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LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 26, 2016Dorell WrightXavier MunfordLos Angeles, California Q. Dorell, you've been in the NBA but you're kind of a local boy. Give us your history with the city of Los Angeles. DORELL WRIGHT: Yes, I'm definitely local. Before this beautiful practice facility was here, I lived right across the street from LA Southwest College. That's where I grew up, Imperial and Western. Spent plenty of days looking into the gym trying to see different guys. I'm a local guy, very heavy in the community, and just happy to be here. This is a dream come true for me to be here. Q. Having grown up here, how much have you seen the Clippers progress from the time you were junior high and high school to where they are right now? DORELL WRIGHT: Man, they've come a long way from the D-Miles and Q-Rich days. Those are my two close friends. Just to see where the organization is, where this team is is definitely great. It's good for the city. There's a lot of buzz around the city. I know a lot of people have shifted from Laker fans to Clipper fans now. It's just good to see where they're coming and the things they have in the future. Q. Xavier, you had two ten-day contracts last year with Memphis, great success in the D-League, as well. When you approach training camp, how do you approach it and what goes through your mind for the next couple of weeks? XAVIER MUNFORD: I'm just going to take all the stuffy learned in Memphis and playing in D-League and just try to apply it when I get on the court, do whatever the coaching staff asks of me, work hard, be one of those guys that's known as a hard worker and just do whatever I can to help the team out. Q. Dorell, this team has sort of had a revolving door of sorts at the three the last couple of years. What sort of opportunity is this for you to come in here and get some playing time at small forward? DORELL WRIGHT: I think the fact that I'll be able to show my versatility, the things I did in Portland the last few years, being more of a stretch four and being able to guard different positions, being able to switch off with guys, so I think that will really help me and put me in a good position. My main thing coming in here is just playing hard. Everybody knows what I can do as far as knock-down shots. I want to be back more known as a defender, as well. I just want to do everything. Q. Dorell, you were in China last year; is that correct? Clippers have been over there a couple times. One thing that was very notable is how much passion they have for the game. Describe your playing experience over there and the differences in the game. DORELL WRIGHT: Man, the energy, the fan base is incredible in China. Just the fact that they get to see NBA players up close, they're going to come out and support. The little events I did with me being with Li Ning, the Chinese brand, and all the different events I did, man, they showed so much love and just the passion they have for it. I think Yao Ming really changed the Wayne. Wang ZhiZhi who I played with in Miami really changed the game and they really appreciate what we do. Q. Xavier, you've been in the D-League. Clippers are looking at getting a D-League team. Describe the play there and how it has helped you get to a situation like this, how it helped you acquire two ten-days with the Memphis Grizzlies and what you learned in Memphis playing alongside a guy like Mike Conley. XAVIER MUNFORD: Well, the D-League is just a platform for you to work hard and develop your game better to finally reach, get those 10-day contracts and hopefully sign for the rest of the year. But I feel like that really helped me a lot. I had a great coaching staff in the D-League for the two years I was there, and they really helped me a lot. Also going to Memphis, playing -- Mike Conley was hurt but he gave me a lot of advice and stuff when I was there, and other guys like Vince Carter and Zach Randal, they really helped me throughout the whole process, gave me a lot of advice, helped me on different parts of my game and basically helped me understand what the coach expects. Q. Dorell, you played your early seasons with the Heat and you returned this April for the Playoffs. What was that like for you to return back to Miami and share brotherhood with D-Wade potentially because you guys played within a year of being drafted of each other? What was that like for you? DORELL WRIGHT: Man, it was a great experience. It felt like home day one. As soon as I walked in it was just like the last day I left. Me being familiar with the coaching staff, with the organization, and what they want out of their players. There's nothing like it. Just the fact that I had a chance to reunite with D-Wade and Udonis, it was a great time. That little month I spent there, I had fun times. Q. Dorell, you had a chance last year to reach out using the Players' Tribune. We saw Paul Pierce do it this morning and Blake Griffin do it earlier this week. Just tell us about the outlet that you guys have to put out your own message. There is Twitter and stuff like that, but you wrote a letter to your younger brother who's playing in Toronto. Give us your thoughts on the Players' Tribune and the stage that it gives you guys to communicate. DORELL WRIGHT: Yeah, it just gives you a different platform. It's your word, not trying to say anything about the media, about how they do it. But you're writing it, you're saying it, and they're printing it. What I did for my brother, I feel like every rookie that comes in should be able to read that because I feel like I dropped so much knowledge, and my experience the last 13 years, what to expect as a rookie, what to expect ups and downs in an NBA season and just continue to stay on that path. So I really recommend a lot of rookies, a lot of young guys to read that because there was a lot of knowledge, a lot of that stuffy learned from veteran players, and I just tried to put all of that on that paper. I really feel that the Players' Tribune platform is definitely great for the players. Q. No card games if I'm not mistaken? DORELL WRIGHT: Stay far away from the card games for sure. DraftScripts by ASAP Sports FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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