press conference

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New Orleans Pelicans introductory press conference David Griffin, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram and Derrick Favors Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Opening Statement (David Griffin): “Good afternoon. Thank you all for joining us. I’d like to thank Jeff Schwartz, the agent for Brandon (Ingram) and Lonzo (Ball) who is here today. The family of our players that came to join us. This is a really exciting day for us as a group. And it’s really the culmination of many other days and a lot of work that was put in by a front office staff with Trajan (Langdon) and Swin (Cash). You’ve heard me say their names quite often. There were some other people involved in this and had a great deal to do with what we call landing the plane on this big idea. I’d like to recognize them just briefly. J.J. Polk, our attorney, Shane Kupperman, Marc Chasanoff, who worked with us with the cap space, Bryson Graham, our assistant general manager. We really got contributions, Yarone Arbel, our international scouting director. We got contributions from the whole organization. The fact that as many people were involved in this as there were, it really speaks to, sort of, the family we’re trying to build, and the approach that we are taking. It’s an all-hands-on-deck sort of approach. Mrs. Benson was very intimately involved in the process throughout. Dennis Lauscha’s here, in the front row with coach as well, Coach (Alvin) Gentry. This was something that was, a really important effort for us, both in terms of the Anthony Davis trade, which we’re very proud to say yielded the three gentlemen that you see here that were with the Lakers. But also the trade that we were able to consummate with Utah, relative to landing Derrick Favors. Both Rob Pelinka and Dennis Lindsey, Justin Zanik, all of them dealt with us in such a fair and direct way. The conversations were very honest, I felt. I think everybody was very mindful of the sensitivity involved in both situations. So, I’d like to thank both the Laker and Utah organizations for representing the league in a very admirable way throughout this process. I’ll just touch on each one real briefly and then, and then open it up for questions for them.”

Griffin on Derrick Favors: “Derrick (Favors) is somebody that, going back to the time I was in Cleveland, we’d always had a great deal of affinity for. Derrick was in a situation where he was probably best suited as a, center and he was playing behind one of maybe the five best centers in the league, makes it hard to play the natural position that you should play. So, he was asked to play what we considered out of position a lot at the four. In a league that's gotten progressively smaller, they were bigger than everyone else in the front court. I think what happened was a lot of Derrick's game was probably left untouched, particularly offensively. He's a special defensive player and I touched on this in the press release, he's an elite rim protector and somebody who can do a lot of different things on the defensive end to change a game. We feel like he can do the same thing offensively and I know Coach Gentry's really excited about what he'll look like playing center on a full-time basis for us. I think he and his agent Wallace Prather who are great to work with in this process, also kind of recognized immediately that we represent a new opportunity for him. I think they were excited to join the Pelicans family. They were probably not quite as excited as I was to get Derrick but close. Wallace was really a good partner in the process and we're grateful for him.”

Griffin on Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram: “Lonzo is somebody that most everybody knows, I think in terms of the strengths of his game from a passing perspective. The elite floor vision that he has. The thing that excited us the most, and Coach Gentry and I spent a lot of time talking about this, this group here, on the dais, with the exception myself, are very elite defensively and we have a chance to be special good on that side of the ball. Somak (Sarkar) in our analytics area likes to say that our games are going to be the first team to 95 and we'd like that to be the case. Alvin plays a style of ball that everybody looks at on the offensive side and says, we shoot a bunch of threes and we play fast. Well, what that means is we have to have the ability to defend at that same rate. And Lonzo is a truly special defensive guard. He's also a special rebounding guard and that's going to enable us to start our break. It's going to enable us to play to a lot of his strengths in a way that perhaps he wasn't able to play to before. We feel very similarly about Brandon and Brandon's ability to do some things that he wasn't getting the opportunity to do. Both Lonzo and Brandon have had issues along the way with injuries that I think somewhat derailed the momentum they would gain early on in their career. They're so young and they're so talented, so much was expected and everybody wants it to happen really quickly. We don't want it to happen quickly. We want it to happen at the right time and the universe doesn't make mistakes. We feel like it brought everybody here together for a reason and we know that we're going to play to the strengths of the group as a whole. I think Brandon recognize that. I know Lonzo did when we spoke for the first time with Coach after the trade. Everybody was very aware of the fact that this was a special opportunity for all of us in terms of fit. So, I think that really is a big theme for us and everything we tried to do throughout the free agency process as well with the other acquisitions we were able to make. “

Griffin on Josh Hart and Derrick Favors: “Josh (Hart) is somebody who very similar to Brandon, some really untouched upside. I think Brandon's ability as an elite play-maker and a long athletic defender is going to enable him to play multiple positions. We feel like Josh can do the same thing and he's a shot maker from multiple positions on the court, which is really important for us. It's going to give Alvin a great deal of lineup versatility. I have not really had the opportunity to talk to very many players during a trade deadline or during a draft process where anybody was more direct with me than Josh was. So, I'd like to share this story. Josh called me before the draft, after we made the trade to acquire these gentlemen and before the draft and said, I know you can get a lot for me, and we literally had received offers for everybody here from the Lakers at that time. He said, whatever you do, don't trade me. I really want to be in New Orleans. And it meant a lot to us because when you look at the situation the organization was in is we're trying to sort of build this completely different culture led by Mrs. Benson and her complete commitment to this team. Having players that were equally committed to us was really meaningful. Derrick Favors, could have chosen to go almost anywhere and Utah was going to accommodate that deal. Utah, out of respect for everything Derrick has represented for their organization, was going to send him to the team Derrick wanted to go to and he chose us. These gentlemen here from the Lakers. They were going to be in demand a lot of different places and they recognize the fit with us. They recognize the fit with Jrue Holiday and I think that's a very special and meaningful thing as we start to build from here. So, I'd like to thank all of you for choosing us. We're going to continue to choose you and embrace you and we just couldn't be happier that these four gentlemen are a member of our Pelicans family. So without further ado, let's open it up for you all to have some questions answered.”

Lonzo, offensively you talked to Coach Gentry in that time after your trade, what about the Pelicans offense intrigued you the most, obviously you excel in the open court is that something that excites you and that you have seen from other point guards in this offense?

Ball: “Definitely, I'm getting back to playing pretty much the style been playing my whole life. So, I'm very comfortable in the high, up-temple offense as Coach Gentry has. So, I’m going to run it to the best of my abilities.”

Derrick, just to hear David Griffin gush about you and your untapped potential in your conversation before you got here and just continue the conversations. What does that, that vision means to you and how much does that excite you?

Favors: “Yeah, that means a lot to me. In the past years like he said, I was playing behind, probably one of the best defensive players in the league for a long time. I wasn't able to do a lot of things that I can do on a daily basis. When we spoke and he said that we think you have untapped offensive skill set or whatever, I was excited about that. So, they was one of the reasons I chose to come here because I knew on the position I'll be in, I knew the guys who I'd be playing with, like these three guys up here and all the organization and the team and I just thought this was a great fit for me.”

Derrick, you guys sped it up a little bit from last year in Utah, but for the most part you guys played with a slow pace. How much do you think that is going to be a change for you, playing in an up-tempo offense?

Favors: “I can adapt to it. It was by design out there and because the way we were playing. But you know, coming down here and knowing that we're going to play a fast pace, I can adapt to it.”

Josh, you and David talked about how much you wanted to be here, why? What was so special about being in New Orleans?

Hart: “I think it's an amazing place, where people generally love going to work every day. The talent that we have now is amazing and it's something that's upcoming. That’s the reason why J.J. (Redick) wanted to go here and why Derrick wanted to go here. You see the potential in this organization and this city behind them. That's something that you want to be a part of and you want to grow with. When I had that opportunity I thought, it's amazing and you know, I didn't want to let the opportunity slip.”

Josh, other than the beignets, what appeals to you about New Orleans?

Hart: “I'm actually probably going to go get some beignets tonight (laughter). But like I said, how the city really rallies behind the sports franchises here, the Saints and obviously the Pelicans. We loved that. When I come down here with two guys I've been with the last two years that's amazing. But, I think I just really besides the beignets, fell in love with the potential. Like I said, this team, this the city and the franchise. When you see greatness happening, you want to be a part of it.”

Brandon, the last report that I saw about your progress recovering from surgery was, that you hadn't started shooting yet. Have you started shooting, or what would you say your percentage is of your recovery at this point?

Ingram: “I think I'm pretty close. I haven't been shooting, but I've been doing some form shooting, some lower body stuff, some ball-handling, some passing and stuff. So, I'm pretty close to resuming to normal workouts right now. I’m just doing some regular cardio stuff and just trying to get back.”

Lonzo, when will you be ready to go? Ball: “So, I’m almost ready to go probably another week or two ... So just waiting on that.”

Lonzo, I think this week there was media, I don’t remember what it was but it spoke about having a chance at a fresh start with a new organization. Coming here, the market that's obviously not as media crazy as L.A. What do you think this opportunity kind of like a clean slate to play for New Orleans?

Ball: “It means a lot. Like I said, it's a fresh start, it's a restart. I’ve been good at the game of basketball my whole life, so I'm hoping I can get back to that. Just do what I can for the organization. I know the media is not like it was in L.A., but I know the fans are great and going to come out and support and you were going to put on a show for them.”

How do you guys feel about coming to a team that has Jrue Holiday already on it and then they just drafted Zion Williamson?

Hart: “I think it's an amazing experience. Obviously, Jrue (Holiday) I think would probably be one of the most underrated guards or underrated players really in the league and someone who's amazing on both ends of the floor. So being able to learn for someone like him and then, obviously, having an amazing talent like Zion (Williamson) coming in to help him grow, help him learn and mature in this league. I think that's going to be amazing to learn from both of them. They're both high character guys.”

One thing that I noticed whenever you left Utah was your teammates like Rudy Gobert and you could go down the list, were obviously really upset that you were departing because of how great a teammate you were. That was one thing that they continued to point out. What do you think from a leadership standpoint, you bring to the locker room and the energy that you’re able pull from your teammates?

Favors: “I think out there, we were just a tight knit group. Everybody respected everybody and everybody worked hard. Guys looked up to everybody and hopefully I can bring the same mind-set here. Just come in and work hard every day, just have respect for each other. Know sometimes you might have to sacrifice minutes or scoring opportunities just for the betterment of the team. And I think once everybody buys into that, I think that's how you get tighter as a group and start winning more games. The games start to become a little bit more fun after that. Hopefully I can bring that same mind-set down here.”

David, you’ve talked a lot about these guys’ character along with all of your acquisitions this summer. Can you talk about why that’s such an important thing for you?

Griffin: “I think again, all four of these guys represent the same thing. These are guys that have won throughout their career at a pretty high level and understand what that means. Derrick (Favors) just spoke of the sacrifice and the willingness to do what it takes to win. I think everybody here has that. I also think relative to the guys that are here from the Laker trade, I think those guys all had won a great deal at one point before they were in that situation. And I think they recognize that a big part of what lies ahead of us is playing to the strengths of all of them, which is encouraging. But in terms of the character these guys have as winners that spoke to us a great deal. Josh (Hart) obviously having won a national championship in school came into play as well. We talked about this with Swin (Cash) and with Trajan (Langdon), we want to surround ourselves with people that have won championships on any level because it's a frequency that you learn how to tune to. And I think the thing that we're most excited about all of these guys is that they either have tuned to it on a regular basis or have an enormous desire to get back to it.”

Derrick, did you have an opportunity to speak to Jrue Holiday since the trade went through and did you have a prior relationship with him?

Favors: “I’ve known Jrue (Holiday) since high school, actually. We played against each other a lot during AAU. After the trade was announced, he sent me a text and we exchanged a couple of text messages and that was it. But I’ve known Jrue for a while now.”

Lonzo, you guys are both UCLA guys. Did you guys have any prior relationship?

Ball: “I don't know him too well. Like I said, he texted me just like Derek after the trade went down. I'm real close with his brother. I played with Aaron (Holiday) at UCLA so I'm close with that family. We respect them and they respect us and I can't wait to play with him, honestly.”

How deep do you think this team is now over an 82-game season when so much happens during that time? How critical is it to have a large number that you can refer to any time?

Griffin: “Yes, and I think getting back to Will's question also, one of the things that I'm excited about is not just that we're really deep. We're deep with selfless winners. We're deep with selfless high character guys who want to play any role they need to. And that's important. I think the fit of our pieces is potentially really good. Coach Gentry and his staff are going to have a little bit of a challenge just finding the right mix I think in minutes for everybody. We don't have a JJ Redick here today as part of this conversation, but when you look at what he offers us in terms of a fit with these four gentlemen here, when you think about the opportunity we have with Nicolo Melli as a floor spacing big, we feel like we can be a little bit of a Swiss army knife and the depth of our pieces are all guys that are selfless in nature and the way they play. We've got a lot of ancillary ball-handling. Zion Williamson is really best as a play-maker. He's not somebody who's focused on scoring. He just wants to do whatever it takes to win. And obviously Jrue is really going to be the guy who's going to carry the mail to a huge degree. And I think he recognizes that and he'll represent that energy on both sides of the court, which is special for us.”

Brandon, are you eager to get a fresh start after the way the season ended with the Lakers? What does this mean to move on to a new challenge?

Ingram: “I think I'm just eager to pick up a basketball period. I think the last time I picked up a basketball and I actually played the game of basketball was in March. So, every chance that I get, I'm just going to continue to work to get better in the gym and continue to train my mind.”

Did you fear at any point that you weren’t going to be able to play again?

Ingram: “No. People were giving me good advice about the recovery of my surgery. I just stayed on my rehab and just kept it going.”

Before you were stricken with that condition, did you feel like you were coming into your own, basically showing the NBA what you can do with your talents?

Ingram: “I thought I was. I thought I finally felt comfortable and just going out and playing basketball. I wasn't thinking as much. I was just letting the game come to me and I was just doing everything that I practiced in the gym before games. So it just came easy.”

Lonzo, when you think about the defensive capability of this team and you look at yourself and Jrue (Holiday) at the top, Brandon (Ingram) on the wing, Zion (Williamson) on the wing, Derek (Favors) in a post, how formidable do you think that this team can be at shutting people down?

Ball: “There could be a lot of potential. All those guys you just named are great defenders. I don’t like to do a lot of talking. I like to let my game do the talking, but I think it could be one of the best defensive teams in the league.”

Josh, is it exciting to be a part of a team that’s all brand new? Jrue Holiday is here, but for the most part there’s a lot of new pieces.

Hart: “It's encouraging. Like you said, everyone here is new. Everyone here is of high character and selfless. We're able to buy into what this organization and what this city is about. And when you have that and you have selfless people that breeds winning. And that's what we want to be as an organization. I think that the front office did a great job of forming this team.”

Josh and Brandon, you guys have played with Lonzo for a few years. What are the parts of his game that are hard to appreciate just from looking at the box score?Ingram: “I think from my point of view, just where he is on the defensive end, I think the anticipation, the passes, just being in the right place at the right time and that doesn't always show up on the stat sheet. He's just there for deflections, always helping a teammate out. He’s just always there.”

Hart: “I'd probably say the same. There was a clip last year. We played Orlando in Orlando and Lonzo (Ball) literally guarded every single player on one possession. He closed out, someone drove, kicked it, he closed out to that person, defended that person, another breakdown happened and he guarded that person. You don't see that on the box score. You see the points, the assists, rebounds, etcetera, but you don't see how hard he plays on the defensive end and just how hard he plays in general. That’s something that you have to watch and really appreciate the game to appreciate that.”

David, whether it's winning the No. 1 overall pick or just last week saying Jrue has the ability to win MVP, you seem to have a very Zen-like approach about energy and cultivating belief. I wonder just what the genesis of that is and have you always had that as a part of your personality or was that something that was developed over time to be able to try to create that positive energy in people because it seems to be contagious?

Griffin: “I became a general manager after starting in the league as a game night intern in media relations. Did not play at a very high level at all. The only reason I'm sitting here is because I believe you can speak it into existence. And you can dedicate yourself to what you believe in. Absolutely, I've always had a little bit of that to me. I was joking with Derrick (Favors) that leading up to that trade, we were trying to generate the energy that was going to make that happen. And I would just talk about him constantly, just trying to speak it into existence of what he would look like on our roster. Alvin (Gentry) heard me say the day I had the press conference that we were going to win the draft lottery and a lot of that came from Jeff Cohen, one of the owners in Cleveland who was one of Dan (Gilbert’s) partners. He's now no longer part of that group. Jeff (Cohen) liked to say that if you see it, you can believe it. And I've always seen it and I think in terms of fit of pieces, Alvin (Gentry) was with us in Phoenix and he saw the fit of the pieces we were able to put around Steve (Nash.) I remember when we signed Steve Nash, everybody said we had grossly overpaid him at $11 million a year. And then all he did was win two MVP awards back-to-back. I'm not saying Jrue (Holiday) has to do that for this to be a successful season, but there's no reason in the world any of us should limit what we dream of. Look at what the NBA has become and the way teams are built. You can't dream big enough in this league. So I think I want everybody's approach to this to be, why not us? There's no reason we can't achieve anything we want to achieve. When I sat with Jrue (Holiday) for the first time, he jumped out of his skin at the challenge of no longer being recognized as the most underrated player in the league or the most underrated guard. He wants to accept the challenge of taking the next step and every one of these guys was exactly the same way. So there's no reason to limit the scope of what you're trying to do in your life. It doesn't make any sense.”

How much are you looking forward to seeing these guys on the court?

Griffin: “There was a moment Trajan and I were sitting next to each other at summer league and there was a moment where Jaxson Hayes was out running the floor in a practice with Zion on the other side and they were sort of just messing around to be honest with you and speed that those guys have just in a trot was sort of mind numbing. Alvin and I looked at it and we thought, ‘man with those guys on the wing and with Lonzo at the point what we'll be able to do speed-wise is crazy’ and then we started sort of integrating all of the rest of the pieces into what we're doing and to think about a lineup with Brandon out there with Zion and Derrick or Jaxson with Lonzo, the pieces we can put out there with length and athleticism and a defensive mindset and a selfless nature as players, I don't know that we're going to be a team that necessarily takes a whole bunch of threes. We're going to have wide open shots all over the court. I think just in terms of the fit of our pieces for Coach Gentry’s system, that's the thing that excites us the most. I think.”  Are you comfortable with where you’re at (in terms of the roster)?

Griffin: “So obviously once we get Darius signed, we'll be at 15 for the time being. I don't anticipate very many changes. We're actually really excited about a lot of the pieces that we haven't even talked about because they were already here. Jahlil Okafor has had an amazing offseason. His body looks fantastic. I know he's excited about the opportunity to come in and compete and participate. We just feel really good about where we're at in terms of the human component of the roster. So, unless something that I don't foresee happening were to present itself, I think we're probably in a place where we're done other than the fact that Trajan is going to continue to make hay on the two-way contracts and shoring up our G-league team.”  This was a locker room that was Kentucky for a few years. Now it's very much Duke. How good of a feeling is it? 

Ingram: “This is a good family feel. With Duke, you have guys that come back all the time just to play pickup basketball and just to hang out, give each other advice. So it's just good to be back with some of the guys I've seen over the time that I was at Duke and having a chance to play basketball with those guys.”  You started a new podcast. Do you plan on having any new guests?

Hart: “Definitely. It’s something that I wanted to do because it gave me an avenue to control the narrative of myself and the guests that I had on my podcast. A lot of times things you say can be taken out of context and right now everything's about clickbait. So, I wanted to be able to control that. It was just a platform for other people who wanted to be, not just athletes, just other people, you know, at the top of the field to go on my podcast and control the narrative about myself. So, I’ll definitely get some of those guys on. Get some of these guys on. It’s just a fun, lighthearted podcast.”

It seems like especially this past off season with a lot of players out there, specifically Khawi Leonard, even when you win a title it's not about being in a great city and whatnot. How much more difficult do you feel like your job as executive vice president and working as the general manager has become (in trying to keep a competitive and successful front office)?

David Griffin: “I think the game has changed an awful lot from the time I got into it. There was a time where if you were a very forward-thinking front office, you had competitive advantage and now I think the front offices are so much deeper and so much better across the league that finding advantage is more difficult. You've seen that in terms of how many well-run franchises there are that are building cultures that sustain themselves and build in a positive direction. Oklahoma City being one of those, obviously Toronto winning a championship through a group that was raised together in large parts from  the drafts. They've done those things and it still wasn't enough to keep very high-profile players. But I think a part of that is just because the energy you put out in the universe is going to attract like energy, right? So, our job is to make these guys feel as much as part of the family as they can, such that they can't imagine doing this anywhere else. And I think what happens is you end up in this situation where you're always sort of at the mercy of, Josh used the word narrative, but you're at the mercy of the media discourse around your team. And if you let people listen to any of that noise, it can really direct a lot of what happens. So, I think what you have to do as a franchise is make guys feel differently than they feel anywhere else. And then none of that noise matters. And it's a big challenge. I mean, it's very clearly now not just about winning. And it's very clearly now, not about geography. There's something else that's at work there. I think the Clippers doing what they did shows that you can plan to be in a position to strike when the iron is hot. And they did. They gave up an awful lot of draft picks to do it, but they were able to create that template. And our job as we build is to always have a template that we can attract the right energy too. So, we always need to be able to be flexible enough to do that. But ultimately, it's going to be about how you make people feel. It's not going to be about any of those other things necessarily. It's do they believe in what we're doing and do they want to be part of it? And hopefully we can continue that momentum because this group obviously does.”

We got to see it from this team's perspective last year. What was it like as young guys trying to improve in this league having to deal with rumors and trade talks?

Ball: “I think it was tough being a young guy, especially in L.A. All the people looking at you and we had a big responsibility over there. I think just growing up, being the league two years, you find ways to block it out. I know I was doing it myself before I got hurt. Last five games I played. I know (Brandon Ingram) was, I know (Josh) Hart was so, it comes down to playing basketball and you know, that's your job. Everything else is just extra.”  It’s unusual to grow up playing basketball in the same area (high school, college and NBA). How are you approaching being uprooted and moving to a place that’s considerably different from what you’ve known? 

Ball: “Well, like I tell everybody, I'm excited and it's a new opportunity for me. A new time of my life, a fresh start. I get to go here with two guys that I'm already accustomed to. I’m just happy to be here and get back to playing basketball.”

Derrick, you’re another one of those guys like Jrue (Holliday) who has been underrated. Your numbers have been excellent the past four to five years. How important do you think it is to show a former top three pick how to develop in this league and how to mature as a post player?

Favors: “You just got to know how to put in the work. Know how to be patient, know how to take advantage of every opportunity that you get. Some games you going to play great. Some games you're not. So, it’s all about moving on to the next game, next possession. Just come in there every day working, figuring out what you got to work on and see what you did wrong in either in the last game or the last season or whatever. Work on it and just keep improving and just have a positive attitude about it.”

transcript-lonzo-ball-josh-hart-brandon-ingram-and-derrick-favors-introductory-press-conference

Transcript: Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram and Derrick Favors introductory press conference

New Orleans Pelicans Owner Gayle Benson,  Executive VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin, Head Coach Alvin Gentry, and Zion Williamson Introductory Press Conference Friday, June 21, 2019

Opening Statement by Joel Meyers (Emcee):  “It's a special day for all of us and an incredible day for all of us. So, we're going to move appropriately because you guys have been patient and waited and I'll give you an idea. We're going to hear from our owner, Mrs. Gayle Benson in just a moment. Then our executive vice president, David Griffin, Alvin Gentry, our head coach, and then Zion Williamson as well. We'll ask some questions and then we'll open it up to the floor for all of you. First of all, congratulations. Zion welcome to the city and becoming a New Orleanian. These are good days, really good days. I don't know if you saw the television coverage last night, but I have two left feet. I can't dance. I have a little rhythm. But when you said let's dance, I started to look like Gregory Hines. It worked. So we all felt the same way and we're really excited about what's developing now for our franchise.

I don't know if you saw it as well last night on Fulton Street. Did you see the signs as well? We the South, I like it. I like it a lot. That's all good. The energy, the spirit that he has now provided and brought. It started, don't forget a few weeks ago and it was early storm season was early. It was stormed David Griffin and let's remember when Griff came here. I always say bright creative people attract other really bright, creative people. So I know they've had conference calls, but I also want to welcome Trajan Langdon and Swin Cash.

So this is a really good day, a relaxed day for all of us. We've never had this much cap room. Thanks Griff. So for all relaxed, there's a good reason behind it. I also believe in meant to be. Meant to be department. Griff got here, a lot of things fall into place don’t they. Trajan, Swin now Zion. So we're going to hear from Mrs. Benson First. I could go on for a long time about how I feel about our selection and Zion joining us. But first let's hear from our owner, Mrs. Gayle Benson.”

Gayle Benson: “Thank you Joel for the warm welcome and thank you all for being here today for what is an exciting day for our franchise in our city. Before I go any further, I would like to say thank you to all of our great fans, especially the thousands who joined us on our draft fest on Fulton Street last night, for their passion and support. We speak about our organization being a family and that certainly starts with our fans. I am so optimistic about the direction we are heading and what we will be able to achieve as a Pelicans family. When we welcome David Griffin to the Pelicans, we spoke about changing the direction in the future of our organization for the better. I am thrilled with what we have witnessed so far. In short order, he has infused this team in this city with enthusiasm, hope, and a clear vision for success.

From day one, our entire organization has been in lock step with his plan to build a winning culture that will consistently compete at the highest level in the NBA. I believe we have put together the best front office in the NBA and now we are thrilled to welcome our newest Pelican and his family to the Crescent City. To receive the No. 1 pick in the draft is a prize that any sports team would covet, but this one is different. When we won the draft lottery in May and earned the opportunity to select Zion Williamson, we could not have asked for a better player with more potential on the court. More importantly, we could not have hoped for a better person to represent and help lead our franchise into this new chapter. To Zion’s parents, Lee and Sharonda Anderson, you have raised a very special young man who clearly reflects the values and beliefs you so strongly hold.

We are blessed to have your family join our Pelicans family and feel so fortunate to be part of Zion's continued development both on and off the basketball court. Zion, we are so excited to see you in a Pelicans uniform and I hope you were able to see the excitement from our fans when the No. 1 pick was announced last night in New York. This community is ready to embrace you with open arms. I read a comment from Cam Jordan just yesterday morning and could not agree more. In essence, he said, if you genuinely love New Orleans and learn to experience this city, it will love you back many times over. Those of us who call New Orleans home agree 100 percent with Cam. I also know that your new teammates are excited to have you join them as we work towards our common goal of competing for championships. I am thrilled with the progress that David and his team are making toward building our roster to compete immediately while maintaining a keen focus on sustainable winning. While much work remains to be done, much progress has already occurred. We look forward to taking this positive momentum into free agency in July, training camp in the fall, and the start of the 2019-20 NBA season. Thank you all again for being here on this exciting day. Thank you.”

Joel Meyers (Emcee):  Thank you, Gayle. Great leadership is the key. There is no substitute for great leadership in the NBA. You can have the best players in the world, but you need great leadership, great coaching, and we're very fortunate here in New Orleans. It changed, let's face it. It changed as I mentioned with Trajan coming in, Swin coming in, because they wanted to be a part of something that's being built right now. That's with great leadership. So I present to you now. We're fortunate to have him, our executive vice president, David Griffin.

David Griffin:  “First that I'd like to thank Austin Brown and Lisa Matulis from CAA, Zion’s representation. For the way they handled every step of the process here, since they got involved in the Pelicans family. Everything that has taken place from a professional standpoint off the court, I've never seen the equal of it. So, thank you very much Austin, Lisa, amazing. To his family that are here in front of us. We had a very special evening the night of the lottery. We had a really special evening the night of the lottery and Alvin and I were able to sit with Zion for about 20 minutes and we were so taken with him we asked if his parents were there, and if you would mind if they came downstairs. So, Sharonda and Lee came downstairs and we sat for about an hour and a half together talking about what it would look like to be a member of the Pelicans family. We had the conversation that if you choose us, we choose you. And we choose the whole family because when we're raising a family, we're raising it together. Lee and Sharonda were very receiving of that message, I think Zion was as well. I was really grateful that Noah and Tyreek could join us here today as well.

The city will put its arms around all of us, but what we're going to do is love each other enough to tell each other what we need to hear. And Lee embrace that that night. What Lee told me that night was they chose us and there was a bunch of media around the very next day. Some of you will remember. That Zion was going to go back to school. He had wanted to go to another team. And all this media came up and it was alarming obviously to someone in my position because I'm trained to believe that when you sit in front of people, there may always be something else going on. So, I reached back out to Lee and Sharonda and I said, please tell me that's not true. Lee was not a happy camper that I had to make that phone call. He said, did I not tell you if you choose us, we choose you. I said, you did. He said, then what are we doing here?

I'd tell you all of that to give you some understanding of exactly what Mrs. Benson says when she says Zion was raised the right way. These are people of their word. These are people that have been all about family from the very beginning. Zion stayed at a small school for high school, Spartanburg Academy. Because his mother told him, if you can play the coaches will find you anywhere, but you stay grounded, you stay with your friends, and you be Zion and let them come to you. That obviously worked and what it did is it laid the groundwork for a kid who is all about others, who's all about team. He's all about family and he's not about himself. The reason that was so meaningful for us is that's all we want to build. When Trajan and Swin came on board, we talked at length about what it looks like to raise this family and so with all of their input with the incredible front office we have that are here on the right. Everything we do is about adding members to this family that are reflective of the same values that Zions family have instilled in him.

Fortunately we are blessed, Jrue Holiday is one of those guys. When I said last night, when we did our first media availability, that Jrue Holiday is the face of this franchise. He is that dude. This is his team and we are all going to be made of the same stuff. That means we sacrifice whatever it takes to win basketball games. Because Zion is the person he is, all he wants to do is contribute to that. So people looked at me kind of oddly and it got ran many times again. He is not the savior of the Pelicans franchise and he's certainly not the savior of the Saints, Pelicans family. Mrs. Benson and her team have done a remarkable job with the saints building a winner. A team that wins at the very highest level with the best front office, anywhere with the best coaching staff, anywhere. They've laid a model out very clearly for us to follow. So there is no narrative that should exist that we are a stepchild of that. What we are is beneficiaries of the fact that they already know how to do great. They know how to do magical. It's our job to do that on this side and Zion will contribute to that just like all the rest of us will. So, I think I'm supposed to let Joel (Meyers) know I'm done so he can introduce this man. But thank you all very much. Take the journey and be mindful of the fact that it's going to take some time.”

Joel Meyers (Emcee):  “If I can tag that to the two of you, the poise and the composure that your son is displayed. I repeatedly said last night as we celebrated together on Fulton Street. Unbelievable, and he is not 19 yet. It's amazing. So congratulations to the two of you. Your first head coach, Zion. He's put up with me for too long now and he's given me a lot of grief because we used to be on opposite sides. So, I present our head coach and a very good one. We're lucky to have him. Alvin Gentry.”

Alvin Gentry:  “I'm going to make it short and sweet because I think you guys are here to see anyone but me. It's an honor to really have an opportunity to coach a player like Zion. Not just from an ability standpoint, just from the character that he has. When you start to try to turn a franchise into a consistent winner, you got to have the talent, but you have to have people that have the character that he has. So, just adding him to the mix along with other people like Jrue Holiday, I think that we're well on our way to doing that. I think that it's going to be enjoyable to see. The style of basketball that we will play he more than fits into it. We're going to be exciting to watch. The fan base that we have here, you will learn that they're really dedicated and they will follow you all the way. I think what Mrs. Benson says, that if you love the city it will more than love you back. And I can't imagine anything that you wouldn't do to make this city love you. You don't get to coach guys like this very often. When you're lucky enough to have a generational player like that, that you're going to be able to coach, your relish just the honor of being able to coach a guy like that.

We had fun in Chicago that night talking about old school guys that I had no idea that he would know anything about. Right Lee? But, he's a basketball guy and more so than anything he's a tremendous guy and he's all about the team. You talked to anybody at Duke, you talked to anybody at his high school, his mom and his dad and the way they operate, you know that he's all about the team. Those kind of guys, when you add them to your franchise, you're headed very much in the right direction. I know you guys are here to hear him, but I just want to say that we're so excited to have him on our team. The assistant coaches, we've been writing lineups on the board and every time we write a line up on the board, his name is in capital letters. We're excited about having him here and we look forward to a long, long and a great relationship. So, thank you.”

Joel Meyers (Emcee):  “In just a moment, we're going to open it up for questions from all of you in the media. But, first a couple of questions for Zion. Did you happen to see what was going on Fulton Street? Your response? Because I was there and there's and the city is amazing. When they talk about embracing the city, you're going to find that out first-hand. But, what did you see when you saw Fulton Street?”

Zion Williamson:  “Wow, OK! I saw fans that love this team. I mean the love they showed for what I saw in the video was incredible. Especially, I didn't think I deserved all that much. But, I mean it was just passion for the team. That's what I saw from it.”

Joel Meyers (Emcee):  I also wanted to point out, because you're Spartanburg, South Carolina and it's, you're in the region. So, when I say we the south, it's got to be a comfort zone for you to be so close to home as well.

Zion Williamson:  “Yeah, it is very comfortable knowing that I'm pretty close to home. That I can get on a short flight and go back to South Carolina anytime.”

Joel Meyers (Emcee):  Now, you played for an amazing head coach who I've been able to work with before in Coach K (Krzyzewski). So, tell us about working with coach k and what you're going to take forward as well.

Zion Williamson:  “Um, working with Coach K was a different experience. Cause he's coached all the greats. So I mean he would tell you, I don't know who told you guys you are good, but you’re not. He'd be like, I've seen Kobe (Bryant), I've seen (Michael) Jordan, I've seen Lebron (James). You guys aren't there yet. So, he always kept us grounded and he would always tell us to just be ourselves and just try to keep the game simple as possible.”

Joel Meyers (Emcee):  I don't know if you saw, I tweeted it out, a two minute conversation with Coach K talking about Zion. So, obviously he waits till you're gone to praise you, because he did say some amazing things about Zion in his ability. Especially more as a person, believe it or not, that as a basketball player, which is the best part of it all for all of us. Because, and I still can't believe you're not 19 years old yet. So finally, before we open it up to the local media. Style of play, because you've seen Alvin's style of play, are you in shape?

Zion Williamson: “Am I in shape? I don't think you guys would have drafted me if I wasn’t (Laughter). I think I'm in pretty good shape.”

Joel Meyers (Emcee):  Okay, because 82 games, greyhound races personified. We start games around here, here comes lucky basically. What I did like Alvin gave you some advice, right? Rebound and run.

Zion Williamson:  “Yes, he said, if I get the rebound, just push it.”

Joel Meyers (Emcee):  I liked that. Don't draw it up. Don't look over your shoulder. Don't look for me for a play. Play, you've got great natural instincts, we know that. We are really excited to have Zion here and I've got more questions, but I know you guys do as well. So, if you raise your hand and identify yourself. We will get some questions as well from the Media. Please identify your affiliation as well.

Zion, I'm curious, how many text messages have come into your phone in the last 24 hours? Who are you hearing from, people you haven't heard from in 10 years, or what's the nature of those types of texts?

Zion Williamson: “Wow, let's just jump into it (Laughter). Well if I am being honest, probably not too many because I recently changed my phone number (Laughter).”

People always come in about your humility and the way you kind of handle all this attention. I wonder how, how has it been overwhelming at all to see the amount of love you've received from this franchise and people around the city?

Zion Williamson: “No, it hasn't been overwhelming at all because the thing that keeps me grounded is I just always think about the times when it was just me, my Stepdad, and a basketball on an outdoor court. So, that's all I need to keep me grounded.”

Can you just talk us through the last 24 hours and tell us what that's been like for you? Just the whole whirlwind.

Zion Williamson: “It's been a lot. I'm still taking it in. I dreamt about having my name called by the commissioner since I was a little kid and for him to call my name first, meant even more to me. Having my family and friends there to support me, I think just made that moment much better. As the rest of it, it's just sleep, get on a plane, and press conference (Laughter).”

Have you had a chance to talk to Jrue Holiday? What do you know about him? Have you watched him play before or anything like that? What do you know about his game?

Zion Williamson: “No, I have not had a chance to speak with Jrue Holiday. I don't really know too much about his game, but I know that he's for his team cause that's what everybody says and I can't wait to get on the court with him.”

Looking on the roster here and I don't see anybody wearing the number 12. So, are we going to get a throwback from you and see the number 12? I know that you're used to one being at Duke. But, I know that you just got here as well, so I was just wondering if we might see the number 12 back in effect?

Zion Williamson: “I think I'm going to just stick with No. 1.”

I just wanted to know, do you have a favorite thing about New Orleans culture, since your last visit here?

Zion Williamson: “My favorite thing? So, it’s a lot even though I was here for like 24 hours. I'm going to just say the family feel that I just got from just walking around. People here, were just welcoming. They didn't come up. They came up and spoke for a minute and just went on about their day. They didn’t hold me up or anything. They just said, you're going to love this city and everybody's family and that's the vibe I’ve been getting.”

Last night you joked with us and you said you're just an 18 year old kid who gets a lot of attention, but do you embrace the fact when people say you're mature beyond your years, or wise beyond your years? Are you wise beyond your years?

Zion Williamson: “I don’t know if I can say that, but I try to be, because I look at it from a realistic point of view. I am 18 and I do have a lot to learn.”

This for Zion and Alvin last night David told us about the instant connection that you guys seem to have. Can you go into depth about that and how well you guys hit it off, almost immediately?

Alvin Gentry: “Well, first of all, we both are southern guys. Secondly, I think he's got a great basketball mind, but he also appreciates the history of the game. So, it's really funny we talked about players from the 70s, even when I was in high school and taking visits to college, he knew some of the guys that I was talking about in that came from, Lee, I'm sure. We talked about that but, he's an easy guy to talk to. He's an easy guy to discuss things with. I mean, I think it's going to be a, a joy to coach really. He plays extremely hard. He's all about the team. So, when they say he's a coach's player, the way we related, I think it's easy to see how that can be. Yeah, and I'm going to let him shoot a lot. He knows that too.”

Zion Williamson: “Pretty much the same thing. I think we connected because he just saw that I just wanted to play basketball. The media and stuff wasn't on my mind. I was 18 year old and wanting to get on the court and hoop.”

Zion, who was the first new teammate that contacted you since last night? And what was his message to you?

Zion Williamson: “Frank Jackson was the first person. His message was, welcome to the family. I don’t want to say the rest cause you know, that’s brotherhood material.”

How much does it excite you, just thought the number of young guys coming into this team at once and just being able to be a young family that can try to maybe win the summer league?

Zion Williamson: “It's very exciting. Because, we're all young and I can learn a lot from them. They're close to my age, obviously. I think we're all just hungry to win. I think we just want to do whatever we can to help the team succeed.”

It sounds like you're a student of the game a little bit. Any players you've looked up to model your game after?

Zion Williamson: “I've looked up to Michael Jordan because not only was he an assassin on offense, he was an assassin on defense. I try to model my game from just a lot of people. If I like something from someone's game, I'll try to take it and just add it to mine.”

Griff, I know you can't talk about some of the moves that you've made already, but ideally, how would you like to have this team built, with Zion and Jrue?

David Griffin: “So, I think because we're efforting other deals, it's hard to really speak about what it looks like ultimately. But, the idea behind it and the philosophy behind it is all very much designed around Alvin Gentry system and the Way Alvin and his coaching staff want to play and the way that they envision Zion interfacing with the rest of those pieces. Again, Jrue is a player that can do equal damage on both sides of the ball. He can play with or without the ball. So, there's a lot of versatility there. I think throughout the roster you've seen that there's a great deal of versatility. It's something that we're putting a premium on. Two way players that are able to both create and terminate plays. You need a really healthy balance of both. But, I think the way we're structured gives us the best opportunity to take advantage of both Zions gifts, but the rest of the fit of the team working so well with the pace that Alvin and his coaches want to play at. And in particular the style they want to play at.

It's really easy to build to a team when you know that your coach understands the offensive side of the ball. Now, oftentimes you have to go find people who can manufacture all offense. We don't need that. What we've done is we've put a lot of the emphasis on finding people who can play defense. Like Zion loves to do. To play defense like Jrue loves to do. So, then we get out and transition and take advantage of those gifts as opportunities to score. But, we didn't need to find offensive players. We needed to find people who could defend at his pace. That's been a big focus of what we do when it's a big part of why Zions such a good fit with us.”

Zion, when you hear David Griffin say that you are not the savior of the Pelicans franchise, do you think that that takes some of the weight off of your shoulders coming into the League as a rookie? Just knowing that the weight of an entire franchise is not on just you?

Zion Williamson: “Like I said before, I look at things from a realistic point of view. I think people are kind of doing a bit much. I am 18 I haven't even played one game yet, so I look at it just like that. I'm just trying to come contribution to the team. Whatever the vets need me to do, I'm ready to do it.”

Last night you addressed the people in New Orleans and you said, let's dance. What was the origin of that? Was that something that just popped in your head or was there some background to that?

Zion Williamson: “I have a funny story about that. A group of friends and I, went to see Avengers End Game. And if you know me, Thanos is my favorite character. Captain America’s shield is broken. I'm like, we're about to win, for once the movie's going to be realistic and the bad guy wins, cause he's the strongest. So, my friend Axel, said hold on. All of a sudden all these superheroes who disappeared five years ago just started appearing and I'm like, oh we might lose and he looks at me, he goes, let's dance.”

Joel Meyers (Emcee):  “In conclusion, we're going to have photo ops with the group as well.  I've watched a lot of film now and a lot of Duke Games and you were just talking about it, David and Alvin. There's guys that know how to play defense, rebound, run, play offense. There's a two way player that the Pelicans just got. We've watched the guy leader team to a championship cause he's a great two way player. Draymond green with the Golden State Warriors. He reads, he reacts, he recovers, and he’s like a free safety in football. And the more I watch Zion, he's way ahead of the game at the defense end of the floor. It's an amazing addition and there's this old saying as we wrap things up, those were the days. Well as far as I'm concerned for all of us that love this franchise and love this city, these are the days, this is just the beginning. Thank you once again for being with us. Now some photo ops. One final thing. Everyone, Zion’s father would like a take a second. Thank you.”

Lee (Zion’s Step Father): “Good afternoon. I’d like to take this moment just to say thank you to the city of New Orleans. Mrs. Benson, Mr. Griffin, Coach Gentry, masters of ceremony today, we are thrilled to death. Zion and I had this conversation about playing in New Orleans before the lottery. Nobody in the world knew that, but we had this conversation. I'm so thankful I told him then that I thought, this city would be a great place to go and God worked it out. So, on behalf of my family, I just want to say thank you to all of you who had anything to do with it and Zion’s state in this city will be well worth it.”

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Transcript: Zion Williamson introductory press conference

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Zion Williamson Introductory Press Conference Q and A

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Lee Anderson (Zion's Stepfather) "Zion and I had a conversation about playing in New Orleans before the lottery"

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Gayle Benson's Statement | Zion Williamson Introductory Press Conference

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David Griffin's opening statement

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New Orleans Pelicans Executive VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin2019 NBA Draft Press ConferenceThursday, June 20, 2019

Opening statement:“Hi everybody. Thanks for waiting so long. Sorry we weren't able to come speak about the No. 1 pick sooner. As you all saw, we had a rather eventful evening. So, we have several conversations going on with other teams that I can't get into any specifics about, unfortunately. We're just going to have to leave it there. So I know everybody's going to want to ask questions about things other than the first pick and I just cannot say anything about any of it, unfortunately.

Obviously, Zion (Williamson) was somebody from the very beginning that I think the city related to immediately. They reacted to it in a very powerful fashion. Winning that lottery was obviously a watershed moment for us as a franchise. We went through a pretty thorough process there, I think in terms of knowing that the human part of all of that was right. Alvin Gentry and I were able to meet with Zion the night of the lottery and we were so taken by him as a kid, as a human being, 20 minutes into it, I asked if he would mind if his parents came downstairs and sat with us. And we sat with them for about an hour and a half. This is a really, really impressive family. You'll hear me say much of this again tomorrow as well. The human element of this family is as impressive as the on-court element of Zion. It was very much a love affair for both of us, right from the beginning. I think the family very much related to Coach (Alvin) Gentry. I'm going to say this again at the press conference tomorrow, Alvin Gentry is the only human being in the NBA that could have been in that room at that moment and delivered the message with the parents that he did and the way in which he did. He connected with them on every level. His roots in the Carolinas and the family's roots in the area. All of the players that Zion grew up being told by his stepfather, coach Anderson, were good - Zion knows those players as being magical players. And Coach Gentry knew every one of them and could go into great detail about every one of them. And it was really a cool moment.

So again, I want to keep reiterating the human part of this is at least as big as the on-court part. And all of you obviously have very high on-court expectations. Look, this is not somebody who's supposed to be the savior of this franchise. That's not what this is. This is a 19-year-old kid who's going to spend this year learning how to play winning NBA basketball. And everything that we're doing from now until the end of our time here as a franchise is going to be about long-term sustainable success. This is Jrue Holiday’s team. And when we made the trade that we made, or are working to complete rather, with a certain player who used to be here with Jrue. We were very cognizant of the fact that this is Jrue Holiday’s team. And from the moment I got here on the ground, the very first conversation I had with him, I challenged him, and he has responded to it every step along the way. Zion is going to be part of learning how to win at a really high level. And at some point, if there's a time that the baton gets passed in terms of who's expected to carry us to win games, it will. That's not now. This is a 19-year-old kid. So we're going to take time with this and it's not going to be something where I want people to just expect this is instantaneous.

It's amazing when you see him. He's got this just magnetic personality and he makes everybody sees such star quality, that you immediately say he's the one, he's the one. He’s the one because all he wants to do is win basketball games. Zion Williamson does not give a damn how many stats he puts up. He doesn’t care about any individual awards. All he wants to do is win basketball games. That's all Jrue Holiday wants to do. That’s all anybody that we're going to invest in deeply here wants to do. And so, let Zion be that kid. Don't write this like he's here to save this franchise. He's not. He's here to join this family and we're here to raise each other. So, I'll take any questions you have.”

Did you happen to see the images of Fulton Square, or anything that was happening downtown? Is that meaningful for you, considering what I think a lot of people or what you kind of expected, six months ago for this fan base?“Oh, sure. So, obviously when we won the lottery, there was a pretty big outpouring of excitement and everybody saw that famous tweet of the video of our ticket office. That didn't happen because they wanted us to draft somebody different than this kid, right? So there's been this groundswell of excitement I think. I think because of Mrs. Benson's commitment to the franchise, what she's enabled us to do in terms of staffing, the bandwidth she's given us to go out and get the best and the brightest everywhere. I think we've continued to grow that momentum. So we're crescendoing maybe now, and I think what you saw on Fulton Street tonight is a big part of that. And I think it's only going to continue to grow.

Again, everything that we're working on now I think is designed to continue to land the plane on other similar successes and we just want to stack them one on top of another. It's never going to be about one player or one move. It's going to be the aggregate of that. And I think the market is reacting to that because they're feeling it. It's like, oh no, this is when we lose it. No. OK. Now this is when – no. So, we want to keep that happening and because this is not – we don't win anything in the offseason. And we were upstairs in the draft room and we're all high-fiving each other and everybody's really emotional. OK, well now we have to win basketball games. It's really cool. But now what? So I think we're all of that mind-set and I hope the city just continues to take the journey with us and believe in us.”

You mentioned about how much this a peak of everything that has been accumulating over the last couple of weeks, you talked about high fiving and that sort of thing, but can you take us into the war room a little bit? What was that moment like, with this finally happening, this thing you have been planning on for weeks?“Yeah, so I mean everybody saw Zion speaking about his mother. Saw him being overwhelmed with emotion, which talking about it's going to overwhelm me with emotion. You know what you're getting as a player when you're building up to this. You think you know what you're getting as a player. You think you know what you're getting as a person. And when you see that kid on that stage, who lives for that stage, be incapable of formulating thoughts other than how grateful he is, that impacts you in a really powerful way. So we all went from, oh! To oh God, that's really, really sweet. It's overwhelming, the human element of him. So, I think we went from, wow, this is really going to be special to see that's why we love him.”

You could have taken anybody, you didn’t take a choir boy but you took a basketball player right? What is it that made him the No. 1 pick, why did you take him basketball-wise?“Well, I mean obviously, physically he is touched by the hand of God to play this game. He’s a population of one. Nobody's really ever been quite exactly like him. People use a lot of big names. People use a lot of Hall of Fame names. Nobody's ever had his exact combination of size, explosiveness, lateral quickness, ability to defend multiple positions and willingness to do whatever it takes to win. Usually, when you have this makeup, you're used to being focal all the time and it's about you. This is a kid with focal makeup, focal gifts, but his makeup is “we” oriented. It’s a highly unusual thing to be able to get where you want to go on the handle like he can at his size, and then propel 275-280 pounds, 42 inches off the ground with touch. I mean he's really unique and he's also got deficiencies that he's aware of and he works on him like crazy. This is a workaholic of a basketball player. So, I think everything that he cannot do, he will learn, and we will never teach anybody to be what he is as a competitor. That's God-given and all he wants to do is win.”

You have been in the business awhile, is this one of the easiest decisions that you have had to make, as far as picking a player?“I would say this at the press conference tomorrow too, but one of the very first things I said to our staff in our first meeting was I said, ‘OK, somebody made the case to me for Zion Williamson’ And they thought I was kidding. Like, what do you mean make the case he’s Zion? What do you mean? Let's take Zion. And I said, ‘No, no, no. Break it down for me as a basketball player.’ And everybody kept looking at me like I was crazy. I said, ‘No, seriously, talk me into Zion Williamson. Why do we want the guy?’ And it took a while for people to really start to formulate words because when you look at him, it's like, well why do you think we want him? I mean, you look at him, it’s hard for people to express it. So, I think when you start to go through the process and you really understand what makes this kid tick, you talked to Coach K (Krzyzewski) and every member of the staff there, Coach K called me again before tonight and just told me how lucky I was. And he's gone well out of his way to touch base many times along the way. He's really excited for what we're doing over all, I think, which is cool. But, he's just excited for us as people because I think he recognizes the synergies that exist with all of us. So, from that standpoint, it's pretty exciting.”

You’ve talked about how important culture is and of course, you have been emphasizing the human element discussing Zion. That’s been the common angle in your hires as far as the other parts of the front office. Now going forward as your still having conversations with other teams, as we start moving towards free agency and all those things, is that going to change at all when you start filling in pieces. Or are you still looking for that type, either short term or long term, those personality fits into this culture? “Yeah. So, absolutely it won't change. You know, It's kind of funny, when you're going through the draft process and the talent that was on the board in the 30s and 40s is on the board, some of that talent’s there because there may have been things that weren't great character fits with us. And we would have, on talent, had them much higher. And we make a very conscious decision that we're going to start there. We're going to surround the group with the right people. Obviously, with Zion being on board, you feel like you've got a high level of elite talent, so you want to surround the group with as many high-character people as you can. I think relative to free agency, it's going to be about game fit, but the human element is still going to drive a huge part of it. You look at how young we are, we're going to need culture-driver veterans. And I think that's what we're going to continue to focus on. Not just guys who are good people, but who really genuinely, vocally, and actively drive culture who also fit with what we need. So that'll be our emphasis.”

You mentioned that this is Jrue Holiday’s team. Have you heard from him tonight? Is he eager to work with a team that is – I mean this is a young roster that you have here and he’s in his prime. How do you sort of balance those two things?“I think it would be a gross understatement to say that Jrue (Holiday) is giddy right now. He's really excited about what's going on here. I think he gets it. And again, a big part of this is, this isn't done. This isn't a finality. You know, a big part of what we've done is try to build as much optionality into the system as we can. If we are able to complete the deals that we are currently working on, we would have a good deal of cap space available, which gives us optionality relative to both free agents but also deal flow. You're able to receive assets sometimes for taking contracts. You can give some of the incredible war chest of assets we have to get the right piece. So I think Jrue was super excited about where we are in terms of talent level. I think he's also very cognizant of the fact that this is very, very far away from being a complete image of what we can be.”

Did you have to sell Jrue on that process and kind of taking all this young talent? Or was he completely OK with it?“No. It's funny actually, we didn't try to sell him on the young talent. We sold him on the vision. This is what we're going to do. And to be honest, to a huge degree, he sold me on him too, Right? So, I don't want to make it sound like it took a sales job. It wasn't that, it was just, ‘Look, here's our vision. Everything that I've ever been about in my career from an executive standpoint, is to find people like you. We're going to build this thing around you and this is what it's going look like. Just trust us.’ And he's given us that trust.So, you know, it's our job to keep that going. And the only way that happens is you win a bunch of basketball games. So we've got to get to that point.”

What would be your message to fans tonight who are looking at this and feeling like it's complete in some way? How do you tell them to both be excited for the future but also be patient while we continue through this?“This was a lot of fun tonight. There's a reason for everybody to be excited. I think the thing I would say more than anything else is, trust us. Stick with us through this. You're not going to know in advance how the dots connect, but we're going to connect them, so stick with us. Don't expect it to happen overnight. And if you're willing to invest in the long haul, let's dance.”

Where did that come from, “let’s dance”?“That was Zion’s own thing. I don't know, but it spoke to every one of us. I can tell you that (laughter).”

Of all the players that you could potentially be bringing in, is it your style that you have to remain open to re-dealing any of those players before they even play here?“No. No player that we would have acquired or are in the process of acquiring at this point was acquired to be moved elsewhere. Now, having said that, I've always said from the very beginning, there are no such things as untouchables. But there are, ‘Boy, I can't imagine what that would look like.’ And we've got a lot of, I can't imagine what that would look like on this roster right now.”

Did anybody call you and make an offer for the number one pick?“Yeah, people did. Yeah, which I thought was kind of fun. When you gauge that pick’s worth by the offers that are made, it's pretty staggering. So yeah, I mean there were offers made. None of them were even remotely interesting because you're talking about a player of this magnitude. But yeah, there were people who showed interest.”

When we met you at your press conference, you said something like this is a job you wanted, this is a good fit and things like that. Aside from adding Zion today, are there things that you learned in the last few weeks that maybe this is better than you thought?“Yeah. So I mean, winning the lottery was one of those moments where you go, okay, maybe a big part of our future is taken care of now. And so you have a comfort level that comes from that. So you just go on about your business. And I would say that literally every day that we were going through the process of working on all of our deal flow and getting ready for the draft, I was more and more grateful to have made the decision to come here. My wife has been more and more grateful to have made the decision to come here. Everything about Mrs. Benson and the commitment she made to us sitting in that room that day, she's delivered upon, and then some. I don't think either one of us knew how deep this could really go, in terms of our ability to impact the entire organization. And I think she's been even more open-minded than I ever could have hoped to really investing in a championship caliber nucleus. And now we have to start to build that kind of winning habit eventually.”

Just a quick question about Alvin (Gentry), you’ve extended him. How important was that, to get that done now?“Yeah, very. And frankly, we would have done it earlier. I didn't want it to be something that was lost in some of the other things that were going on. And I think if we hadn't done it when we did, it would have just sort of been caught up in the din of Zion. So we wanted to do it at a time when people recognized it was a unique situation. But that heading into this moment, there's never going to be any question of what we are. Stylistically, what happened tonight, is all about Alvin Gentry and his system. And the fact that we know what it looks like to win at the highest level with Alvin. And we went to the conference playing a system that nobody else played at the time. We know how to build to that system. So the synergies that exist there I think are really powerful. Not picking up the option was never in the cards. It was just a matter of when.”

The G League franchise started this year. How has that synergized – is that part of the plan? Would it have been different if there was not a G League franchise starting this year?“Probably not. If we're able to complete all of the transactions and we end up with the people we think we're going to end up with, we would have done that with or without I think. What the G League situation gives us is incredible bandwidth to develop players there in the same manner culturally that we will here. All of the coaching staff there will be with us throughout all of the preseason leading up and everything. They'll be part of our coaching staff. We'll be sending workout coaches and skills development coaches that were going to call “two-way” coaches. Anytime we send a player the two-way coach will go down with the player. And when the player comes back, the two-way coach will come back. So again, Mrs. Benson's investing this in every way. We didn't need to have a G League team to want to do what we did tonight. The G League team makes us feel more confident that we'll be successful raising however many young players we bring through the system."

Did you order chicken fingers at Commander’s (Palace)?“(Laughter). It was an untrue statement. I believe he ordered shrimp. But yeah, for me personally, Commanders was something that was a big deal as you know. So doing the lunch there was a pretty powerful thing for me. I was really grateful we got to do it. His younger brother did chicken tenders basically, which I believe are on the kid's meal. And to be honest, Noah was on to something, because the vast majority of everybody at the table went, ‘That looks pretty good.’ So apparently they do that well over there.”

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Transcript: Post-draft press conference with David Griffin

David Griffin Post-Draft Press Conference: Q and A

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