May 4 Media Availability

0:27 I got to I'm chilling with my eyes with my blindf.

0:43 Miami about my something like a Hey, hey, hey, hey,

2:08 hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

2:37 Black hey black hey black hey black hey black hey

2:51 black hey Black hey black hey Black Black hey black Hey,

4:27 hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

4:56 Hey hey Good.

6:07 No problem.

6:41 Hey everybody, thanks for coming.

6:43 Uh before I take questions,

6:45 I thought I might just um uh just quickly um say a few words.

6:51 Um, as you guys know, this morning I met with Coach Mosley and uh,

6:56 let him know that we were going to be making a change.

6:59 Um, we had a great talk and as you would expect from Jamal,

7:06 he handled it with class and gratitude and appreciation.

7:10 And uh I think it goes without saying

7:13 that coach is going to have a very successful NBA

7:17 career in front of him and we wish him

7:20 nothing but the very best for him and his family.

7:23 With that, uh I guess we'll open it up to questions.

7:26 Kind of what went into that, you know, tough decision to to move on from.

7:32 Yeah, it's the hardest decision you have to make

7:34 and especially for someone uh as talented and and um uh

7:40 uh as great of a person as Jamal is and everything

7:43 he gave to the organization over the past five years.

7:46 Um obviously um you know we uh have lost in the first round the last three years

7:52 and that's an organizational matter that's not on one

7:55 person but it just seems like uh it's

7:57 time for a new perspective um maybe a fresh voice and and for us to all be

8:02 able to um you know get a different

8:05 vantage point on what's going on with our team.

8:07 When did you make that decision?

8:10 Um you know like there's not like a line you cross or anything like that.

8:13 These are things that you evaluate through the course of the season and I

8:17 think uh um I don't have an answer for a particular moment in time.

8:21 You know, this is something that you know you're always constantly evaluating

8:24 and changing and you know um you know it's it's a it's a crazy

8:28 roller coaster ride an NBA season you know and and string five

8:32 of them together and um it just felt like this was the right time.

8:37 when you look back at this series going up 41 what it series

8:47 well I mean you know obviously the first thing is uh that's a gut

8:51 punch you know and that's going to remain with uh with our team

8:55 this summer um so you know we uh we know that a lot

9:02 of our season will be filtered through

9:03 that lens um you know what happened I mean,

9:06 I can point to a lot of things and you guys have heard this before,

9:11 but I think what happened is we were up three to one against the number one

9:16 seed in the East that won 60 games

9:18 and France got hurt and it altered the series.

9:22 we still had two chances to uh you know put them away um in games five and six

9:29 and uh you know um I think that there's a lot to be taken away from that and um

9:37 I don't want to overreact to you know the second half of game six the same way I

9:44 don't want to overreact to the first half of game

9:46 six you know when we were up 22 points.

9:49 Um, I think that, uh, you know,

9:51 we it's our job to step back and look at the big picture of what works,

9:55 what doesn't work, and to not throw the baby out with the bath watercol.

10:18 I I don't know.

10:19 There's a lot that goes into that, you know, and and I think that, you know,

10:22 when we talk about like making that leap again, you know,

10:25 we were up three to one, you know, I think we were um kind of felt feeling

10:30 pretty good about where we were in the series.

10:32 You know, we had taken homecourt advantage.

10:34 Um we had a commanding lead in the series and obviously,

10:38 you know, injuries change the dynamics of what happens,

10:40 you know, and even with that, we had

10:42 a couple real opportunities to close to close the series.

10:45 Um, so when we say like, you know, we we fell short,

10:49 I think like we need to evaluate like what happened and and not just say like,

10:53 well, that's the third time in a row, right?

10:55 So, it's like every series is different,

10:57 every game is different, every situation is different.

11:00 Um, obviously, you know, we're always going to be pushing to improve this team.

11:04 Um, I think we have gotten better this year, honestly.

11:07 You know, last year, um, for the last couple years, we've been,

11:11 you know, top five defensive team and a really poor offensive team.

11:15 this year.

11:16 And again, I say this when healthy because everything is predicated on that.

11:20 You know, we were top five defense and top 10 offense.

11:23 And we liked the trend that that presented.

11:26 We liked where that we felt that would take

11:28 us and I think we saw that in the playoffs,

11:31 you know, by going up three to one against the number one seed in the East.

11:35 I think we we saw some of what we had hoped to see.

11:38 So, I don't want to, you know,

11:40 tear this thing down and dismantle it because, you know,

11:43 um, of of the way it ended and certainly because of one half, you know, um,

11:49 how frustrating is it to never really see this group outside of two?

11:56 Yeah, it's very frustrating,

11:57 but it's also very encouraging because whenever they are together,

12:01 they've been elite, you know, and uh I feel like there are, you know,

12:06 different ways to build a team and um you know,

12:09 we're built on physicality, on versatility,

12:13 on uh uh you know, good defensive personnel and ultimately

12:19 guys that can elevate their games in the playoffs.

12:22 And it's not easy to find all those traits.

12:24 And I think that what we had hoped would happen in the playoffs happened.

12:29 And obviously, you know, um it's hard to outrun injuries.

12:32 It's hard.

12:33 It's very frustrating.

12:34 But at the same time, I think there's a lot of encouragement that we can

12:37 take away from what we do see when we are healthy.

12:40 So, what are you looking for in the next

12:42 head coach that is different from tomorrow?

12:46 You know, I don't say different.

12:48 I don't think we look for a particular,

12:50 you know, uh uh you know, trait or equality.

12:52 I think, you know, coaches come in a lot

12:54 of different shapes and sizes and someone that kind of um

12:57 looks at our team in the way that that um

13:00 that that we feel can help move us forward.

13:03 Um obviously someone who uh understands where we are on our timeline

13:08 that we've kind of tried to get past like the the the growth

13:11 stages of the rebuild and some of that is maybe um stuff

13:15 that we have to look at as a front office this summer.

13:17 Um, but I don't have like a box to like say like

13:20 we want the next coach to come out of this sort of box.

13:23 Whether that's experience, you know, uh, uh, you know,

13:26 exodus like, you know, I'm not really sure.

13:28 I think that's more like want to talk have really

13:31 in-depth conversations with people about how they view our team,

13:34 maybe see some things that we haven't seen and kind of go from there.

13:38 Jeeoff, would you say that the players were fully

13:40 bought into Jamal and his style and his philosophy?

13:43 Yeah, I I think um I think a lot gets made of of you know,

13:47 it's it's a long season.

13:48 A lot of frustration comes out.

13:50 you're talking about like the most competitive people

13:52 on the planet like sharing a locker room,

13:54 sharing losses, sharing tough times together and stuff

13:58 is going to come out, you know,

13:59 but I think the way that we came into the playoff

14:01 series um you know showed that we were um together,

14:05 that we believed in ourselves and um you

14:10 know uh uh obviously open the series strongly.

14:14 So this decision wasn't made independently of the playoffs.

14:18 No, this isn't based on any one thing, one game, one week, one series.

14:23 You know, these are more kind of like more

14:25 macro issues and and I think like I said,

14:27 like it's it's it's human relationships, right?

14:30 Like relationships run their course sometimes.

14:33 You know, it's the same people in the same

14:34 room and it's not easy and it's not always fair.

14:38 Um, but I think for us at the time now, uh,

14:42 you know, a fresh perspective can maybe help us move forward.

14:45 A lot of the players roster specialist this will be their first coaching

14:51 change that they how did they take the news when you spoke to them

14:57 and what's sort of you know obviously the team probably down from serious loss

15:01 but what's the feeling the players that you

15:03 spoken to about where this where this

15:06 I didn't do exit interviews today you know

15:08 today was more about uh talking with the staff

15:11 and um you know obviously those mostly impacted

15:14 by the moves that we made today Um,

15:17 you know, I'll get to that stuff in the next few days.

15:19 Um, but you're right, it's the first time they've been through it.

15:22 Um, I think there's a strong sense

15:24 of belief and commitment from all of our players.

15:26 I think that they're, you know, frustrated and, you know,

15:30 I don't even know what the word is right now,

15:31 but I think we're all like a little

15:32 shell shocked from this series, quite honestly.

15:35 Um, so, um, you know, that'll come in the next few days.

15:40 Do you have a expectation for the next coach to have previous

15:44 head coaching experience or you know Mo was obviously a first-time head coach.

15:48 Do you anticipate maybe hiring someone like

15:50 that or will they have prior experience?

15:53 Uh I don't want to kind of come to it

15:55 with any preconceived you know uh um like non-negotiables.

16:00 You know I think that you know there are some really talented

16:02 young guys out there that haven't gotten a chance yet as Mo was.

16:06 Um, there are also some guys that have proven that they can

16:10 do the job and what's the best fit for our team right now.

16:13 I don't think you can really know more than speculate until we really like

16:17 get in and talk to them and exchange ideas and their thoughts on our team.

16:22 And I think that'll hopefully lead us where we need to go.

16:25 And I think the more kind of uh uh, you know,

16:29 preconditions you put on that, maybe you kind of may give

16:32 yourself a a worse chance of getting to the right place.

16:36 a timetable of when you might want to hire the next person.

16:39 We're going to, you know, meet immediately and start to figure out,

16:42 uh, what that grouping could look like and then,

16:46 um, you know, decide how we want to conduct those, you know, initial meetings.

16:50 Uh, a a great number of candidates have already reached out to us.

16:54 But honestly, today is not really about that.

16:56 Today's about, um, helping our people get through today.

17:01 Uh, and, um, we'll we'll get to that really quickly.

17:04 there's like four or five teams also looking for a head coach right now.

17:06 How much does that affect the coaching search knowing that there

17:09 are other teams also looking to hire the same candidates?

17:12 Yeah, I mean that always, you know, that that always factors into this stuff.

17:15 Uh I think like one of the things that you have to do

17:18 is assess is your job attractive and I do think our job is attractive.

17:23 You know, I think that, you know, um people look at us as a as a young

17:28 growing um forward moving team with talent and you know,

17:33 uh chemistry and fit and um a kind of defensive backbone.

17:39 So, I hope that that's the case.

17:42 I think that's the case.

17:44 And you can't uh try to, I think,

17:47 jump it just because like another team might, you know, hire somebody.

17:50 Obviously, as you get further along,

17:52 you do get a little more intimate with some of like, hey,

17:55 this is the job that we want, you know,

17:56 this is you guys are our number one choice or, etc., etc.

17:59 So, but that stuff is way too soon now.

18:02 I don't think we ourselves know how we would, you know, kind of pursue it.

18:06 So, uh, that that maybe comes along later.

18:09 Jeff, along those lines, is this roster good enough to make a team playoff?

18:16 So, you know, here's what I'll say to that.

18:18 I think we went up three to one against the number

18:20 one team in the East and um had we stayed healthy,

18:25 I like to imagine where we would have gone in this series and beyond.

18:29 I think that when you build a team for the playoffs,

18:33 you try to construct a roster that has the attributes that we have,

18:37 you know, and it's not easy.

18:40 And it it's to to get the the the the positional versatility,

18:44 the um guys that can elevate their games when they matter the most.

18:49 Um uh I think that, you know, the physicality,

18:52 I think a lot of the way that we're

18:54 built is designed to be successful in the playoffs.

18:57 And I think we unfortunately didn't see enough of that, but we went healthy.

19:01 We got a pretty good look at that.

19:04 And I don't see any reason why we couldn't have competed with anybody else

19:07 in the East if we can compete with the number one team like that.

19:09 So, you know, yeah, like I understand uh you know,

19:13 even you know, last night Paulo's frustration.

19:16 Hey, you know, we got to get better.

19:18 100%.

19:18 Like if if anybody's walking through this building not uncomfortable right now,

19:22 then like we don't want them here, you know.

19:24 Um, but that said, uh, you know,

19:27 I also know that, you know, when we speak in the moment,

19:30 we're frustrated and it's our job to kind of pull

19:33 back from that, understand what works, what doesn't work.

19:37 Um, and then really assess, I think, to some of your guys questions.

19:41 What's the likelihood that we can um,

19:45 know that what works, we can get to the court enough?

19:48 You know, that's the other part of the question.

19:50 So this was in the luxury tax next year for the first time.

19:55 Pardon me.

19:56 Luxury tax questions.

19:59 Yes.

19:58 And how that affects the team kicking in.

20:00 Is the team prepared to be in?

20:03 Yes, we are.

20:04 We know that we're going to be a tax team next year.

20:06 Jeff, when health is, you know,

20:08 you mentioned it a 100 times, it's health, right?

20:11 Y and injuries are going to happen throughout the season, minor injuries,

20:13 but the fact that it's been major injuries that have caused issues this season,

20:17 last season, and throughout different times of your tenure,

20:20 what do you evaluate?

20:21 Is it the medical staff?

20:22 Is it the players themselves?

20:23 Like, how do you make sure this team is able to stay

20:26 healthy outside of the minor things that happened in 82 games?

20:30 Yeah, it's funny.

20:31 It's funny, Jason, because I really look at like

20:34 this season specifically as um a really interesting

20:38 case study of that question because obviously we've got

20:41 some guys who have struggled with this, you know,

20:43 like it's it's been kind of like trends,

20:46 you know, and we have to figure that stuff out.

20:48 Um they've also been contributors to, you know,

20:53 when we have been able to get them on the court success.

20:56 And like there are a lot of teams that are built like, man,

20:59 if we can just keep these guys healthy for the playoffs, we can make a deep run.

21:02 How often do you hear that, you know?

21:03 And I think like what we saw is that we can be one of those teams.

21:08 Now hopefully we're younger and we don't have to deal with that issue, right?

21:11 But I think like at least we can be in that conversation.

21:14 So when I look at this year, I look at, you know,

21:18 the the the overriding injury this season was Fron, right?

21:24 I don't know what to I think France had played,

21:26 you guys probably know, 22, 23 games in a row to start the season.

21:31 Um, we were, I think, playing good basketball.

21:34 Our record reflected that.

21:35 We were giving elite teams problems.

21:38 Um, and a guy landed on his back.

21:42 You know, it's not a soft tissue injury.

21:43 A guy landed on his back.

21:45 And so, you know, that that had a big impact on our season, you know.

21:49 Um, I think that when we look at the the medical um, you know, um,

21:55 um, evaluations of our team, I could also look at the other side of it,

21:59 which is, you know, when Dell Carter played 78 games this year, you know,

22:03 way more than he's historically played in recent seasons,

22:06 Desmond Bane played 82 games this year, which if you look at how many games

22:11 he's customarily played over the course of the season,

22:13 is a huge outlier, you know, and I credit both of those guys,

22:17 you know, for what they've meant to us and and and that they knew

22:21 they had to um kind of forge through as all of our guys do.

22:25 But I think like that you can't talk

22:27 about one without talking about the other, you know,

22:29 and recognizing that each injury is different and understanding like are

22:33 these are these um patterns or is this just like an outlier?

22:37 And you know, I think that's like the world

22:40 that we have to like examine these in.

22:42 You mentioned fresh perspective.

22:43 This was your ninth year in this position.

22:47 Yeah.

22:46 report that you signed an extension, another extension.

22:49 Why do you feel like you earned that extension to continue and hire next coach?

22:54 Well, that's enough for me to say.

22:55 I mean, I'm just, you know, very thankful for the Devas family that, you know,

22:59 that they've believed in the direction of the team

23:01 and that they see um that they're excited

23:03 about where we're going and um that they

23:06 believed in myself and my staff to continue forward.

23:09 There was also report that the extension was finalized in mid December.

23:12 Why wasn't that announced or or shared or made public soon to me?

23:17 Yeah, that's probably my fault.

23:18 You guys know I'm pretty close to the vest on that stuff.

23:21 So, um uh if I if I had that to do over again, I probably would.

23:27 Just uh whoever comes in as the head coach,

23:31 is it fair to say or for fans to assume

23:34 that you got to make it the second round next year?

23:38 I mean, I it's not the head coach, it's all of us, you know?

23:41 I mean like I I think that uh you know this team you

23:46 know we believe is is is constructed to to do well in the postseason.

23:50 Um you know we have to you know like Paulo said like we

23:53 have to it starts in the preseason and it continues on and you build

23:56 good habits and you you just try to I've said to you guys

23:59 so many times like I my only goal I don't set numbers or rounds.

24:04 I just want to get get better every month and be playing the best

24:07 basketball at the end of the season

24:08 and that's when good things happen, you know,

24:11 and so I think that um as we go through

24:13 the coaching list and the candidates and meet with everybody,

24:16 I'm going to be surprised if they all don't see it the same way,

24:20 you know, like it's crazy.

24:22 You know, these games are just decided on the margins

24:24 and margins come down to habits and, you know,

24:27 identity and, you know, what you fall back on under pressure.

24:31 And so, um, I think that any coach who, um,

24:35 we'll be meeting with would probably look at the world the same way.

24:37 I'm guessing with the team had one of better offensive seasons in a while,

24:42 finishing 18th in offensive rating,

24:44 but what do you want to see as far as like new ideas

24:49 to help that offense get into the top half or be a little bit

24:52 a little bit more stable so that the defense can shine doesn't have to be

24:57 as as elite as as it seems to have had to be the last.

25:01 I hate to keep saying this, but the first thing I want is health.

25:04 Because I'll say it again, when healthy,

25:06 our starting lineup was top five defense and top 10 offense.

25:10 And I've told you guys before that our defense drives our offense.

25:16 You know, we're not going to lead the league in three-point shooting.

25:18 That ain't going to happen.

25:19 We brought Desmond Bane here and I think that he

25:22 showed to to to our fans who he is, how good of a player he is, how smart he is,

25:27 how much heart he has, and the kind of shooter that he is, you know.

25:30 And I will say this, in previous

25:33 seasons when we've been an elite defensive team,

25:36 we've been a really poor offensive team.

25:38 This year, and I think the addition of Dez

25:40 goes a long way towards that, when we've been healthy,

25:44 we have been an elite defensive team, and that's elevated our offense.

25:48 So, that being said, listen, obviously we're like all teams.

25:52 We want to get shooters.

25:53 We want to get better.

25:54 Um, we want to round out the roster with players that, you know,

25:58 can come in and and and add skill and shooting to the court 100%.

26:03 Um, I do think that, you know,

26:04 that opens the the the door to some questions that our front office has

26:08 to ask of itself this year about roster composition and um uh uh you know,

26:14 how we um even even kind of like more back

26:17 end of the bench supply ourselves with some of those things.

26:20 Um you know that we're very compressed financially and we don't have a whole

26:24 lot of capital to deal with, but that's going to be our challenge this summer.

26:28 Um but uh I do think that we did take a step forward this year which I think

26:34 showed up in the playoffs and and you know

26:36 I think Dez you know made a huge difference.

26:38 You know our starting lineup took a leap.

26:41 when you look at at kind of bigger picture

26:43 obviously missed a lot missed a lot of time Paulo

26:48 for still a young player still kind of growing

26:50 in his league but what did you see from him

26:54 from Paulo like what do you see from him

26:56 this season and you know he challenged himself

26:59 as much as as anyone I think after the game

27:01 yesterday but what's the challenge for him moving forward

27:06 yeah sometimes I think we lose sight uh because

27:09 I think when you take a 3-1 one lead, you know, in in the playoffs.

27:13 You kind of lose sight of just, you know,

27:14 our youth and even like our our our main guys are

27:17 still learning a there's a lot of new experience that they're,

27:22 you know, processing, you know, and I think,

27:24 you know, we've been in the playoffs,

27:25 we're I think one of eight teams to be in the playoffs the last three years.

27:30 And with a team this young, I think that's um a good starting place.

27:35 But I think Paulo's really hard on himself.

27:38 He's really competitive.

27:39 He's really driven.

27:40 He's a great learner and um I think that our group is really

27:45 attached and I think that they believe um you know Paulo I think

27:50 um shows you who he is in the playoffs you know so you

27:54 know um some of this as I always come back to is like you

27:58 know we have to look at ourselves our roster construction everything else

28:02 but um I think it starts in the summer and it builds out through

28:06 the season and I think Paulo's going to have a great year next We've

28:10 seen in the past where players get an opportunity to consult with, you know,

28:14 front office about who they want in their next head coach.

28:16 How much are you going to rely on Paulo

28:19 Desmond Front's opinion of this roster and how the next

28:23 I would never put players in that position, you know?

28:26 Um I think that, you know,

28:27 it's our job to um like listen to what they feel about the team and where

28:33 we need to get better and the elements that we that we need to improve in.

28:38 And then it's our job to go hire a coach.

28:42 How just just again moving into having a new coach, new experience,

28:47 how how coachable do you think or how eager maybe coach in a different

28:51 way you think this this team is to reach that next level?

28:55 I think this team is incredibly hungry and competitive

28:59 and dying to please our fans and prove to everybody,

29:05 you know, how good the team is.

29:07 And so I think that uh I think that's one of the reasons

29:10 that we are an attractive job and I think that um we're going to be

29:15 speaking to some really interesting candidates and yeah

29:20 I think that the the the players

29:21 are going to embrace our new coach and and give them everything they've got.

29:26 You mentioned about improving the roster and being cash strapped,

29:30 but how do you improve the roster without taking away from the identity?

29:34 Because it's not like everybody can get on the roster, right?

29:37 Yeah.

29:38 Those are our challenges.

29:39 I mean, I think like, you know, I think that, you know,

29:42 I said last time at the deadline, you know,

29:44 do we really want to break into this core?

29:46 Because if we're going to make a major move,

29:48 then you're going to break into the core.

29:50 So, we have to see what major moves are in front of us.

29:53 We have to see what smaller nibbles, you know, we can take.

29:57 I will say this, short of acquiring a star player, I do believe that, you know,

30:02 the greatest impact that you can have on a team is to, you know,

30:07 bring in a new coach, you know, and so, um, I do think that, you know,

30:12 we have a lot of different avenues and, you know,

30:15 ways that we need to improve and get better.

30:18 And um we'll we'll kind of tap into all those and see if

30:22 we can put our guys in uh the best possible position to succeed,

30:25 including like rounding out the roster, you know, with with with, you know,

30:29 veteran guys that know how to come in and win

30:32 and and are reliable and consistent that, you know,

30:35 um that that help our our main guys kind of, you know,

30:39 facilitate, you know, their their ceiling.

30:46 Jeff, you keep talking about Do you need

30:48 to re-evaluate the staff that's involved with conditioning?

30:53 Well, that gets back to Jason's question.

30:55 You know, I think there are a lot of different ways to look at that.

30:57 And I think, you know, this isn't, you know,

31:00 um some venture where like you're dealing

31:02 with like a thousand episodes and you can kind

31:04 of like discern all these like patterns like you're

31:06 dealing with a few things every year, you know?

31:09 So, you have to like strain out like the players

31:12 and the injuries and, you know, stuff like that.

31:15 So I I think that when you look at like when

31:17 we look at this season like as I said earlier I

31:20 think you know Fran's injury was you know um you know

31:23 a defensive player jumped up he he g he he gave

31:25 a great head fake and landed on his back and you

31:28 know I don't know what's to be done about that and then

31:31 you know um the other I don't think beyond that we

31:35 had injuries that were beyond the pale compared to others.

31:38 You know that was the one when when

31:40 he missed whatever 50 games or so this season.

31:44 um that I would say now you start to mix

31:47 in when when Paulo is out and he's coming

31:50 back and he's got to recondition but all this stuff

31:53 without you know different and then Jaylen misses games.

31:55 So we have to figure out like some players are are they going to be injuryprone?

31:59 Are they beyond like our help?

32:02 Some of them there's there's no there's no um uh

32:06 uh remedy for having a guy land on your back, right?

32:10 And then some of it we have to also look

32:11 at the other side of it where we have to say,

32:13 hey, Desmond Bane just played 82 games this year.

32:16 You know, the guy's kind of been a 65 game player.

32:19 Dell 78 games.

32:21 I I I first the first thing I do is credit the players

32:24 themselves because this is so hard and and those are major accomplishments.

32:28 Um, but I think we also need to say,

32:32 you know, maybe these guys are doing something right.

32:34 You know, our performance staff and our nutritionists and all that.

32:36 So, yeah, like that's something we look at everything.

32:39 We we there's nothing from scouting to analytics to performance

32:44 to medical that we don't turn over every rock over the summer.

32:48 Like we'll have deep dive evaluations on everything 100%.

32:52 Just why do you think France needed we talked about the Europe

32:55 game at the deadline I remember but then he tried to come

32:57 back before the all-star break and couldn't why I mean yes someone

33:01 fell on him and that's how he got hurt but for him to

33:04 I think I think Fron is like multiple times that's

33:07 I think Fron is like you know intensely competitive

33:09 and I think these things get to be very like

33:11 you know towards the very back end of rehabilitations

33:15 and return to play there's a lot of gray area

33:18 and I think Fran is like super competitive Um

33:21 and uh um you know he's always going to push

33:24 the envelope and we're never going to put him

33:26 in a position where he can sustain a serious injury.

33:30 Um and you know frankly like these things aren't black and white.

33:33 You know there's a lot of gray matter that you deal with with these things.

33:36 I mean we saw I don't want to name names but we've seen this throughout

33:39 the playoffs in a lot of teams where guys come back and then they don't.

33:42 And you know it's it's you know it's tricky like you know France wants

33:46 to win you know and and we're never going to put him in a position

33:49 to to ever you know sustain a serious injury but you know if some

33:53 of this comes down to like the metrics

33:55 are good the numbers look good the patterns

33:57 look good the imaging looks good are we ready or has the reconditioning you

34:01 know run its course okay and then

34:04 you know it's it's it's it's intensely competitive

34:07 you know athletes at their you know giving everything that they've that and some

34:13 of that is just going to have to be learned on the court, you know.

34:16 So, um I I don't know how else to assess it than that.

34:20 You probably can't go into detail about this, but if

34:22 another team's executive reached out to you about hiring Jamal Mosley,

34:25 what would you tell them?

34:27 I would tell them just how I opened this press conference.

34:30 I would just tell them that, you know, Jamal's a a terrific coach.

34:34 He's I think he's improved every year.

34:36 He came in as a rookie and he leaves

34:38 as a an established veteran and he's an even

34:41 better person and you know and and you

34:45 know you're going to be lucky to have him.

34:47 Jeeoff, when you look back at game four of game, how was Yeah.

34:52 Did that open up what this can be when

34:55 it's right here with these fans in the city?

34:58 Yeah.

34:58 I mean, I can't tell you how exciting that was.

35:01 I mean, you know, like I said,

35:03 I I don't want to overreact to the the second half of of game six,

35:09 and I don't want to overreact to the first half of game six, you know,

35:12 but that was thrilling, and our players felt it, you know, they they felt it.

35:17 They talked about it, you know,

35:18 and um I I I know our fans are, you know, so hungry.

35:24 They're so uh involved.

35:26 They're so enthusiastic.

35:27 And I just hope that the takeaway from this because obviously this this is

35:31 a real like bitter taste that we're walking away from the playoffs right now.

35:35 This is a really bitter taste in our mouth.

35:38 But I hope the takeaway is what we accomplished

35:41 when we were together because this is a young team.

35:43 They're going to be here, you know,

35:45 and they're going to get better and we've already shown that when

35:48 we're able to be together that we can be a pretty elite team,

35:52 you know, and so I hope that's the takeaway for the fans.

35:56 But but we really appreciate them and the building was rocking, you know, 100%.

36:01 Thank you everyone.

36:02 Thanks guys.