Q. The things that maybe didn't show up in the win-loss column, what do you feel like were the most impactful changes that Will and Michael brought in this year?
ANTHONY GILL: I would say consistency. Every day we showed up, we knew exactly what to expect. You don't really find that too often in an organization. We had a coaching change this year, but the level of consistency from the front office and what they expected from us, it never changed.
I can appreciate that a lot, and I can appreciate the fact that they know exactly what they want and how they're going to go about it.
As players, it makes it a lot easier to come in every day and do your job if you know there's a plan for you in place. Regardless of the wins or losses, the consistency was always there, and they knew exactly what they wanted from us, and it was easy for us to go out there and execute it.
Q. When you look at the big picture of what's going on here, what makes you optimistic that the franchise is on the right track?
ANTHONY GILL: I would say the people. The people here are great. I can't speak highly enough of -- from top to bottom, I can't think of one person within this organization that I would say, man, I don't want to go to work because I have to see that person. I'm super optimistic about this because, again, I know what the plan and the expectations that were laid out for us, and I can see where that's going to lead us.
People from the outside can't see the fact that we're in here grinding every day. People are pushing their bodies to the limits every day, pushing their minds to the limits every day for an outcome that they may not even be a part of. Me myself, I may not be a part of the success to come in the future of this organization, but I do 100 percent believe that this organization will be at the top of the NBA. I think it will be a gold standard for every professional sports team moving forward, and I believe that just how we've gone about business this year.
Again, I may not be a part of that, but being able to be a part of the first year ever to build a foundation for what is to come has been exciting.
Q. What allows you to have that perspective and understanding that you can be part of the process of building the house but you potentially may not be here to see what comes to fruition and live in the house?
ANTHONY GILL: Where did I get that from? I did go through a similar experience in college with that. When I first got to UVA, we were not anything special at all. They were struggling to get to the NIT. Then Coach Bennett, the players, the university, we continued to work, and then eventually when I graduated in 2019, they ended up winning the championship, and that was a part of the foundation that we helped lay.
I see a lot of what we did at UVA in building foundation here. A lot of those same pillars and principles that we put into place at UVA, I see them here, as well.
I think that's probably one of them, and then also I'd have to lean back on my foundation and my faith, knowing that we're going about business the right way. Even if you -- like for me, for example, I didn't play the entire season, the majority of the season, but I was still super excited to come into work every day because I knew that this was going to be something special being built here.
Q. You lean on your faith, and something that we know about you, too, is the work you put in to always be ready. That came to fruition for you towards this last three weeks, four weeks of the season. Just talk about what it takes for you mentally. I know the joy you have coming into work and enjoying that, but for you to always stay ready and be ready, put in all of that work not knowing what it looks like towards the end of the season, then the switch has to flip?
ANTHONY GILL: It's definitely a task. It's not easy to sit on the bench the entire season, then have to come in at the end and have no rhythm or anything like that and just go out there and perform. But I do trust the work that I put in every single day, countless hours when the gym is closed, I'm here putting in work. My wife and even my kids speak life into me, knowing the situation that I was in for the majority of the year, so it kind of makes it easy to go out there and perform when your number is called.
Then I also just simplify it to this is my job. I have to be ready when my number is called. There's no excuses. Nobody cares that I haven't played all season. If I get on the court and I don't perform, everybody will just look at me like, well, why isn't he ready, and I know that. So when my number is called, I just know I have to do my job, and I also don't want to let my teammates down. They put in a lot of work all season long, and for me to get out there and not be prepared for that moment, it would be disrespectful to them.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports