Kobe Johnson Final Preseason Press Conference
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00:00 So Kobe, just your development over the two plus years,
00:05 where were you at the beginning?
00:06 Where are you now?
00:07 And how are you even different from last year?
00:10 You know, when I first came in, you know,
00:13 wasn't too much experience.
00:15 You know what I'm saying?
00:17 Really just learned from the past guys.
00:19 You know, in the summer, I had a big summer, kept working,
00:22 working on my jump shot in my game.
00:24 So now I feel like I'm an experienced player
00:26 and ready to go.
00:28 Better where, do you think?
00:31 Offensively?
00:32 I feel like I'm better everywhere.
00:33 Offensively, reading a game, being
00:36 able to help my teammates, just everywhere.
00:38 Kobe, can you kind of--
00:44 obviously, the news with Kerr that just came out
00:47 the other day, did you have any kind of inkling
00:50 that it was going to happen?
00:52 Did you guys basically find out the same as we did?
00:55 Yeah, I didn't know anything about that.
00:57 You know, we kind of found out the same as everybody else did.
00:59 So don't really want to speak too much on that.
01:03 I'm saying, you see the news, all of a sudden,
01:06 you're the starting point guard.
01:07 I mean, can you just kind of take us
01:09 through that mindset a little bit?
01:12 You know, when I found out the news, it hurts.
01:15 But I got to take that on, next man up,
01:19 and prepare these guys, and lead them.
01:24 With your numbers, I mean, fouls could be deadly for this team,
01:29 yourself included.
01:30 Do you guys have to be more cautious on that end,
01:32 and in doing that, stay out of foul trouble?
01:35 Yes, we most definitely do.
01:36 So you know, got to stay out of foul trouble.
01:38 You know, we're pretty long guys,
01:39 so going to have to work on that.
01:41 Do you feel a weight on your shoulders
01:49 when all of a sudden--
01:51 Say it one more time.
01:52 Do you feel a weight on your shoulders when all of a sudden
01:55 they present you to the ball club?
01:56 You're running the club now.
01:58 No, I don't feel it.
01:59 No, in high school, you know, I was kind of that guy,
02:02 step up, so there's nothing new for me.
02:06 Yeah, you weren't being defended by the same kind of guys
02:08 you'll be defended by, though, I imagine.
02:10 And there won't be--
02:13 there probably weren't 14,000 people in the stands.
02:16 So it's a little different.
02:18 Yeah, it's a little different, but that's
02:19 what I've been working for.
02:20 Had a great summer coming in, so I'm ready for it.
02:25 What's the last four months plus been like for the players?
02:29 I mean, you guys have dealt with so much
02:31 from Coach Huggins' departure all the way through.
02:34 What's it been like?
02:35 You know, it's been kind of rough.
02:37 A lot of things been going on, but we've
02:40 been staying together.
02:41 You know, Ja does a great job with us,
02:43 making everybody just feel family, just feel safe.
02:46 Just staying together, really, through all that.
02:50 Seth went through it last week a little bit,
02:52 but he said he could have left, you could have left,
02:55 a number of players did.
02:57 Why did you guys decide to stay?
02:59 He said you guys are sort of a team together,
03:01 and you sort of decided this as a group.
03:03 Is that true, and why did you decide to stay?
03:05 Say it one more time.
03:06 Why did you decide to stay?
03:08 Seth went through that, and he said you guys were sort of
03:11 linked in that decision.
03:13 Well, yeah, me and Seth are great friends.
03:15 We had talks, and I really love it here.
03:18 I feel like this city deserve a lot.
03:20 I feel like us staying here, that's what the city needed.
03:25 Kobe, the game that you had for a couple of years,
03:32 the game you worked on, it's whatever
03:35 it is it looks like before yesterday.
03:38 Can it be the same in the role you're in now,
03:41 or do you have to be a little bit more this,
03:43 or try a little bit more of that to kind of adapt
03:46 to that new position you're in?
03:48 Not position, on the floor, but position of Peck more, I guess.
03:51 Well, yes, I have to be more now.
03:54 Now that Kerr is gone, so I still have to figure it out.
03:57 I'm still learning things, but as I go on,
04:00 hopefully I'll get better.
04:02 Does Kerr-- I'm sure you guys talk a lot.
04:04 I mean, what are those conversations like?
04:06 What does he try to pass on to you
04:10 when you're talking about the role?
04:12 Just trying to keep a good mindset,
04:13 you know what I'm saying?
04:14 Just trying to keep them guys up.
04:16 Just trying to be a great teammate.
04:17 You're going to be on the floor a lot now with Seth.
04:23 You talk about your relationship with him off the floor.
04:25 What will that do to you guys, and how can that
04:28 translate to on-court success?
04:31 Well, that builds great chemistry,
04:33 having a relationship outside of the court.
04:36 So me and him on the court, I know things that he's going to do,
04:39 and he knows things that I'm going to do.
04:41 So that helps on the court a lot.
04:45 The-- it's not just a new role for you.
04:50 It's a new offense you're running.
04:51 Can you just kind of talk about what
04:53 it's been like learning this offense?
04:54 And has it been hard?
04:57 Has it been fun?
04:58 Just running the brand new scheme, pretty much.
05:03 You know, this offense is great.
05:04 It's a lot of space.
05:06 I think it works very great with our guards and Jesse.
05:09 We have great shooters.
05:10 I feel like we have a great spacing with this, so I like it.
05:14 Has it been difficult to pick up, though?
05:17 No, it hasn't been at all.
05:18 You know, Josh has made it easy for us,
05:19 you know, and other coaching staff, so.
05:23 Talk about working hard over the summer.
05:24 Is there something you did this summer
05:26 that you really haven't done in the past
05:27 that made something click?
05:30 For this summer, I just had an extra click, you know?
05:33 This season, you know, my past two seasons,
05:34 you know, wasn't the best, so my junior year,
05:36 I wanted to do this one. It'll be a great one.
05:39 Was the transition at all fuel for your summer
05:42 when you went through the coaching transition,
05:44 or was that just kind of it happening
05:46 and they're separate things?
05:48 Yeah, it is happening, separate things.
05:52 Coach was talking earlier about the one message
05:56 that he's trying to pass on to you guys
05:57 is that, you know, is that you guys aren't victims,
06:02 but obviously so much stuff has happened through the summer
06:06 and then through the last couple weeks.
06:09 Has that been an easy message to accept?
06:12 Has there been times where, you know,
06:14 "Ah, man, this is kind of tough," you know?
06:16 Yeah, I know.
06:18 You know, there's been multiple times where it's been tough,
06:19 but I just got to keep pushing through.
06:22 You know what I'm saying?
06:23 Me and the guys just got to keep pushing through,
06:24 just look forward. That's all.
06:26 You ever wonder, like, you know,
06:28 this stuff's got to stop sooner or later, though, right?
06:30 I mean, it's hard. It's hard. It's hard. It's hard.
06:33 Not, you know, not to, but I just, you know,
06:35 just trying to stay focused, but, yeah.
06:38 How scary was it what happened to a cook on Friday?
06:42 How scary was it just standing back there watching that?
06:45 Yeah, you know, that was my first time
06:46 seeing something like that on the court, you know?
06:49 I just didn't know what to expect or anything, you know?
06:53 All I was thinking that night, just hopefully he's all right
06:55 and then we can win for him.
06:57 Kobe, thank you.