Q. How would you sum up the season now that it's over?
KYLE KUZMA: You know, personally, I don't think it was as bad as it may have seemed. Going into year one of a rebuild, a lot of times people forgot about that. You're going to have a lot of struggles and a lot of nuances to kind of go over with. Looking at just the dynamic, new front office comes in, we have an interim coach, we have new players, new young players that never played with each other.
Those are things that matter, right? We tried our best to go out every single night and compete and win, and some nights we did, some nights we didn't. I think this year was really big on like the process of what does it take to be a professional athlete, what's it take to win in this league, and it's a lot. It's not easy, clearly.
I don't think it was that bad just because of -- me personally, I fell in love with the process every day, trying to figure things out, and I think that that brought me a lot of joy. You could say we had our worst franchise record in history, right, but I think it's worse when Bradley Beal, Porzingis and me can't go to the Playoffs.
I think this year was a really good year, a really good year one for a rebuild internally, and I think the second half of the season into the year, we started figuring some things out.
Q. How did you grow personally, and when we talked to you on media day, there were a lot of questions about leadership and your role in that sense. How did that fit into your growth personally, as well?
KYLE KUZMA: Oh, I grew tremendously. I think falling in love with that process every day of trying to figure things out, I love, and I think as a leader, I did a pretty solid job. But you can always do more and be better, whether that's learning your teammates, whether that's learning how to speak to others, learning how to be a professional at all times because when you're a leader and one of the top guys, everybody is looking at you, whether it's players, front office, the coaches, media, fans. All that stuff is important.
Q. What kind of stuff did Will and Michael put in place in terms of building the foundation of the rebuild that might not have shown up, like you said, in the wins and losses? What did you notice that was different this year organization-wise or how you guys did things on the court, anything like that?
KYLE KUZMA: Probably communication. That was the biggest thing. I think when I came here, it was just drastically different. For me, I came from a first-class organization. They did things a certain way over there and did it right, and coming here it was a little different.
I think that Winger, his background, his DNA in his NBA lifetime, and Will, add well, just their pedigree, where they come from, where they learned from is pretty top tier. This is their first time in this position, as well; that's more context. I think they did a really good job of building a foundation. It was there.
Q. You talk about communication in terms of what's expected of you?
KYLE KUZMA: Everything. It's like you're the CEO. You have to do everything in the organization. It's not just communication, being everyday players. It's communication with strength coaches. It's communication with athletic trainers to make sure that we're on the same page medically, cover-wise, be on the court in practice, to play, to travel. In that regard, I think that's huge. That's a little thing and nobody ever sees it, but it's important.
Q. I just wonder what effect Brian had on the team once he was promoted to head coach. What do you feel like he was able to accomplish?
KYLE KUZMA: I think he really galvanized the entire group. We were in a rough spot for many reasons, whatever, but we had to kind of look inward at a certain point in the season and just figure out how do we get ourselves out of the mood that we had as a team, the mood we came in every day to the arena. We weren't very competitive as a group that first half of the season. There were a lot of games where the game was over at halftime, game was over first six minutes into the second half. We started to compete.
That's the biggest thing, competing, because everybody wants to win in the NBA, but there's only one winner every year, and there's 29 losers. So it's not really enjoyable to just get your face kicked in every night and the game is over at the half and you're not playing four quarters.
For us, I think he did a great job of putting that competitive spirit in us and instilling it within the group setting.
Tough job. Tough job being interim head coach. Can't really put your fingertips on everything because we've learned something for a half a season, and you can't just wipe everything out and go. You have to kind of dummy things down and try to make it the best you can, and I think he did that.
Q. Being the vet and the team leader for this team, what progress have you seen from the young guys, and what improvements do you want to see going into next year?
KYLE KUZMA: The biggest improvement is team-wise. I think we did a great job all year of individually getting better. I think everybody on this team, 1 through 17, got better.
But basketball is a team sport; there's five people on the court trying to synchronize into one. I think we have to figure out how we can have that success as the individual and put in like a team concept.
We made steps toward that, but we've got a lot more room to grow.
Q. You're NBA champion, team leader here in Washington. Individually what's your next goal?
KYLE KUZMA: Just make people better. I feel like I've established myself in this league. People know who I am. I've gotten better every single year I've been in this NBA. I think it's not about me; I've got to make other people better, whether that's walking into the building every day, having a good face on so like the mood is good, cheering guys on, supporting guys. You can't just go out there and try and score 30 and win. That doesn't work. I'm not that type of player.
I believe in a team game, and everybody matters. One night it's my night. The next night JP will have it going. Deni has been balling. We've got players that can score and do things, and I see that.
Q. Going back to that leadership piece, when you were no longer active and playing, how do you feel you took your leadership to the next level with regards to coaching the young guys, working with the coaching staff, what you were seeing, the other players who weren't active seeing on the floor, trying to help in the game, whether it's games, shootaround, practice?
KYLE KUZMA: I don't think I really took a next-level step. I just remained the same, being myself. Film room, I'm talking. On the court, I'm talking, helping guys. That's what I've been doing. I don't necessarily think I took the next level by sitting out or trying to do more or be extra. Not really trying to do all that. Just trying to be consistent in what I believe in.
