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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 23, 2016

Victor Oladipo

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Q. Can you first explain why you call yourself Mr. Feathers?
VICTOR OLADIPO: Okay. I'm going to explain to you all what it means, feathering, anyway. When you think of feathery, it's nothing negative. So feathery is a positive lifestyle. It's better than better. It's better than great, but it's not heavenly, it's right under there. You cannot live a feathery lifestyle so I'm the one and the only, Mr. Feather. So if you refer to me as Mr. Feathery, that's fine. Vic is fine. Dipo, whatever you want to call me, but if you call me Mr. Feathery, we're here, we're definitely here.

Q. All right. Mr. Feathery, what are your expectations?
VICTOR OLADIPO: I think the biggest expectation for me is just to win. My first three years in the league, I struggled at doing that. I feel like I have a great opportunity here to be part of something special, to be part of something bigger than myself and to be part of a winning situation. So going to take full advantages of it. I'm excited and I'm looking forward to it.

Q. Can you talk about how the difference of playing in Orlando -- not so much double teams?
VICTOR OLADIPO: I'm definitely going to benefit. I'm looking forward to it. It's definitely going to free up a lot of situations for me.

In Orlando, it was some double teams. It was some best defenders definitely, but it definitely helped me. It taught me how to manage playing basketball and playing in the NBA. So I feel like the reason why it's happening right now and the reason why I'm here right now is because I'm more ready than I've ever been. I believe everything happens for a reason. I believe that there are no mistakes. I know I'm where I need to be. Like I said, I'm looking forward to it and I'm really excited.

Q. Have you talked to Coach Donovan about what your role on the team is going to be?
VICTOR OLADIPO: A little bit. Just, you know, going out there and doing a great job of creating for myself but at the same time having that even balance and getting people involved.

I'm looking forward to playing for Coach Donovan in general. I was definitely a huge fan in college. He didn't recruit me, though (laughter) but it's okay. Life has a funny way of bringing things back around. If I went to Florida, maybe I wouldn't be here now.

It's pretty cool, man. I'm looking forward to playing for him, winning games for him and running through brick walls for him.

Q. Can you talk about your training with Russell in the off-season and how intense it was?
VICTOR OLADIPO: It's funny, because last summer, last year, I was thinking about, man, I've got to find a way to get in the gym with that dude. Now I'm in the gym with him every day.

It was pretty cool to go out there and for him to just be able to take me under his wing like I'm his little brother after, you know -- we knew other beforehand but being with each other those couple weeks, we just got even closer than we were before.

So it's pretty cool to be able to go out there and see what an All-Star, one of the best players in our league, how he works, and match it to what I was doing before and see how I need to improve and see what I need to do in order to get better. And I've learned so much already just from being around him these first couple months, so that's crazy to see what it's going to be like after being around him a whole year.

So I'm looking forward to it. I feel like we can do something special as a unit. I just can't really -- if you guys don't believe how when I say like I literally thought about being here a year ago, and thought what it would be like to be on this team and for it to actually happen, it's a surreal experience, and I know that it's supposed to be the way it is now. I mean, it might sound crazy but I'm definitely excited about it.

Q. As excited as you are about playing with Russell and playing in this organization, any part of you regret missing the opportunity to play with Kevin?
VICTOR OLADIPO: I mean, I've known Kevin pretty much my whole life. At the end of the day, like I said, I don't believe there are no mistakes. So everything happens for a reason. So at the end of the day, it would have been nice to play with him. But that's not what happened. So I can only control what I can control. I've known Kevin before this. We had a relationship before this, so I wish him the best. I know he made the decision based on what he thought was best for him and his family. At the end of the day, I'm just looking forward to this new situation that I'm in, this new door that I have to open, and this new opportunity that I have. So I'm looking forward to it, like I said before, and it's going to be very exciting, very interesting. I'm just happy, happy to be here. Oklahoma kind of reminds me of Indiana a little bit as far as like the town and everybody and how everybody is so welcoming and nice. It's definitely something that I'm familiar with.

Q. Can you be specific about how your work outs have changed and what it's like with Russell, because we're not around, so we don't know what a summer workout that you guys would do -- could you be more specific, how it changed?
VICTOR OLADIPO: It was very intense, a lot of trash talking. A lot of pushing each other. But at the end of the day, you can tell that our mentalities are very similar and the fact that we both want to win.

Q. You're up for a contract extension, has that come up in discussions or are you thinking about that as you approach the season?
VICTOR OLADIPO: No, I mean, I can't control that. You know what I mean, so only, I'm only focusing on controlling what I can control and winning basketball games. I would love the opportunity to be here long term. I love this city. I know I'm going to love the organization. I already do and I've only been here a couple weeks. So having that opportunity would definitely be a blessing. But at the end of the day, I can only control what I can control, so I'm just worried about winning basketball games and building a relationship with these guys so we can do something special this career.

Q. How has your game evolved since coming into the league and where do you think you fit into this team next to Russell in what could be a really explosive backcourt?
VICTOR OLADIPO: My defense has definitely improved since I've been in the league. I think when I first got here, I was a gambler. I kind of like to do -- defensively my first year here, I was trying to do things I had no business doing.

But as the years went on, I started becoming better because I was just solid. That's why I feel like I can be a lead defender because I don't do nothing out of the ordinary defensively. Because if you hit and miss, and something bad always happens in this league, always. There's not one time that I hit and miss, that I tried a hit and I miss, and something didn't happen.

But whenever I'm solid, everything good happens. I think that's why my defensive skill set has grown throughout the years, not only in the NBA but throughout the years but because I just remain solid and try to do a good job of just buying into the defensive schemes and just doing my part defensively.

Q. It seems like teams covet guys that can hit the three consistently and lock up on the other team's best offensive player; is that the guy that you want to become in the league?
VICTOR OLADIPO: Interesting question. My answer to that would be, I don't have any limitations for myself. So I don't just want to be a three-point shooter. I don't just want to be a defensive stopper. I want to be one of the best players in this league, and in order to do that, you have to affect the game on both ends and do multiple things.

Because if you look at all the special players in our league, they all do multiple things. They don't do one thing great; they do a lot of things great. In order for me to do that, I have to continue to keep working hard, work on my shooting. But at the end of the day, I can't limit myself. I never have and I don't plan on doing that any more or at all, period. I'm just going to try to be the Victor Oladipo possible and just continue to strive to be great.

Now, if I come up short, then I know I'm going to die trying.

Q. Russell said that you two can be the best defensive backcourt in the league. Do you feel that way?
VICTOR OLADIPO: I definitely do. We definitely are going to have to buy in night-in, night-out, and I feel like we can do something special on both ends of the floor.

Q. How do you think?
Q. What do you think about how things are going on this in country, Tulsa, Charlotte; if there are protests, is that something you would want to be part of or speak out in any way?
VICTOR OLADIPO: It's tough to watch, man. Can't even lie. It's tough. It's definitely tough to watch. It's almost like it's something new every day. But at the end of the day, the way -- the beauty about the United States is that all of us, even in this room, we have the right and the ability to express ourselves in different ways. So the way I express myself is different from the way you do and the way you do and the way you do. So Colin Kaepernick, I have a very high respect for what he's doing. Would I do the same thing in the same way he's doing it? No. But at the end of the day, we both have the same belief in the fact that there's a problem and that we need to fix it.

At the end of the day, I'm going to do what I feel is right and the way I feel that we need to express ourselves and the way I feel like I need to do to affect the situation in a positive way.

I have respect for whoever does whatever they do. But I probably wouldn't do it the same way.

Q. Who sings better?
VICTOR OLADIPO: Russ definitely. You should hear Russ's vocals, crazy. It sounds like Barry White-ish typish mixed with a little Katy Perry-ish, typish.

Q. I think you weren't finished with the answer a minute ago about comparing your workouts and how that was going with Russ.
VICTOR OLADIPO: I think before, I kind of went in the work outs, before I started working out with Russ, I think I kind of went into workouts just working out and after being with Russ for a few weeks, I realized that there's a purpose for everything that he does. There's a purpose for every drill. There's a purpose for every move. And I've learned that those moves can translate to the game, if, and only if, you let them translate.

So I wouldn't go out there and work on something that I'm not going to do in the game, is basically what I'm saying. And after working with Russ, I can see the intensity in how serious he was about his craft. But one thing that I realized that after guarding him for three years, I can see why he's so effective at what he does. I definitely stole that from him and I'm going to take it and run as fast as I can with it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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