. Open gym, everyone is trying to win. I think it was great getting runs in with guys to see how they play. You learn a lot from your teammates through just knowing what they like, knowing when they like to have the ball. So it was great being able to play open gym, and I think we had a lot of fun.

Q. I know you are just starting to be around the guys. What's been your sense of Shai? Obviously everybody sees the skill, but what do you see behind the closed doors? What's been your sense?

AJAY MITCHELL: I think he is just a great leader. I think on and off the court just leading by example a lot, getting the extra hours in, working hard every time, and then -- I mean, he's welcoming us too. I feel like once I met him, I was, like, Yeah, he's the leader of this team. He is a great dude, great dude to be around. Yeah, really excited to learn from him for sure.

Q. All these things, does it surprise you at all that he's what you just said?

AJAY MITCHELL: I don't know if it surprises me. I mean, I didn't know him before getting here, but I think once I met him, he was just, like, a great guy, great energy, and really trying to help the young guys too.

I mean, he's a great guy, and I'm excited to work with him for sure.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
148822-1-1878 2024-09-30 19:46:00 GMT

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