I think I tried to do that to the best of my ability.
Q. You mentioned it briefly with regards to the communication piece that you felt was a big change with this season with the new front office. The other thing that is new, at least to this organization, was the holistic approach that they were taking to player development, not just you working with a specific coach and a specific trainer but everybody kind of having the tentacles and the conversations and it being one voice within that player and allowing that camaraderie. How did you like that approach, and what did it do for you as you progressed through the season?
KYLE KUZMA: I liked it a lot. It was the first time going through something like that. We had certain things we used to do during the season, whether it was group meetings from that holistic approach of everybody being in a room like this with 13 people and you as a player, and I think that's very valuable. It shows that they care about you, care about how you're perceived and how you're feeling on a day-to-day basis and investing in the player, and I think that's extremely important.
Probably the first time in my career that was like a real thing. It was really good. Especially for me because I'm noting biggest analytic guy, and they are, but I see certain things that make sense.
Having those type of meetings and that part of player development, I think it helps players.
Q. From a mental standpoint, do you think that with the way the season kind of went in dealing with the ebbs and flows, whether it was yourself talking to guys or the entire roster, do you think that that approach allowed you guys to weather the storms when they happened and get through the season and refine that joy when Brian took over?
KYLE KUZMA: From a certain extent, communication-wise, like I said, you're in a room with everybody, so you don't have that many chances during the season to be in a room with people from the organization from multiple departments of the organization to speak upon things freely and openly, and that's important. Communication is the biggest thing. Wish we would have communicated on defense a little bit more, but we're working on it.
Q. When you look at the big picture, where the franchise is headed, what gives you hope?
KYLE KUZMA: God. Faith. Know what I'm saying? You always have to control what you can control and play the cards you're dealt and always pray for the best and have faith, and I think that everything that we do on a day-to-day basis, the process that we try to attack as an organization is there.
This is year one. We planted seeds. Waiting for them to grow.
Q. How do you hope the coaching situation resolves? Not necessarily the name of a particular person but the qualities that individual will bring to things.
KYLE KUZMA: I mean, being a coach is just so much more than just X's and O's and being around the game forever. It's about the human aspect of it. It's about caring for somebody, knowing they care for you because if I know you don't really care for me, why am I listening to you or why do I want you in my life as a person.
I think that having a certain emotional intelligence to realize those type of things in any relationship is important, especially for a head coach, because to be a head coach, like I said, it's more than X's and O's. It's more about managing egos because we all have them, especially to be at this level, and also how to make fair with people because every decision you have as a team is sacrifice, but do you think the sacrifice is fair as a player? Are you okay with it?
A lot of that stems from having a head coach that can realize those things. I think that's important for head coaches.
Q. You've mentioned rebuild a couple times, so that's step one. You want progress as a leader on this team, and I'm sure you've had time a little bit to think about what the next step is. What do you want to see change? What do you want the progression to be when you sit down with your teammates and people in the league? What do you want to see from this franchise?
KYLE KUZMA: I mean, the season ended yesterday, so I haven't really had time to reflect. I think if we did this exit like a month from now, I'd probably give you like a book about it.
No, I think right now it's a big reflecting standpoint for myself, for my teammates and our organization, and I think that in this time the season is so fresh that we need some R & R time and some relaxation.
It's a long season. It's not just like what do I need to do next year. No, I need to calm down, reflect and talk about these things amongst my group, my people to become a better self, and I think that's everybody.
Q. You got that four-year contract back in June. How did that impact your mentality going into the season and how you viewed the organization and the front office that they had that faith in you, wanted to keep you around long-term?
KYLE KUZMA: Just super free. Regardless of the money, just being able to have a place for four years is a blessing. We live in this NBA now where everybody goes places every two years, every three years. There's a thing called being an NBA journeyman, and I think that anybody would love to sign a multiyear deal because you have that certain type of stability, and when you have stability, you can be more free and be more confident.
I think that really just allowed me to improve and be myself every day.
Q. Tough season, obviously, where wins were maybe hard to come by. How did your relationship with your teammates from October until now develop and change throughout the course of those tough months?
KYLE KUZMA: I mean, I think it was great. We didn't point fingers at anybody. We didn't have no drama. We just were with each other.
I think that that's important because I've been on a lot of different teams that that wasn't there, and it was just hell coming into work every day where you're just like -- it's tough. It's dog days. It's a long time being with people, being with a group of guys for 200 plus days. We're only with our families for less than that, so this is our family. To be with a group of guys that understand that and, yeah, we're going to have tough times and families fight and families argue, but it was never nothing demoralizing or just tough about things as I have had in my past personally. That was great. It made it fun to come to work.
Q. When you typically come back to the upcoming season with something new in your bag, what on-court elements do you want to add to your game over the next six months?
KYLE KUZMA: Just be in a whole different caliber of shape. I think if I could change something from this year, probably just being in a different type of shape and conditioning. I don't think I necessarily realized that being the top is kind of important; people are trying to stop you every night. It's a lot. I had to do a lot this year from the standpoint of usage and whatnot and understanding that you have to be able to still keep that up all 48.
I'm going to take it upon myself to be in really good shape.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports