Q. Obviously camp starts tomorrow, new team, new city. Your expectations for yourself as you're heading into training camp with this new squad?
CAM WHITMORE: I'm likely to have some guys that I've played with before like Bub and AJ and a couple guys on the team, Khris and CJ and AG. But going into training camp, there's nothing like going into training camp in your hometown, Southeast D.C., right where my dad is from. So there's nothing like it, so I'm very happy.
Q. I asked AJ and Bilal about high flying ducks. You and I have talked about that. They both admitted there is going to be some internal competition in that department. Do you agree or disagree?
CAM WHITMORE: I mean, not a competition, but I feel like we all can get up off the floor and off the ground and have some flashiness to us. It's definitely going to be very exciting.
Q. For those who don't know exactly which version of Cam Whitmore they're going to get this season, what do you say to them?
CAM WHITMORE: An all-around basketball player where I can show off my basketball skill, my play-making ability, my defensive ability.
Q. Going from Houston to D.C., two organizations, different timelines, different amount that they're competing for championships, you'll likely have a far greater role here than you had in Houston. Are you looking forward to that opportunity, and how do you plan on seizing that opportunity?
CAM WHITMORE: Yeah, I've been looking forward to that opportunity since July 5th when I got traded. But I've been ready, working, been in the weight room. I've been working on the court, working on my mental. So I'm ready to get on the floor at CapitalOne Arena.
Q. When you got the call that you were coming here, coming to a new team where you'll get more opportunity, what was your reaction?
CAM WHITMORE: I still didn't really say anything. I was kind of like confused not necessarily, but I definitely told my parents. That was the first person I called when I got the news, when Stone called me, my representative called me that I was traded.
But I quickly called my parents and said I'm coming home. My dad was like, what? Kind of like a reaction like, no way. So yeah, they're happy, too.
Q. You mentioned your parents. I remember at the combine a couple years ago you talked about how your dad surprised you with Wizards tickets. Could you expand on that story and remind us of that?
CAM WHITMORE: Yeah, but usually it was kind of a way of me trying to do good in school or he wanted me to do good in school and he would surprise me with Wizards tickets when I was coming home. I would get home first before him and he would come home and just be like, I got some tickets, let's go, put some shoes on. Those were really fun times I remember.
Q. We know you've got a great relationship with Bub. How would you describe you guys' friendship and what's it like to be teammates?
CAM WHITMORE: That's my little brother. I take him under my wing, teach him all the ways to be a good basketball player and a good man. Yeah, we have a really good relationship. (Indiscernible).
Q. When the season ended in Houston, what did you want to work on specifically with your game going into the off-season and how did you attack that?
CAM WHITMORE: Well, one thing I wanted to focus on coming into the next season was it's not really like a skill you can do as a defense. I really wanted to take pride in the defensive end first, and then let the offense speak for itself.
Yeah, the offense will come, but help defense, help side, low man, being ready, being aware, just really locking it down. Same thing I do on offense to defense, but offensively be a three-hole scorer and just perfect my craft.
Q. On the defensive piece, how much of that is just mental reps? You know where you're supposed to be. You know what you're supposed to do. How much of it is physically getting on the court and doing it?
CAM WHITMORE: It's just being aware, billing my body, getting a little stronger, a little bigger, having a nice base, getting over the screens, getting under the screens, just knowing the defensive schemes which I can always do on the defensive end.
Q. You've mentioned the defense. When you look at that side of the floor, new team, new chapter for you, how much do you want to challenge yourself in a specific area that, like, this season if I can lock in on, as you mentioned, being the low man, always be where I'm supposed to, do you do things like that to try to better your game from a defensive standpoint?
CAM WHITMORE: Yeah, I just be charging myself. The coaches are definitely charging me, too, with Keith and BK and JJ, they're definitely wanting me to be a good on-ball defender. They think I can be one of the better on-ball defenders on the team and in the league, too. They're charging me every day, working on your body and going in the weight room definitely is beneficial to myself.
Q. On the offensive end, obviously this being a new coach and a new system for you, there's going to be a learning curve and an adaptation. What's going to be that one area that you want to truly focus on offensively knowing that you have to make that adaptation as you begin this new chapter with the Wizards?
CAM WHITMORE: Yeah, whatever the coach really wants. I try to do what Coach wants. There's definitely going to be some different type of adaptation to what I had in Houston to now. But I think what the coach is cooking up, he's got something in store not just for me but for the whole team offensively.
Q. To that point, skill-wise, I know you're going to go out there and do what the coaches are asking of you, but I know that every athlete has some keys and some specifics that they want to come into the season and execute and be consistent with with training camp starting tomorrow. What are those skills that you want to execute this season at a high level?
CAM WHITMORE: Yeah, one thing from last year, we did it last year to this year, I had a little kind of a slump last year, at the start or beginning of last year throughout the season, and it kind of got me to the G League last year. I spent some time in the G League for a little bit of time, and to see the ball falling a little bit more, because it didn't really happen last year.
This year I want to get the ball, catch to shoot, not just put the ball down first thing I do, which is kind of a habit, but it's something I worked on. Yeah, just being ready, being ready to shoot, being ready to make a move when a contest comes. That's pretty much it. But from the start just locking in.
Q. How did that experience develop or enhance your competitive spirit?
CAM WHITMORE: Just being ready. I've heard, stay ready, be ready since I got in the league, so it's just something I've got to dial in and work on. I have to continue to stay ready and be ready, and that might help me from my time in Houston; I'm sure that translated.
Q. What's your favorite memory as a Wizards fan growing up?
CAM WHITMORE: Favorite memory, I think I was at that game when (indiscernible) hit the big shot and as I said before John Wall hit the shot in Game 6.
Q. What do you feel like didn't work in your time at Houston, and what do you want to learn from your experience there?
CAM WHITMORE: What I feel like didn't work in Houston? I mean, they're going to get in the league, you're going to do what's better for the team and they're going to do what's better for your players and you're going to do anything that happens to win the game, win any game, and at that time at the end of two years they were the second seed and they were probably one of the best teams in the league, so they had to do what was better for the team, and that's what they did and that's what they thought. I mean, I don't really have to say anything to it.
Q. What do you want to learn from your experience in Houston?
CAM WHITMORE: I said it before, I've heard so many times, be ready, stay ready. They said that to me before. But I'm going to use that, be ready, stay ready, because I feel like I deserve to be on that floor every game. But I'm going to use that motivation and fuel.
Q. We've heard a lot about what the competition will look like specifically at that wing spot. What are you looking forward to most about that competition in camp?
CAM WHITMORE: It's nothing different. I played with a handful of wings when I was in Houston, so it's the same thing here. Just have the same mentality, have the same confidence and motivation that I have to score.
Q. One of the things that Will told us last week is that he talked to you on the night that you were drafted and asked how you would potentially feel about playing at home. Would you say your attitude has maybe changed from what it was back then now that this is your reality or is it kind of the same for me?
CAM WHITMORE: I've had the same attitude since I stepped foot in the league. Ain't nothing going to change.
Q. Have you kind of got a chip on your shoulder now that you're in a completely different situation than you were a year ago?
CAM WHITMORE: I've been having a chip on my shoulder since I've been drafted, yeah.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports