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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 28, 2018

Ray Felton

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Q. A lot of talk about Paul having to make a decision, but you've got some decisions to make yourself. Where do you kind of see you fitting in with Oklahoma City or just kind of what your future may hold?
RAY FELTON: Oh, man, I don't know what my future my hold. I guess we'll see what happens July 1st, but I will say I would love to be back, be a Thunder, that's for sure.

Q. What has this year been like for you just overall? What is the biggest takeaway you'll have from this season?
RAY FELTON: Just the opportunity, the experience, playing in front of probably the best fans in the NBA. The fans have been amazing. I've been on teams where you lose two games, you get booed, and people say all kinds of things to you. But here, win, lose, draw, whatever, these fans got your back 100 percent. We come in last night at 4:00 a.m. in the morning, they're all out there waiting for us. That's something that's unheard of in the NBA. I'm used to that in college basketball, but that's something I've never seen before here in the NBA, and I've been in the league 13 years.

The season has been great, man. Obviously it didn't end the way we quite wanted it to, but overall, it's been a great year. I've had fun, grew a lot of relationships with some guys, made some brothers, some new brotherhood I have now on this team that's going to last forever, so I can say that.

But I mean, overall, man, it's an A+, man. I loved it here.

Q. You've been friends with Melo for a while now. It's been spoken a lot about how he sacrificed a lot this season. What have you seen from him throughout the duration of this year and what he's given up and how he's worked through it?
RAY FELTON: I've seen a guy that I've known for -- since we was 12 years old. Just seeing his career grow the way it did and becoming who he's become, and to come here to basically sacrifice the game the way he did, it's a tip-off to him. A lot of people don't understand it, but it's a hit to you as a player, too, know what I'm saying? It's hard. It was hard for me being a starter for nine, ten years and then accepting the fact that you're going to be a backup. That's something you've got to deal with. That's something you've got to come to grips with as you get older, as you get more and more years in this league.

It's tough. It was tough for me. I'm pretty sure it's tough for him sacrificing his game and changing his game and accepting the fact that, you know, you could possibly be the second, third, fourth option. That's tough. And I get it. I'll understand. Maybe not a lot of people looking in on the outside, not understanding the game and understanding that aspect of it may not get it, but as a friend and as a person who knew him personally, he handled it, I think, the way he should have. Anybody gets frustrated when you're in the heat of a game. Anybody gets frustrated when you're a competitor and you want to win. We're all human, make mistakes, and we have those situations that happen sometimes.

But overall, I think he handled it the way he should have.

Q. If this group is able to stick together and come back next season, with the benefit of time and really having a summer and a full training camp, what areas of the game do you feel like you guys could really make strides and steps forward?
RAY FELTON: I don't want to single anything out. I would say everything, and I think most of those things come with time. You put a team together for one year, and you don't think that it's going to be glorious. That's quite impossible. I wish it would have happened, but it's impossible. If we get everybody back together, I definitely love our chances of having a full summer together, having a full training camp together, and just being able to work with a lot of time and just having that year under our belt. I definitely like our chances going into the next season.

Q. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you were a very good starting point guard for a while, and you seem to be really comfortable in a backup role now. Was it like a tough period for you when you first transitioned to becoming a backup?
RAY FELTON: Yeah, no question, no question. My toughest time was when -- my first year in Dallas, I got hurt in a preseason game versus Oklahoma actually, second game of the preseason, hurt my ankle bad, high ankle sprain, was out for two to three months, and came back and was out of the rotation. Came back from the year before being a starter, playing 35 minutes a game to getting DNPs, not even playing at all. It was a hit to me as a player, hit to me, my ego, hit to me any possible way, but I felt like at that point I grew as a man. I grew as a professional. I grew as a player, to just still be able to cheer my teammates on, hoping to win, and still showing that competitive spirit no matter if I'm on the court or not.

It was tough. It was tough. I went home and screamed, just being in the house to myself and just screamed, because I was frustrated. I wanted to play. I wanted to be out there. I wasn't ready to accept not playing. I really wasn't. But came back the next year, worked my behind off that summer, had a great year, was starting most of the year, coming off the bench sometimes, and just -- sometimes you've got to just accept it, roll with it, and just continue to work. Even when you're 10, 11 years in, you've still got to keep going out there and proving what you've got to prove.

Q. As a guy who competed so many years with Russell, what was it like playing with him?
RAY FELTON: Oh, man, that was so much fun, to be across, aside with another warrior. We've had our battles with each other being on opposing teams, and those were fun, but just to be on a team with a guy like that who plays as hard as he does and the respect he has for the game and just everything, man, that's what I was meaning by wanting those relationships, growing a brotherhood with him, just somebody that's going to be there for the rest of our lives. We're going to be brothers, not just playing this season, like even 10 years from now we'll still be just that tight. Just to grow that relationship with a man was good.

Q. Carmelo was just in here, and he seemed to express frustration about his role, what might happen in the future. We proposed hypotheticals to him, maybe coming off the bench, his role changing. Is it for a player himself that's in that position to handle that change on his own, or can people around him help him make that transition?
RAY FELTON: That's going to have to be something that he's got to do on his own. Like we can try to help. You can have family, friends, whoever, to try to chip in, but that's something that he has to do on his own. I don't know, that's not my decision. I'm glad I'm not the coach that has to make that decision or him being a player to accept that role. That's tough. You know, that's something that I really don't have an answer for. I really don't know. That's tough. That's really tough.

Q. You were the most consistent guy coming off the bench this year for Oklahoma City, just sort of a roller coaster all year long. From a bench standpoint, if you come back, what has to happen in order for that unit to become more cohesive and more effective?
RAY FELTON: The same thing with everything I was saying about time. Just time. You still have a group of guys that came off the bench that's still the first year playing with each other. I didn't play with any of those guys last year. Pat didn't play with any of those guys last year. There's still time. Just having that bond and that time with each other to grow and get better, that's all. Just need time.

Q. You're normally a pretty charitable guy. It seemed like you really went out of your way to ingratiate yourself with Oklahoma City in general. What inspired that?
RAY FELTON: Just everything. I mean, everywhere I go, I try to get into the community and reach out to the fans and do different things like that. That's just who I am. That's how I was raised. That's the person I am.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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