Q. What does this mean to you to be a big part of this?
KYLE KUZMA: It means a lot to be here and obviously having the Wizards' support and my foundation, my mother here, and a lot of my teammates, a lot of people from Monumental Sports, it means a lot because part of our duties as good citizens is helping our communities, our communities that aren't really heard, and that's this area within D.C.
Anytime we can help people out, it's always for the greater good.
Q. What does this cause mean to you specifically, just handing out food and gifts during this time of year?
KYLE KUZMA: It means a lot because some people may not be able to afford Thanksgiving dinners or get cool little gifts. Sometimes we forget about the little things in life, especially like for us as athletes and people with a platform. This is what I kind of come from, too.
Like I said, anything we can do to really help, it's a blessing.
Q. You mentioned the theory is kind of a little bit similar to Flint. In the three years that you've been here, how have you learned more about this area?
KYLE KUZMA: Just being here, being in D.C., not just this area, there's a bunch of areas, a bunch of areas in Maryland, all over the place. Obviously this being our home base, being where ESA is, we're entrenched here. This is where my drive every day to work. It's part of our community, as well.
Q. Bouncing off the Flint question, obviously Flint is your home and I think you've spent a million dollars to build that YMCA over there. Are you finding like D.C. is another home to you?
KYLE KUZMA: For sure. That's part of my re-signing here is obviously the bigger picture and making this a home. I think that my three years here has been amazing, amazing time for me, and also just getting to know people here in D.C. and in the DMV. It's a really special place.
Q. Could you actually tell us a little bit more about the Kyle Kuzma family foundation, what it does?
KYLE KUZMA: Yeah, so our foundation, my mom is the head honcho of it. She's very happy to have that job title. Our main mission is just to help -- our main priority is single mothers and under privileged kids and working with different community centers, charities, benefits, foundations to accomplish goals. Obviously that's a wide variety. I know my mom has a great, great passion for single mothers, mothers raising kids that don't have the necessities, and it's important to me, too, because we lived it.
Q. What's it like just kind of using your platform for something like this, and what have you learned about that over the years as your platform has grown?
KYLE KUZMA: It's just a big thing because you can just put a smile on somebody's face. That goes a long way.
I think especially at this stage of my life, I get more out of putting smiles on people's faces than anything. It makes you feel good.
Q. You guys had the kids there with the open practice, now you're doing this. Does it kind of put you back in your childhood of giving these kids that may not have had the opportunity to have this opportunity, that it does a little bit more for you as an adult now?
KYLE KUZMA: Yeah, it does way more, because like I said, I would probably die to watch the Detroit Pistons play or practice in front of me as a kid or have opportunities to get Thanksgiving meals, although my mom did a good job of putting the food on the table, but that's not the case for everybody. When you just look at it in that perspective, it's a beautiful feeling.
Q. Does it mean more to you or your mom to be able to give back with not only utilizing your status as a pro athlete but your foundation and taking the opportunity to give back, whether it's here, Flint, anywhere across America? Is it more to you or to your mom do you think?
KYLE KUZMA: I think it's mutual for sure. Obviously my mom has a kind heart. She's a beautiful woman. She's done a lot for me and my family and all my friends growing up, she was that type of mom in the neighborhood. She has a big heart.
Obviously I got some of that from her.
Q. What's one of your favorite Thanksgiving memories that you had growing up?
KYLE KUZMA: Thanksgiving memories, we used to have the whole family around, and those were always good times, because especially as you grow as an adult, you don't really have that much family time anymore, and as a kid we used to have 15, 20 people over. Those were the good days in life.
Q. Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving food?
KYLE KUZMA: Mac and cheese and pumpkin pie.
Q. For you growing up, what is it like to not have the necessities that you need, and how can that impact kids?
KYLE KUZMA: I mean, it can impact kids in a lot of ways, but a lot of times as a kid you don't even realize because you don't realize what's necessary and what you need and what you want or what's even out there. You know, it's kind of being an Angel in a sense and planting things for certain people. You'll realize as you get older type of thing.
Q. I think you might have teased a little bit that you have something scheduled for both Flint and D.C. for Christmas?
KYLE KUZMA: Yeah, it's going to be fun.
Q. Can you reveal anything?
KYLE KUZMA: I can't right now.
Q. It's going to be really good?
KYLE KUZMA: Yeah, yeah.
Q. What impact do you hope to have on this local community?
KYLE KUZMA: You know, just like I said, putting smiles on people's faces, giving them experiences, because I grew up in Flint, Michigan, and it wasn't much going on. Like this is probably a big deal. This is something that you can get out of your house, get out of your environment and kind of forget about your real life a little bit in the sense of coming to this and having a lot of great people around, famous basketball players, great Monumental people. This is like an experience, and hopefully it's something that people remember, especially in this area.
Q. What does it mean to you to now be in a situation where you have an opportunity to put something like this together and give back to kids?
KYLE KUZMA: I mean, I'm just in a blessed place right now. Obviously this is something that's very important to me, having a foundation. We've had a foundation for seven years, but also with me being in my situation now, getting my contract, having stability is obviously important to blow it up even more. It's not really -- especially with who I am as a person and our mission statement, it's really trying to impact nationally, globally, because at the end of the day, there's a lot of people with need.
Q. Have you had a funny interaction so far?
KYLE KUZMA: Yeah, this is BC's first Thanksgiving, and me and my mom were explaining to him what gravy was, so that was fun.
Q. What did you tell him about gravy?
KYLE KUZMA: I don't like gravy, personally, and I was just like, it's nasty, really.
Q. Can you explain what Thanksgiving is supposed to be?
KYLE KUZMA: I was trying to explain him a little bit, like the Mayflower and the Pilgrims and stuff. But we've got to sit down and have that conversation. That's not an over-the-turkey conversation.
Q. To share this with your mom, what's that like for you?
KYLE KUZMA: It's fun because obviously she's my mom, but as you get older, I think parents become friends necessarily right, and now we have a working relationship, too. So that's really fun. Not many people can say they have that. I'm definitely very grateful for that.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports