Q. When people think of you, they think of you being a sniper, high basketball IQ. You put a lot of time and effort in your defense. Would you say at this point you're underrated with defense?
COREY KISPERT: I think so. It's a funny thing about the league. I think every player that's ever played can attest to this. Like, once you're known for something, it takes a while to undo that. So whoever you are as a rookie or whoever you show yourself to be in a big moment, it takes a while to really unravel.
Again, like a lot of the themes of this organization, this team, a bunch of different players, we're making a lot of really good progress, but we're not there yet. That's what I would say of my defense. I want to be a much better defender than I am now. But I'm a whole hell of a lot better than I was three years ago.
Super, super positive on that end. But the exciting part is there's a lot more to uncover, a lot more to get better at. I'm still going to be working to kind of unravel that stigma, stereotype about me. By no means where I aim to be.
Q. You've been here since the last regime. Whole new front office. Behind the scenes, what have you seen that gives you confidence this team is headed in the right direction?
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, these guys have a plan. They're super detail-oriented about how they're going to execute it. They're doing it the right way.
The things that matter to you as players, they're helping us take care of. The way our families are treated, the way we operate on a day-to-day scheduling. Even just like the feeling you have when you walk in the building, you would think on a losing team for a whole year, it would feel like you would come in here panicked, your heart rate would be up, you'd be nervous to come into work. It's the opposite of how I feel working in here.
The people in here are genuine and have done a great job of helping us feel like we're at home when we come to work every day. That's something that's unique across the league, I'm sure. Kudos to them for kind of constructing that for us and letting us be ourselves, play the way that we play, and feel comfortable in the building.
Q. When do you expect to be able to do your full basketball activities, given your recovery?
COREY KISPERT: Well, I mean, a couple really good things. First of all, as far as injuries that require surgery, this one is really minor as far as recoveries go. If you recover the way you're supposed to and you listen to the doctor's orders, you're going to recover to a point where surgery never even happened.
Got reevaluated a week ago. I'm right on track, right on team. Looking forward to, like, having an entire summer. If we were in the Playoffs, if our season was three weeks longer, I'd be playing again.
Obviously there's no season to continue to push for, so I might be a little more cautious considering I have a long runway. As far as recovery goes and how my thumb feels, everything is right on track. I'm going to be back to business in a couple of short weeks.
Q. What have you learned about BK that you might not have known before?
COREY KISPERT: He really, really likes adversity. Thrives in it. It takes a unique person to run to challenges and to run to fires, to help put them out instead of running away. BK has a unique ability to not only do that but gain energy off of it.
There were so many times during the course of the season, I mean, we had two 16-game losing streaks this year. On game 11 or 12 of both, he would come into the locker room, look us in the eyes: I love this, I love this stuff, I love getting better, I love adversity, I love figuring this thing out.
That's what gives BK energy. To have a coach that is willing to stand up and take all the bullets when the players are responsible for winning and losing games. Also, when we win and play good, he's the first one to deflect, give us all the credit. That's a super, super underrated thing. That goes a long way as far as credibility goes amongst players for your coach.
You saw a glimpse of that last year when he took over. This year it was going to be put to the test. BK never blinked. The credit goes to him for leading us in that way and showing us that, like, the true satisfaction, the true fulfillment you get from basketball comes from tackling challenges that are really, really difficult.
For us it was growing and developing and building right habits. It was pushing through losing streaks. It was maintaining a level head through all the stuff that was going on. For a Playoff and winning team, it's like, How do I maintain success? Get the most out of my guys? How do we stay focused from game to game, be the best we can possibly be? They're both issues you have to solve.
It's just the same thing dressed in different clothes. BK stood up to the challenge.
Q. We all saw the differences for J.P. on the court. What did you notice about him off the court? He said he felt more settled this year.
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, you noticed that for sure. Thankfully Jordan is really consistent. One of the things I admire most about him is, with a lot of people in the NBA, you never know what you're going to get when they walk in the door on a given day. That's never a question with Jordan. He looks settled, he feels settled. He's still able to interact with us even if he had bad nights or tough nights or things weren't going his way.
Obviously we all saw the kind of talent that Jordan is on the court, just the God-given ability he has to do what he does at a high level. But to be able to back that up with a consistent mindset, a consistent temperament and demeanor is someone that you run to and look for as a teammate.
I'm proud of Jordan for that. It's very easy to get sideways, especially with someone that has his visibility, someone that's in the spotlight as much as he is. Jordan was consistent all year long. He was settled all year long. I would agree with him 100% on what he said.
Q. We saw Bilal guard star players last year. This year he had more success in those matchups according to the numbers. What did you notice different about him, and did you see it up close in practice?
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, to touch on your second point first. Bilal is always a fun matchup to have in practice. He's known for guarding the team's best player. A lot of guys that are the best player on the ball all the time, a lot of isolation systems, a lot of pick and roll, Bilal is a master at that.
I feel if he's guarding me or Jordan, we can teach him a thing or two on guarding off the ball as well. Kind of helping Bilal grow his defensive game while I'm flying off of screens and running around, hopefully getting him tired. Those things are just going to make him a better defender down the road.
He's taken so many strides. Swear to God, I think he grew three inches over the summer. His wingspan got longer somehow. The thing with him, he's so much more confident. He steps up to the plate every single time. He stands up to the challenge, he looks guys dead in the face, and he's going to do everything he can to lock them down. That's what you need out of a defender and a guy that's going to be the backbone of your defense.
BC had an amazing year doing that. If nothing else, like that's success.
Q. It seemed like prior to the hand injury, there was an uptick almost in your off-ball movement, trying to create, knowing how much focus the defense was paying to you and Jordan when you were on the floor together. Did you take and make concerted effort in the off-season to up your conditioning so that you could be that constant movement?
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, 100%. Everybody's got a role in the NBA. My goal is to be the best conditioned player on the team no matter who I play for or who our roster is.
I've told this to so many people. I had somebody actually ask me about it. An opponent asked me about it. Like I'm not the best athlete in the NBA. I'm a better athlete than you guys think (smiling). But if I can keep going and keep my level of athleticism throughout the course of the game and make you tired, all of a sudden we're the same or I'm a better athlete. That's where I know I make my money.
That's the goal every summer, is to get better and balance taking care of my body, but also being in the best shape possible. This year, when you saw that at the end or back half of the season, it just took me a long time to figure out how to do that in a brand-new roster and new system. Felt like everything was new and different playing with a lot of young guys who maybe haven't played with a player like me before. That takes a lot of adjusting and getting used to.
When we finally found our rhythm with that is when it started to shine through. The cuts were open. I was getting open shots for other guys. Those things are a mark of the offense working. I'm happy and proud to say I had a big part in that just based off of something as simple as running around.
Really cool to see and really cool to come together.
Q. How much pride did you take in the work that you put in, especially with how much this organization wants to be a player-centric organization, and the touch points that they have of always making sure there's that line of communication? How big was that for you in being able to take that next step, making sure you were in the best condition you were?
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, I'm extremely proud of that. My challenge to be the best-conditioned player on the team only gets harder when we have 11 other, like, really hard workers on the team. Like, we work our tails off to get better every single day.
As the challenge grows, you have to grow, too. Like I said, the work shines through. We're able to kind of find a really good groove. Unfortunately there are different plans in the cards for me with finishing the season out. I truly feel like I got better and better month after month this year. That's something that's really difficult to do. The consistency of that is one of the hardest skills, one of the most overlooked skills to have in the league.
Q. Marcus talks about controlling what you can control. You can control how you utilize the experience of not being physically on the floor. How much did this one feel different, if at all, especially with the way the team was taking strides, now you're able to witness it from the sidelines?
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, it's just another opportunity, another angle to get better. I mentioned earlier this year how, like, you don't really -- it's hard to fully see the full picture coming together, for better or worse, until you're off the floor and you can watch a whole game or watch a bunch of different games. This injury was no different than the one I had earlier in the season. Allowed me to take a step back, see things for what they are, kind of implement yourself as a leader from the sidelines.
My gift as a leader isn't, like, pregame speeches, it's not tearing people a new one. None of it's what I find to be really impactful. I'd like to lead in one-on-one settings, pulling guys aside, putting a hand on their shoulders, giving them pieces of advice. That's something I have to hone in during the course of being injured, being out.
I didn't feel like I really had a choice. My season was over. Was I either going to sit on the sidelines and throw an outfit on and look good for 48 minutes, or was I actually going to try to put in some work and actually try to get better? To me, the answer was clear.
It was just another opportunity to improve and grow. Really another thing that I'm proud of this year. Happy to say that I did get better at it.
Q. What is the target percentage that you look for in three-point shots that you take?
COREY KISPERT: Selfishly it's over 40. This year was funny. It was really funny for me this year because I came in in awesome shape, felt great about my game. Like I mentioned, the season didn't get started the way I wanted it to. There was a lot of moving parts, a lot of adjustments, different lineups with young guys who hadn't played in the NBA before, trying to find their feet. That impacts everybody in different ways. Some guys are better at handling it than others.
For me, I wasn't good at handling it for a while. I felt like I bounced back pretty quickly. Statistically that month, the first month of the season, was bad enough that a really good rest of the season didn't level it out to where I wanted it to be.
I mean, I feel like I shot pretty close to 40% from, I don't know, middle of Thanksgiving on. The beginning part of the season was just, like, bad enough where it didn't level out to where I needed it to be.
By and large a really good shooting season, but a really horrible start that I couldn't make up for. A lot of that has to do with different things. I can point fingers and try to make up excuses of why I didn't shoot so good. I just did that a few minutes ago. But a lot of it's on me, too. It's another thing to get better at, reevaluate. I plan on mastering tougher shots, taking tougher shots, being way more aggressive, hunting threes.
I know that teams are guarding me different now than they ever have. I saw that firsthand from game to game. Now it's just my job to take it into the next season and pick up where I left off rather than having to recover from a hole that's a little too deep.
Q. You talk about the organization being detail-oriented. Is there something they told you in exit meetings that stands out as far as the details?
COREY KISPERT: I don't know. I saw a glimpse of it even in the summertime, the way that they plan roster organization, coaching. Even trips and scheduling, everything is laid out for us. It makes it really, really easy. You have to be as dumb as a bag of rocks to mess it up as a player. All you have to do is look at your phone. Your schedule is there. You make it happen.
Those little details, even as simple as scheduling, letting us know of things in advance. We talk about scouting reports, anything like that. It's so detailed and laid out for us that it just makes it really easy for us players to execute. That takes a lot of stress off of us, especially when we have things going on in our lives off the court.
They did a good job of helping us handle that.
Q. How did the team's, like, day-to-day groove and demeanor change after the trade (indiscernible)?
COREY KISPERT: It was really exciting to have fresh faces in. Anytime you welcome someone into the family, it's a pretty exciting feeling. The credit goes to Marcus and Khris, Colby and Jaylen, AJ, about coming in and, like, adopting what we were doing right away. They were able to see the vision, see what we were about, and fit into it seamlessly.
Being a, in Marcus' case, Defensive Player of the Year, a multiple-time Eastern Conference finalist and Finalist, Khris' case obviously an NBA champion, multi-time All-Star. Stepping into a new role, a new team after so much success on an individual level is, like, a very hard thing to do. Those guys did it seamlessly.
They're great teammates. That's all you can ask for. You don't know what people are really like behind the scenes across the league. You (indiscernible) people up after the game and say good game, stay healthy, that's it. You don't know what they're really about.
Big amount of credit goes to Marcus and Khris specifically for lending knowledge, developing themselves, and being great teammates. It's a really hard balance to find. Those guys did it really, really seamlessly coming into a new team in February.
Q. What can you say about Carrington overall? He's played every game this season. Game winner yesterday.
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, I mean, I don't know what the balance is between luck and work as far as playing in 82 games as far as injuries go. Bub had a lot of both. I don't want to discredit the work that he did. The guy is in there working his tail off every single day. The ability to be able to play in every single game is something I haven't done yet in my career. It's the goal of every player to do. To get it done in his first year speaks a lot to his consistency.
Bub is a gamer. He's an incredible competitor. He doesn't back down from anybody or anything. Sure, Bub made a ton of mistakes this year. We all do. But the thing you look for in rookies is the mistakes that you make out of fear and intimidation, timidness, or are you going to be aggressive and attack it and make a mistake while doing that.
The vast majority of those mistakes Bub made this year was because he was being aggressive, because he was taking on challenges. That mindset that early in your career, I don't know if it's being young and not knowing any better or just being that kind of a dog.
Bub had it, and it's going to serve him well throughout his career. That's what I'm most impressed by him throughout his rookie year.
Q. What players on this team, the past and present, have inspired you the most?
COREY KISPERT: Good question.
I would say one that sticks out to me the most was my vet my rookie year was KCP. His professionalism, the way he attacked the game on both sides of the ball was really inspiring.
I would say the tenacity and the physicality that Deni brought to games was really inspiring as well. You can pull a bunch of different inspiring things from a bunch of different players, a handful of teammates that have made a mark on me.
I could spend an hour answering those questions. Those two guys specifically are at the front of the mind.
Q. What are your thoughts on Kyshawn?
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, wow. Incredible talent. Amazing feel for the game at such a young age. You can tell he's played high level professionally against grown men his whole life.
I was really surprised at how good of a play-maker he is, how quickly he could pick that up. I think Kyshawn had a similar year to me as far as a rough start and a better finish. But he never quit shooting. Again, like, he attacked shots, he hunted shots. He never turned down an open one. That's things you look for in a true shooter. I expect Kyshawn to be a real threat from behind the line for years to come.
But again, with all of these rookies, another thing I was impressed with most about Kyshawn is his willingness to learn, his absorption of information. That's one thing. But to be able to apply it right away is a whole different skill in itself. Kyshawn was able to do that.
I had the pleasure of watching him grow and get better over the course of the months that we played. With his size and his talent, his feel, has a chance to really be doing some special things a couple years down the line. Thankfully the only person that's going to stop him from doing that is himself. The ball's in his court.
The blueprint is laid out. He has the ability to go do it. Now it's his opportunity to take advantage of that over the summer and really truly get better.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports