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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER MEDIA CONFERENCE

June 1, 2016

Enes Kanter

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Q. Let's talk about the first full season, man, you had a good year. Team had a good year. What were your thoughts on just your time here and getting to the playoffs and first time experiencing all of that?
ENES KANTER: I would say it was amazing because that was the first time that I went that far. My first year I made the playoffs, but we just lost in the first round. But now we played the Western Conference Finals seventh game. I grew as a person. I grew as a basketball player. Even the playoffs helped me a lot, but everything. I see basketball all differently now. It was definitely a really good year for me. Made me grow.

Q. You say you see basketball differently. Can you kind of detail that a little?
ENES KANTER: You know, like before, I wasn't -- with my first team, we weren't really playing for anything. We were just kind of trying to make the playoffs. But now here, you're trying to chase a championship. That definitely just made me grow as a basketball player.

Q. Nazy was talking about how he would give you instruction and you would immediately do what he would tell you to do. As you've gotten older in terms of a player and you've gotten to the Thunder, do you see yourself taking instruction better and learning more than when you were in your previous stop in Utah?
ENES KANTER: Definitely. Even last year, day one, I came out there, and Steven, Mitch and Serge, all the bigs, really try to help with everything, outside of the court and on the court. But this year -- I didn't play with Kevin last year, but this year we have Kevin, Russ, all the guys, you know.

So when these guys are giving you confidence, you just want to go out there and just beat people, beat people. You know what I mean? It was definitely really fun.

Q. Will you be nervous, anxious over the next month, two months, following Kevin's free agency?
ENES KANTER: Well, that's his decision. That's not my business. He definitely knows this is his home. We love him here. We support him here. We definitely want him to come back and just try to chase the championship again next year. But that's for me not nervo use. It's very exciting.

Q. In your talks with either Billy or staff, where do they think and where do you think you can continue to grow and develop your game on both ends of the court?
ENES KANTER: I think they were talking about this year my role was really different, especially in the playoffs. So in the playoffs, I tried to play with steals on the court. Now this year I start shooting threes. I started playing face-off games and stuff, and things I can work on this off-season.

But all things I talk about defensively, if I compare myself from last year or the years before that I had in the NBA, definitely I feel so much comfortable out there because, like I said again, when these guys, when they give you confidence, you just want to go out there and do and just give everything you have.

Q. How frustrating was the Warriors series for you? Your minutes kind of diminishing as it went along as they were just going small?
ENES KANTER: That's another thing the playoffs taught me. If you are like chasing a championship, I think you have to put your ego aside. You have to think about, okay, this is not an individual sport. This is a team sport. So we have to -- even if you play one minute, if you play 48 minutes, you just have to shoot for your teammates, shoot for your coaches and just like, even if you play one minute, you just have to go out there and just give everything you have.

So that's what Golden State series has taught me. I think it was a really good lesson.

Q. How about the Spurs series? How special was that for you to play a big role and close down the stretch?
ENES KANTER: It was definitely fun, especially just playing out there with Steven. It was just pretty fun. I mean, we just -- we were really physical. So if I think about this series, I'm thinking about the next regular season. It can work out really well just playing with the bigs, and we just can hurt the other teams.

Q. How about the phenomenon this season with the Stache Brothers and just everything surrounding this team, the fans, and all of that?
ENES KANTER: It's pretty cool. We started in November, if you remember, with all the stache and stuff. It got better and better. I see people with the mustaches and see people put it on Instagram and Twitter, their mustache after they shave, shirtless, they have no shirt, just taking selfie with their mustache. It was pretty cool. It was definitely really fun.

Q. Are you going to have it next year?
ENES KANTER: I'm actually going to shave it this summer. So as soon as I leave probably, I'm going to shave it like in five or six days, and then when I come back next season, I'm going to have it again. I need to talk to Steven about that, what he has to say about that.

Q. There were times in the Warriors series where Andre struggled as the Warriors did things to play against him, and they did things to play you off the court at times. But what did you think about the way Coach Donovan, Billy Donovan, was able to work you and Andre back into the games and keep you all involved in the game plan?
ENES KANTER: I think one thing was they were going small. As soon as I won, they were just putting small in, and they were trying to make that adjustment.

But I think, if you talk about Andre, I see an amazing growth. He just sacrifices himself every game, and he just went out there and played the best he can. He just give his all out there.

I was just so proud of him, like I worked on rebounds with him, and he was close to being a double double machine now. He just has a lot of confidence in him. He can shoot the ball really well. So I'm just really happy for him.

Q. What is your friendship like with Steven? You kind of talked about it a minute ago. How fun is it to play with him all the time?
ENES KANTER: It's really fun because he was one of my best friends on the team. So when I'm out there with him, he just -- I mean, on the court, it's really different with him because he's like always laughing and stuff, but on the court he's really serious. He's just taking his job really serious. As soon as he steps on the court, he's definitely a totally different person.

But it's just definitely fun to play with him out there because -- I'm saying this every time -- last year and this year, he's been helping me a lot. People will think that we play the same position, we have some competition, but it's not like that. He helps me grow as a person and a basketball player, and he's still trying to help me with everything. So I really appreciate him.

Q. What are your plans, do you think, for the summer? Hang out with Steven at times? Going to Turkey?
ENES KANTER: I've got a lot of plans for this summer. First, I'm thinking about going to Europe for like 15 days. I might go watch some Euro Cup, and then I'm going to go to South America and hang out for a little bit. Then I'm going to Africa and go see Serge. And then end of August, I hope, if I have time, I'm going to see Steven. He has a little camp. He invited me over to New Zealand, and I'm going to meet his friends and his family and just go from there.

Q. How do you feel about the defensive improvement you made throughout the entire season?
ENES KANTER: Well, I think it's just -- it was one thing that people were really talking about. They were talking about the last three, four years. But now like this season, whenever I'm on, I feel so much comfortable because like I've got so much confidence in myself defensively because I learned a lot from Serge, from Steven, from the coaches. So whenever I'm out there, I'm like, I'm not nervous defensively now. I feel so much comfortable because I feel so much confidence, like I am on offense.

Q. So it was nervousness?
ENES KANTER: It was not nervousness. It was just I didn't really -- like in Utah, I don't want to compare, but here I can sit down with all the players and coaches, and they were nice, explaining to me step by step everything. So like whenever I'm out there, I know -- I just feel comfortable.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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